Impact of lameness in dairy cows housed at Free Stall and Compost Barn in the southern and southwestern mesoregion of Minas Gerais.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the relationship between lameness and milk production, Somatic Cell Count (SCC) and mastitis in animals confined in Free Stall (FS) and Compost Barn (CB) systems on farms in the South and Southwest of Minas Gerais. A database was used with zootechnical information from four dairy farms, totaling 500 animals, 170 housed in FS system and 330 in CB system. In two periods: “summer” and “winter”, lameness scores were evaluated in the animals. From the occurrence of foot affection, the behavior of milk production and SCC was observed in three moments: “Previous”, “During” and “Next”. The occurrence of clinical mastitis was daily analyzed. There was no difference in the incidence of lameness between the systems at any period of the year. The most prevalent foot injuries were interdigital dermatitis in both systems, also highlighting the occurrence of heel erosion in the CB. In both types of confinement analyzed, there was a negative impact of lameness on milk production, however, in the FS system there was a negative impact only on individual SCC. The FS system showed a higher occurrence of mastitis than the CB in lame cows.