When thinking of cow comfort, what comes to mind? Many think about dimensions of the freestall, stocking density or lying time. But another way to measure the comfort of a herd is to take a closer look at cow hocks and knees. Hock and knee lesions are increasingly recognized as barometers of cow comfort; they indicate how facilities directly impact cow welfare. For that reason, those lesions are routinely scored by evaluators for the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management program – FARM – and for other animal-welfare assessments.
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Katy Proudfoot
