Digital dermatitis is the most common cause of lameness in dairy cattle worldwide. Understanding its cause and prevention is essential for herd welfare management.
Digital dermatitis causes chronic pain for weeks to months before treatment, and reinfection is common after successful treatment. The pain causes reduced feeding, altered lying behaviour, and negative affective states throughout active disease. Effective foot bath management and prompt individual treatment when lesions are identified represent achievable welfare improvements that also reduce production losses. The key barrier is identifying lame cows early through regular locomotion scoring rather than treating only severely affected animals.