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Effect of rubber mats and perforation in the lying area on claw and limb lesions of fattening pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2018

A. Falke ,
K. Friedli ,
L. Gygax ,
B. Wechsler ,
X. Sidler  and
R. Weber
A. Falke
Affiliation:
Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland
K. Friedli
Affiliation:
Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland
L. Gygax
Affiliation:
Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland Animal Husbandry, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
B. Wechsler
Affiliation:
Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland
X. Sidler
Affiliation:
Department of Farm Animals, Division of Swine Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
R. Weber*
Affiliation:
Agroscope, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland
*
†E-mail: roland.weber@agroscope.admin.ch
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Abstract

Claw and leg lesions are frequently observed in finishing pigs and are likely to compromise their welfare. Providing softer than the usual concrete flooring may reduce both the frequency and severity of these lesions. Therefore, this study evaluated the influence of rubber mats and floor perforation in the lying area on claw and leg health of finishing pigs. A total of 240 Swiss Large White finishing pigs from on average 24.9 kg until 102.3 kg were used in four batches, with six groups of 10 animals per batch. The six experimental pens initially measured 1.85×3.55 m and were enlarged after 6 weeks to 1.85×5.25 m. In all pens, one third of the floor space was built as a defecating area consisting of a concrete floor with 15% perforation. The remaining two thirds of the pen were designed as a lying area whose floor quality differed between the pens. It either consisted of concrete elements or was covered with rubber mats, and perforation of both floor types was either 0%, 5% or 10%. All individuals were scored for claw and leg lesions at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the 12-week fattening period. Lesions were summarised in scores based on the results of a principal component analysis. The influence on lesion scores of floor material, amount of perforation in the lying area, assessment time, and sex was examined using mixed-models. The total claw lesion score and the total limb lesion score as well as the claw angle increased from the beginning to the end of the fattening period. The values for both scores were slightly lower for animals kept on rubber mats compared with animals kept on concrete floor. There was no effect of the percentage of perforation on the examined outcome variables. In conclusion, our results indicate that rubber mats in the lying area bring about improvements in some aspects of claw and leg health in fattening pigs, whereas there is no effect of floor perforation.

Keywords

claw lesionsleg lesionsrubber matfinishing piglying area
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 12 , Issue 10 , October 2018 , pp. 2130 - 2137
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

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