Short communication: Motivation to walk affects gait attributes

3Citations
Citations of this article
17Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Lameness is a major welfare problem in the dairy industry. Environmental factors, such as flooring surface, as well as cow-level factors, such as udder fill, can influence gait. The aim of the current study was to test whether motivation to walk affects gait attributes and whether this effect differs between lame and sound cows. We trained cows to walk down an alley for a food reward and assessed walking speed, stride length, head bob, and back arch of cows previously identified as either lame (n = 7) or sound (n = 10). Cows were assessed when they walked toward a food reward and toward no reward. Cows walked faster and had longer stride length and less variation in head bob when approaching the reward; these effects were similar in both sound and lame cows. We concluded that motivation to walk affects several gait attributes of dairy cows.

References Powered by Scopus

A lameness scoring system that uses posture and gait to predict dairy cattle reproductive performance

871Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Effect of hoof pathologies on subjective assessments of dairy cow gait

387Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Assessment of lameness prevalence and associated risk factors in dairy herds in England and Wales

251Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Lameness changes the behavior of dairy cows: daily rank order of lying and feeding behavior decreases with increasing number of lameness indicators present in cow locomotion

9Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Gait Analysis in Walking and Trotting Dairy Cows on Different Flooring Types with Novel Mobile Pressure Sensors and Inertial Sensors

4Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Effects of increased grazing intensity during the early and late grazing periods on the welfare of spring-calving, pasture-based dairy cows

0Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Mokhtarnazif, S., Smid, A. M. C., Weary, D. M., Mohamadnia, A., & von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. (2020). Short communication: Motivation to walk affects gait attributes. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(10), 9481–9487. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-18060

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 5

63%

Researcher 3

38%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 3

43%

Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medic... 2

29%

Materials Science 1

14%

Sports and Recreations 1

14%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Social Media
Shares, Likes & Comments: 39

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free