Lameness in Dairy Cows: The Hidden Cost and How to Prevent It

Lameness is one of the most common, and costly health issues affecting Irish dairy herds today. It’s not just about animal welfare; it has serious knock-on effects on milk yield, fertility, longevity, and overall farm efficiency.

While the average herd has around 10% of cows affected, it often goes unnoticed until it’s already costing thousands. But with a proactive, preventative approach-through infrastructure, hoof care, hygiene and nutrition, lameness can be brought well under control.

In this post, we break down the cost of lameness, how to spot it early, and the steps you can take to reduce risk and protect your herd.

What is Lameness in Dairy Cows?

Lameness in dairy cows is typically the result of painful lesions or damage to the hoof or leg, affecting mobility, comfort, and behaviour. It’s usually classified into two types:

• Non-infectious causes:
  – Sole ulcers
  – White line disease
  – Sole bruising
  – Laminitis
• Infectious causes:
  – Digital dermatitis
  – Foul-in-the-foot
  – Slurry heel

Both types are influenced by housing conditions, hygiene, genetics, infrastructure, and nutrition—especially around calving and peak lactation when cows are most vulnerable.

Why Lameness Matters

Lame cows are slower to move, less likely to eat or lie down, and often fall behind in performance. Consequences include:

• Lower milk yields due to reduced dry matter intake
• Poor fertility and delayed heat detection
• Increased culling and vet costs
  
• Shorter productive lifespan

It’s worth remembering that cows become more profitable the longer they remain in the herd. In fact, they typically only start returning a clear profit halfway through their second lactation. Older cows also have better feed conversion efficiency (FCE), meaning they produce more milk from the same feed.

Lameness also affects the perception of animal welfare and sustainability, especially as farmers aim to reduce antibiotic use and improve herd longevity.

What is Lameness Costing the Farmer?

Lameness is often underestimated in terms of financial impact. A single lameness episode can cost around €300, broken down as follows:

• Treatment costs: ~€50 (vet fees, medicines, farmer’s time)
• Lost milk production: ~€100 due to reduced feed intake and milk yield
• Culling losses: ~€100, as lame cows are more likely to leave the herd prematurely
• Increased fertility costs: ~€50 from delayed heats and poorer conception rates

When you scale this across a herd, the costs become significant. For a 100-cow herd with 10% lameness prevalence, the cost was estimated at €3,000 per year based on figures from a study by Ryan & O’Grady (2004). However, with today’s higher input prices and production values, this figure will have increased significantly in real terms.

Some conditions are even more expensive:

• White Line Disease: ~€226 per case
• Digital Dermatitis (Mortellaro): ~€201 per case
• Foul-in-the-Foot (Foot Rot): ~€308 per case
• Sole Ulcers: the most severe, costing ~€536 per case

These figures include direct costs (treatment, discarded milk, labour) and indirect costs such as reduced fertility, early culling, and lost lifetime productivity.

Mobility Scoring: Early Detection Saves Money

Early intervention is key when it comes to lameness. The sooner you identify and treat a problem, the less damage it causes and the lower the cost.

Mobility scoring is a simple but powerful tool to spot cows showing mild discomfort—before they become visibly lame. By scoring cows regularly (every 4–6 weeks), you can:

• Catch issues early and treat them less invasively
• Prevent long-term hoof damage and reduce recovery time
• Improve treatment success rates and reduce antibiotic use
• Make better breeding and culling decisions

Technology is now playing a bigger role in early detection. Systems like CattleEye and Dairy Robotics can monitor a cow’s gait and locomotion automatically, alerting farmers to subtle changes before lameness becomes severe. This kind of real-time monitoring allows prompt intervention and leads to better outcomes for the cow and the farm’s profitability.

Cows showing mild irregular movement (Score 2) can often be resolved with rest, hoof trimming, or nutritional support before it progresses to a more serious (Score 3) lameness.

Mechanical Lameness: Common Risk Factors

Mechanical or non-infectious lameness includes conditions like sole ulcers, white line disease, and laminitis. These are often triggered by:

• Excessive standing time or long walks to pasture
• Rough or uneven walking surfaces
• Overcrowded or poorly designed cubicles
• Sudden drops in energy intake
• Rapid loss of body condition after calving

Incidence rates are often higher in grass-based systems, largely due to the increased amount of walking required between paddocks and milking parlours. Long distances on uneven or abrasive surfaces put extra strain on hooves, especially in wet conditions.

Cows are most likely to be in a negative energy balance during early lactation, which means they mobilise body fat—including fat within the hoof pad—making them more vulnerable to pressure damage and injury.

Infectious Lameness: Control with Hygiene and Footbathing

Infectious lameness—particularly digital dermatitis—is highly contagious and thrives in wet, slurry-covered environments.

Best practices for prevention:

• Keep walking areas clean and dry
• Remove slurry regularly
• Use footbaths consistently, especially during high-risk periods

Footbath tips:

• The most important thing to put in the footbath is the cow! Consistent use is essential to reduce infection pressure.
• Use 2–3 times a week, or as often as possible to reduce and manage infection pressure in the herd.
• Know the correct volume of your footbath to ensure proper product concentration—accurate dilution is key for effectiveness and safety.
• Place the footbath where cows will walk slowly and fully immerse their hooves to ensure proper contact with the solution.
• Refresh the solution as needed to maintain effectiveness. Typically, with formaldehyde and copper sulfate footbath solutions, it’s one cow pass per litre of footbath solution. For example, a 200-litre footbath should be changed after 200 cow passes. Ready-made solutions may allow for more passes—always read the label and calculate the cost per cow pass for proper management.

Improved hygiene reduces disease pressure and improves treatment outcomes.

Hoof Trimming: Prevention Beats Cure

Routine hoof trimming is essential for healthy hooves and should be part of your herd health calendar.

Best practice guidelines:

• Trim at least once per lactation
• Time trims during the dry period or early lactation
• Use skilled hoof trimmers
• Keep records of issues to track recurring problems

Trimming helps correct hoof shape, prevents overgrowth, and removes minor lesions before they become major ones.

Nutrition: The Foundation of Prevention

Feeding plays a major role in both the prevention and recovery of lameness. Poor-quality forage, inadequate energy, or imbalanced minerals can weaken hoof structure and slow healing.

At Specialist Nutrition, we recommend:

• High energy density during early lactation to avoid rapid condition loss
• Rumen buffers and yeast supplements to stabilise rumen pH and prevent acidosis
• Biotin, zinc, selenium, and copper to support healthy hoof growth and integrity
• Consistent fibre intake to maintain rumen function and prevent laminitis

Practical Steps to Reduce Lameness

Lameness prevention is multi-faceted. Combine several small actions for best results:

• Feed for stable condition around calving
• Balance minerals and vitamins to support hoof health
• Test silage quality and supplement accordingly
• Score mobility regularly to catch early cases
• Trim hooves routinely
  
• Invest in yard and cubicle hygiene to reduce infection risk

When faced with mechanical lameness, identify and address the risk factors. Ensure adequate feed space, improve surfaces on roadways, avoid pushing cows with a dog or quad, reduce standing times, and improve overall cow flow.

When faced with infectious pressures, spot treat by lifting cows’ feet and carry out as much footbathing as necessary to reduce infection pressure. If the problem persists, consult with your veterinarian to develop a tailored control plan.

Conclusion

Lameness isn’t just a hoof problem—it’s a whole-farm issue that affects productivity, profitability, and animal welfare. By combining proactive management with smart nutrition, farmers can reduce lameness risk, improve performance, and ensure healthier, longer-living cows.

It’s important to remember that the goal is improvement, not perfection. The focus should always be on reducing incidence as much as possible, rather than expecting to eliminate it completely.

A lame cow should be treated like a case of mastitis—with prompt intervention. Acting quickly leads to better recovery, less long-term damage, and improved outcomes for both the cow and the herd. Reducing lameness in the herd will also significantly improve morale and productivity for the farmer.

Need help selecting supplements to support hoof health and body condition in your herd?
Talk to the Specialist Nutrition team today and let us help you build a feeding strategy that works with your system and performance goals.