Focus on lameness and claw health

Longer lifetime – better economy

Only 20% of all sows achieve an optimal lifetime production
Increasing the number of litters per year sow from 3.5 to 4.5 increases the earnings per year sow by Euro 30
Almost 60% of all cullings are due to leg problems
Culling means lower sales income and higher costs (culling)

Pia Conradsen, specialist veterinarian from Svinevet, states

Consequences of poor claw health

High culling rate
Poor reproduction results
Increased risk of shoulder wounds

Costs related to lameness

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Lameness in a herd severely impacts sow survival and productivity. Research shows that if lameness is reduced by just a few percentage points, this can generate a substantial gain in form of higher earnings.

1 dead sow costs Euro 400.
Reducing the sow mortality rate by 1.5% pays for Sow-Omic

Potential earnings

Lower sow mortality rate
Lower use of antibiotics
Higher weaning weight

Lameness evaluation

It is important to know the lameness level in the herd. There are two ways to measure this.

1. Keratinisation of a sow's heel is a frequent cause of lameness. Vitfoss has developed a diagram that can be used to assess the keratinisation of the heel.

2. Lameness is closely related to claw problems. Observe the sows when moving them from gestation unit to farrowing unit and assess whether they are lame. Use colour coding, for instance (green: not lame; blue: slightly lame; red: lame). Watch the video on www.vitfoss.dk.

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Use of Sow-Omic for 6 months drastically reduces the keratinisation occurrence rate (scores 2 and 3) of the sow heel. Keratinisation of the heel is also the most frequent cause of lameness in sows.

Focus on lameness and claw health - Image 3

Use of Sow-Omic for 6 months improves claw health, measured as fewer treatments of sows with claw problems in the gestation unit.

Focus on lameness and claw health - Image 4

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Stronger claws

Better claw integrity reduces claw problems, thereby improving wellbeing and your economy.

Sow-Omic - organic minerals of unique quality

Organic minerals are more accessible than inorganic minerals
Vitfoss' quality of organic minerals has a scientifically demonstrated effect on sows in many experiments
Sow-Omic is a unique combination of organic minerals which is very well-documented

Vitfoss uses a grade of organic minerals in which a metallic ion (zinc, cobber and manganese) is bound to an amino acid