title: Foot lesions in lame cows on 10 dairy farms in Ireland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about foot lesions in dairy cattle in Ireland, managed under a pasture based system with housing during the winter and grazing for the rest of the year. Ten Irish dairy herds, with a lameness prevalence ranging from 9 to 17 % were locomotion scored routinely during the 2013 grazing season. Lame cows were foot trimmed and foot lesions recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  11.8 % and 89.6 % of cows had lesions recorded on front and hind feet respectively. No lesions were found in 6.9 % of cows. Sole haemorrhage and white line disease were the most prevalent lesions, and overall 76.8 % of lesions affecting the claw horn were diagnosed on the lateral hind claw.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment success, as measured by improved LS post treatment, was not significantly affected by the LS prior to foot trimming, the presence of lesions or the type of lesion identified. Exposure to both risk factors for lameness at housing and pasture may have resulted in the development of a combination of foot lesions typically associated with zero-grazing or all-year-round grazing management systems.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 Ireland.
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Somers
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4 Ireland.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: O'Grady
keywords: Dairy cows; Foot lesions; Foot trimming; Grazing; Lameness; Pasture