Lameness affects up to 30% of dairy cows in some herds and causes chronic pain that is increasingly detectable through automated monitoring technology that enables earlier treatment.
Lameness is a major chronic pain welfare problem in dairy herds that persists because detection relies on stockperson observation of animals in motion - an opportunity that occurs infrequently in large herds. Cows with subclinical lameness experience pain that affects movement, feeding behaviour, and social interaction for weeks before clinical signs are obvious. Automated monitoring technology that continuously tracks movement patterns provides the detection frequency that prevents subclinical lameness progressing to severe, chronically painful disease. Investment in lameness detection technology is directly investment in herd welfare and represents one of the clearest technology-welfare links in modern livestock management.