Abstract: This study investigates the impact of lameness on milk yield. Lameness in dairy cows is an important disease with a multifactorial etiology and represents one of the three most common health problems, after infertility and mastitis. The dataset includes 488 cows on five farms in Tiaret area, Algeria, collected over 12 months during 2014. Total prevalence of lameness was of 12.7% but in dairy cows it was of 27.93% even treated the pathology remains with 3.86 and 8.56% in total herds and in dairy cows, respectively. In clinically lame cows, milk yield was reduced from up to 32.34% before a case of lameness was treated and for 4.74% after treatment but at cows with chronic lameness the reduction was of 42.41%. The total mean estimated reduced milk yield per day-lactation was approximately 3.49 L in herds but in individual lame cow it was of 8.2 l. As well, following treatment, the fall of lactation remains considerable, it was of in 1.1l knowing that in cows with chronic lameness the fall is of 5.68 L/day. We conclude that clinical lameness was important with a significant impact on milk production. This is important information for assessing the economic impact of clinical lameness and its impact on cow health. It adds weight to the importance of early identification of clinical lameness and the urgency of techniques to improve the definition of this highly subjective diagnosis.
K. Ouared, K. Zidane, H. Aggad and A. Niar, 2015. Impact of Clinical Lameness on the Milk Yield of Dairy Cows. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 14: 10-12.