title: Variability of Manson and Leaver locomotion scores assigned to dairy cows by different observers.
abstract: The gait scoring system developed by Manson and Leaver was used by five experienced observers to assess the gait of 83 milking Holstein-Friesian cows in a live recording session, and video recordings were made. The agreement between the scores of the observers at the live session, and between each observer's scores at the live session and a video session, were compared at three levels of stringency. The scores of the observers were highly variable at all but the least stringent threshold - whether a cow had a score of less than 3 or 3 or more, that is, whether it was not lame or lame.
authors.affiliation: Structure and Motion Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Basic Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA. a.channon@liverpool.ac.uk
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Channon
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pfau
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Sheldon
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wilson