Evidence-Based Approaches to Addressing the Welfare Implications of Lameness in Dairy Cattle

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Cattle".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2027 | Viewed by 65

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Farm and Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Interests: lameness; hoof diseases; epidemiology of farm animal diseases; African swine fever; mastitis; foot and mouth disease

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Farm and Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Interests: lameness; hoof diseases; claw horn lesions; farm animal welfare; acute phase proteins; epidemiology of farm animal diseases; mastitis; lumpy skin disease; foot and mouth disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lameness is a common health issue in bovine species worldwide, contributing substantially to economic losses, particularly in dairy production. Hoof diseases account for about 80% of lameness cases, and are second only to mastitis as the most important cause of poor animal welfare in cattle. Animal welfare remains one of the most critical issues for the dairy industry, as cultural, social and behavioural changes have heightened consumers’ desire for more information on the welfare status of dairy animals. As lameness and hoof diseases are leading causes of chronic pain and significant behavioural distress in dairy cows, addressing these conditions is a critical priority for ensuring animal welfare. For that reason, this Special Issue is entitled “Evidence-Based Approaches to Addressing the Welfare Implications of Lameness in Dairy Cattle.” The aim is to update the research community on recent and novel modalities to improve cow welfare by shifting from a reactive “treatment-only” approach to proactive “early detection and prevention” strategies, which substantially alleviate the duration and severity of pain.

The topics of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  1. Early Detection and Prompt Treatment of Lameness and Hoof Diseases
  2. Artificial Intelligence-based Lameness Detection
  3. Genetics and Herd Management as Lameness Prevention Strategies
  4. Objective Pain Assessment and Management Interventions in Lame Cows
  5. Automated Foot Hygiene Innovations
  6. Evidence-based Research on Non-antibiotic Hoof Care Products and Innovations

Dr. Siti Zubaidah Binti Ramanoon
Dr. Mohammed Babatunde Sadiq
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • lameness
  • dairy cattle
  • animal welfare
  • hoof diseases
  • early detection
  • hoof care

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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