The prevalence and classification of clinical foot problems of 469 lactating dairy cows were studied in 10 farms in the dairy region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, managed in confinement systems. A total of 142 cows were considered affected and presented 534 lesions. The prevalence of affected cows was 30.3%, being 66.7% in the hind feet and 33.3% in the fore feet, with no difference between outer claw (49.2%) and inner claw (50.7%). The classification according to lameness showed, 105 animals classified as score 1, 9 as score 2, 15 as score 3, 7 as score 4 and 6 as score 5. Age of cow influenced the prevalence of lesions, but no effect of lactation stage was observed. The most frequent lesion was horn erosion representing 48.5% of the total, followed by interdigital dermatitis (13.5%) and septic pododermatitis (9.6%).
Cow; foot lesion
