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Lameness and fertility of sows and gilts in randomly selected loose‐housed herds in Finland
Author(s) -
Hein M.,
Oravainen J.,
Orro T.,
SeppäLassila L.,
AlaKurikka E.,
Virolainen J.,
Tast A.,
Peltoniemi O. A. T.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.159.12.383
Subject(s) - lameness , claw , osteochondrosis , herd , odds , crossbreed , veterinary medicine , zoology , medicine , odds ratio , metritis , pregnancy , ice calving , biology , lactation , surgery , ecology , logistic regression , genetics
The prevalence of lameness among 646 sows and gilts in 21 selected herds was determined; 8·8 per cent of the animals were lame and the most common clinical diagnoses were osteochondrosis, infected skin lesions and claw lesions. The lame animals had higher serum concentrations of haptoglobin and C‐reactive protein than the sound animals. Animals housed on slatted floors had twice the odds of being lame and 3·7 times the odds of being severely lame than animals housed on solid floors. Yorkshire pigs had 2·7 times the odds of being lame than Landrace or crossbred animals. Higher parity and the use of roughage decreased the odds of the sows not becoming pregnant; however, lameness was not a risk factor for non‐pregnancy.