Measuring claw hardness Lameness causes behavioural restriction and pain, and it reduces the longevity of production animals. Assessing a (dairy cow) locomotion scoring system, researchers concluded that merging levels of gait scores highly improved reliability and led to acceptable results, even at a low training-level of observers. Gait scoring methods for broilers can be learned by inspectors from different geographical and social backgrounds and results are comparable across countries once the inspectors' performances have been validated during training and at scoring. A (web-based) lameness control programme that has the flexibility to address the range of lameness problems known to vary between individual herds is being tested for dairy cows. A simple lameness control programme for broilers has been completed, and sequential feeding schedules to minimize leg disorders in broilers are being optimised. Evaluation of the effect of different floor types on lameness in dairy cattle suggested there might be an interaction between the regime of hoof trimming and type of floor. This has been investigated further. The assessment of the relative importance of different risk factors in causing lameness in cattle is in its final stages.
