The cow pedogram-Analysis of gait cycle variables allows the detection of lameness and foot pathologies.

Changes in gait characteristics are important indicators in assessing the health and welfare of cattle. The aim of this study was to detect unilateral hind limb lameness and foot pathologies in dairy cows using 2 high-frequency accelerometers (400 Hz). The extracted gait cycle variables included temporal events (kinematic outcome = gait cycle, stance phase, and swing phase duration) and several peaks (kinetic outcome = foot load, toe-off). The study consisted of 2 independent experiments. Experiment 1 was carried out to compare the pedogram variables between the lateral claw and respective metatarsus (MT; n = 12) in sound cows (numerical rating system