ABSTRACT
“Stockmanship has been defined as the knowledgeable and skillful handling of livestock in a safe, efficient, effective, and low-stress manner and denotes a low-stress, integrated, comprehensive, holistic approach to livestock handling. The consumer has an expectation that the dairy products and meat that they consume are safe and wholesome and that the animals that produce their food should be cared for in a humane manner. The three factors that are necessary for building and sustaining trust in this social contract between the producer and the consumer are that the treatment of the animals is ethically grounded, scientifically verified and is economically viable. Lameness is a common disease condition in dairy cows and can be categorized into either those of infectious origin or metabolic origin. The causes of lameness are multifactorial and the access to pasture is factor that can affect the incidence of lameness.
