Sow Lameness: Welfare and Management
Lameness is the third most common reason for sow culling and causes significant pain and welfare compromise. Breeding sows that are lame struggle to compete for food, may be unable to perform maternal behaviours adequately, and experience chronic pain throughout their productive lives. Prevention and prompt treatment are welfare priorities.
Common Causes of Sow Lameness
Foot lesions: White line disease, sole ulcers, and foot rot cause pain similar to that seen in cattle with equivalent conditions. Wet, abrasive, or uneven flooring exacerbates hoof damage. Regular hoof condition assessment identifies problems early before lameness becomes severe.
Leg joint problems: Osteochondrosis (OCD) — defective cartilage development causing joint surface damage — is common in rapidly growing gilts and sows. Affected joints are painful, particularly under loading during movement or farrowing. Genetic selection, appropriate nutrition during growth, and flooring quality all influence OCD prevalence.
Injury from confinement: Sows in stalls or narrow pens suffer more leg and foot injuries from the inability to turn, awkward rising and lying, and contact with pen furniture. Group housing with adequate space generally has lower lameness rates than stall systems.
Lameness Scoring and Monitoring
Scoring systems (0-4 scale, from normal to non-weight-bearing) allow systematic monitoring of lameness prevalence. Target: fewer than 5% of sows severely lame at any inspection. Regular scoring — weekly or at each weekly health check — enables early identification and treatment. Lame sows should be individually examined, treated, and recorded.
Treatment and Pain Management
Prompt NSAID treatment (meloxicam, flunixin) reduces pain and inflammation. Hoof trimming, wound treatment, and antibiotic therapy (for infectious causes) address the primary problem. Temporarily housing lame sows individually on good bedding reduces competition and allows healing without continuous loading pressure from group pen dynamics.
Prevention
Non-slip flooring (adequate concrete texture, rubber matting in high-traffic areas), correct sow nutrition (appropriate calcium, phosphorus, biotin), genetic selection for structural soundness, and regular foot bathing (for infectious foot conditions) all reduce lameness prevalence. Selecting replacement gilts with correct leg conformation and excluding those with obvious defects reduces inherited susceptibility.