Sow longevity is both a welfare and production goal, with management practices that reduce lameness, disease, and reproductive failure extending productive life.
Sows culled early spend a higher proportion of their lifetime experiencing disease and recovery. Increasing longevity by improving welfare - particularly lameness reduction - creates a virtuous cycle where animals experiencing less disease have better lifetime welfare. Management focus on gilt development, housing quality, and lameness prevention extends productive life while directly improving welfare.