Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging and manual lameness scoring as a means for lameness detection in cattle

Accepted: 14/06/2014 Abstract Lameness is a serious issue in the dairy industry, both economically and from an animal welfare perspective. The incidence of lameness in UK herds has been estimated to be around 20-25%. The study looked at the use of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) and manual lameness scoring as a means for lameness detection in cattle. This was carried out at dairy unit in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. 150 cattle were used in the study and foot temperatures were recorded using a handheld Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal imaging camera. All subjects were lameness scored directly after images were taken, as the animals exited the milking parlour. Data collections were repeated twice weekly for the following 3 weeks. The Kruskal-Wallis test found no significant difference between the mean values on temperatures collected for each lameness score in weeks 1-3 (p=0.823) and weeks 4-6 (p=0.935). Chi-Squared tests for association found an association between individual foot temperatures for weeks 1-3 (X= 8, df= 82.25, p<0.001), and 4-6 (X=8, df=133.3, p<0.001) and that there was a high level of lameness in hind limbs (n=139) when using a threshold of 27C for disease. Results indicated that such a high level of lameness recorded using thermal imaging techniques and not by the method of mobility scoring meant that lameness scoring may be subjective when compared to objective techniques. Therefore the prospect of using DITI as a diagnostic tool for lameness should be considered.