A field investigation of the use of the pedometer for the early detection of lameness in cattle.
Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: The efficacy of the pedometer to predict lameness earlier than the appearance of the clinical signs in a herd of dairy cows was investigated by correlating pedometric activity (PA) with clinical cases of lameness. The computer program was set to identify cows with a reduction of 5% or more in PA compared with their own previous 10 days average; these animals were then examined for clinical lameness. At the same time, every lame cow was checked to see if and when its PA was reduced. Forty-six cows showed a reduced PA; 38 cases of lameness were identified by either a reduction in PA or clinical observation; of these, 21 lame cows (45.7%) showed a reduction in PA of 5% or more, 7 to 10 days prior to the appearance of clinical signs. This cohort comprised 55.3% of the lame cows. In 92% of the lame cows identified by PA, the decrease was above 15%.
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Institution: Islamic Azad University, Ashkezar
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W41523188