Sow lameness

In pigs, as in other animals, the term "lameness" refers to an abnormal gait. The cause of lameness in pigs may be musculoskeletal, neurological, or integumentary in origin, and may be of traumatic, infectious, nutritional, or developmental etiology. Affected pigs may be visibly limping, unable to rise, or simply less inclined to move to feed and water troughs; swollen joints or hoof lesions may also be apparent. Examination for lameness in pigs involves comprehensive evaluation of the facility and herd, as well as the affected individual animals. Diagnostics include necropsy, nutritional analysis, and infectious disease testing. Given the nature of production medicine, treatment for lameness in pigs is most often directed at an appropriate management change to prevent additional cases, rather than treatment of the individual animal. Lameness is a perennial problem in swine production worldwide. Although lameness can be caused by congenital or developmental abnormalities, most lameness in production animals is due to pain associated with infections, trauma-related injuries, or underlying metabolic diseases. For that reason, lameness has become an area of focus for swine farm audits of animal well-being. Lameness is also an economic issue, because it is likely to affect the viability, growth, or reproduction of pigs. Lameness in a herd can negatively impact the overall supply of pigs through the production pipeline; eg, if breeding stock is lost because of lameness, farrowing targets may not be met, or if younger pigs are affected by musculoskeletal disease, their growth rates, and therefore time to finishing, may be prolonged.