Experienced and inexperienced observers achieved relatively high within-observer agreement on video mobility scoring of dairy cows

Gait scoring of individual cows is essential for health and welfare assessments, including detection of decreased mobility over time. Meaningful comparison of the cows’ gait requires observers who are able to score the same cow equally under the same conditions, at two distinct time-points (within-observer agreement). A total of 102 observers, including cattle-experienced and inexperienced, scored 22 videos in replicates (with five gait types). The probability of perfect agreement ranged from 45% to 90% when considering the effect of gait type. Observers without prior experience obtained up to 60% perfect agreement, which made them closely on pair with experienced observers.