LAMENESS IN DANISH DAIRY-COWS - FREQUENCY AND POSSIBLE RISK-FACTORS

A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted aiming at determining specific risk factors associated with lameness in lactating dairy cattle. A total of 9762 cows from 165 Danish dairy herds was included in the analysis. The evaluated factors were: breed and parity of the cow, season in which calving took place, whether the cow had reproductive diseases, udder-related diseases, or metabolic/digestive diseases during the lactation, herd size, the farmer's expectation of whether he would still be a milk producer 5 years ahead, whether the cows were on pasture in the summer, housing system, and way of using veterinarian. The association between the possible risk factors and lameness was assessed using logistic-binomial regression with herd as a random effect. The results suggest that a cow has an increased risk of developing lameness during a lactation if she is either a Danish Black and White, a Red Danish or a Danish Red and White (compared with Danish Jersey), if she is in her first or fourth lactation, if she has calved during the housing period (October-April), if the farmer does not expect to be a dairy producer 5 years ahead, and if she is part of a large herd.