Lameness is the most significant welfare problem in sow herds, causing chronic pain and premature culling. Prevention through housing, nutrition, and hoof care can dramatically reduce its prevalence.
Sow lameness represents a chronic, widespread welfare failure in pig production that is simultaneously common, painful, and largely preventable. A lame sow experiences daily pain with every step, has difficulty competing for food and water in group housing, and may be unable to perform normal social and reproductive behaviors. The economic losses from lameness — reduced reproduction, earlier culling, higher treatment costs — are significant and should align producer incentives with welfare improvement. The most effective prevention strategies combine housing improvements including rubber-coated flooring and adequate lying space, regular professional hoof trimming, genetic selection for leg conformation, and early identification and treatment of affected animals before lameness becomes severe.