Prevalence of lameness in farrowing and weaned gilts and sows in Ontario commercial hog operations

Lameness is a welfare and economic concern in hog production. Lame sows and gilts require treatment or removal from the herd. Early culling of sows is an economic cost for a hog producer. Lame sows are 1.7 times more likely than non-lame sows to be removed from a herd within 350 days of initial lameness assessment (Anil 2009). In 2007, American commercial herds participating in the PigCHAMP datashare program reported locomotor disorders including lameness and down sows as the reason for 14.5% o