Locomotion Scoring:
- Locomotion scoring is based on looking at cows standing and walking around.
- Locomotion scoring is based on a 1-5 score, 1 being normal and 5 being severely lame.
- To get these scores, watch the cows walk around and mainly look to see if their back is arched or not, there are other things to look for but the back can tell a lot.
- Locomotion scoring is a very easy and fast way to tell if a cow is lame or not, and should be done on every farm so you know if a cow should be culled, put down, or treated.
Scores and Descriptions:
Walk Around:
Walking around your farm every day can help. Seeing and knowing whats going on with your cows every day is important so if something is wrong with a cow then you will know. This is more important in free stall type barns since there are more cows and you are not always in direct contact with every cow. Unlike in a tie stall where there are less cows and the farmers are in closer contact with their cows and know what is going on with each and every cow. If the same cow seems to always be lying down the manager can go and look to see if the cow is lame. Even if the cow is not lame there may be something else wrong with her.
Walking around your farm every day can help. Seeing and knowing whats going on with your cows every day is important so if something is wrong with a cow then you will know. This is more important in free stall type barns since there are more cows and you are not always in direct contact with every cow. Unlike in a tie stall where there are less cows and the farmers are in closer contact with their cows and know what is going on with each and every cow. If the same cow seems to always be lying down the manager can go and look to see if the cow is lame. Even if the cow is not lame there may be something else wrong with her.
