Lameness is the most costly welfare problem in dairy cattle, affecting millions of cows annually through pain, reduced mobility and associated metabolic disease.
Dairy cattle lameness is one of the highest-prevalence welfare problems in the UK, affecting a significant proportion of cows at any given time. The pain caused by lameness is well-characterised - lame cows shift weight, lie down more, eat less and show measurable physiological stress. The key welfare interventions are prevention (rubber flooring, good hoof conformation management, appropriate nutrition) and early treatment through regular mobility scoring and prompt farriery. Farms with good lameness management demonstrate that high prevalence is not inevitable - dedicated monitoring and intervention achieve dramatically lower rates.