Lameness is a significant welfare problem in pigs, particularly sows, with flooring design, claw trimming, and prompt treatment being key welfare interventions.
Lameness in pigs causes significant pain that affects their ability to compete for feed, water, and lying space in group housing systems. Lame pigs are outcompeted by sound animals, potentially leading to malnutrition and social stress compounding their pain. Sow lameness is a major cause of early culling, with lame sows removed from breeding herds prematurely. The welfare costs include both the pain from the lameness condition and the secondary effects on normal behavior and resource access. Proactive floor maintenance, regular claw trimming in housed systems, and prompt treatment of identified lameness represents the welfare standard that many commercial operations fail to meet.