Incidence of foot and skin lesions in nursing piglets and their association with behavioural activities

Foot lesions and forelimb skin abrasions in suckling piglets: development and risk factors

BACKGROUND

Foot lesions in suckling piglets have been associated with poor flooring in several studies and were recently proposed to be indicative of swine inflammatory and necrosis syndrome. However, identical findings are also the typical outcome of various non-infectious causes; thus, further risk analysis is needed. The objective of this study was to describe the development of heel bruising, coronary band lesions and forelimb skin abrasion in suckling pigs up to 5 days of age. Furthermore, the effects of various intrinsic and extrinsic factors were examined. On each of four commercial piglet-producing farms, piglets from two or three batches of eight sows were studied. The piglets were included within 18 h after birth. Each piglet was individually scored four times. The score for the heels differentiated six (0-5) and for the coronary band and forelimb skin abrasion three stages (0-2). The body weight was measured two times. The effect of the floor was estimated by allocating the sows randomly to farrowing pens equipped with either soft rubber mats covered with litter or fully slatted plastic floors.

RESULTS

The final analysis comprised data from 1045 piglets. Foot lesions were not found at birth but started to develop on day 1. On day 5, heel bruising was found in 94%, main claw coronary band lesions in 49% and forelimb skin abrasion in 73% of the piglets. In a multifactorial logistic regression analysis, it was shown that a slatted plastic floor significantly increased the odds of heel bruising and coronary band lesions, while a rubber floor with litter increased the odds of forelimb skin abrasions.

CONCLUSION

Foot and forelimb lesions in new-born piglets are mainly induced by the floor. The effect of slatted plastic floors on heel bruising showed an overwhelming OR of 52.89 (CI 26.29-106.43). Notably, coronary band lesions in young suckling piglets occur on slatted as well as non-slatted floors, indicating that the piglets incur these injuries not only from the wedging of their feet into the gaps between slats but also from contact with the floor while suckling. Based on these findings, preventive measures should be redirected to the improvement of the floor in the farrowing pen, particularly in the area under the sow's udder.

Evaluation of Foot and Claw Lesions and Claw Horn Growth in Piglets from Birth to End of Nursery

The objective of this study is to evaluate foot lesions and claw horn growth of piglets from the day of birth until the end of the suckling period and describe the prevalence and extent in three different genetic lines. Therefore, bruising, dorsal horn lesions, claw horn growth, and weight gain were evaluated five times during growth, starting with the day of birth (day 0 of life) and ending with the end of nursery (day 68 ± 2 of life). Totally, 74 piglets of three genetic lines (German Landrace × Large White; Piétrain × Piétrain-Duroc; pure German Landrace) were examined. Bruising and dorsal horn lesions reached maximum levels at day 7 (±1) of life (with up to 91% of piglets having bruising marks and up to 94.1% of piglets having dorsal horn lesions). Differences among genetic lines were detected, with German Landrace × Large White crossbreds showing the highest percentage of bruising, but Piétrain × Piétrain-Duroc crossbreds showed the highest score for dorsal horn lesions at day 0. Until weaning (day 28 ± 1), front feet were more affected by bruising than hind feet (70.3% of the front feet and 64% of the hind feet showed bruising), but at the end of nursery (day 68 ± 2), hind feet showed a higher percentage of affected feet than front feet (65.5% vs. 41.3%). Several factors affect bruising scores in piglets, including body weight, age at examination, litter size, sex, parity, breed, and claw horn length. Additionally, significant differences for claw horn length were detected among the genetic lines from birth to end of nursery.

Swine Inflammation and Necrosis Syndrome (SINS)

Tail biting is a prevalent and undesirable behaviour in pigs and a major source of significant reduction in well-being. However, focusing on biting considers only one part of the solution, because tail damage can be found with a high prevalence without any action by other pigs. The lesions are not limited to the tail but can also be found in the ears, heels, soles, claw coronary bands, teats, navel, vulva, and face. Environmental improvement alone often fails to overcome the problem. This review addresses a new inflammation and necrosis syndrome in swine (SINS). It shows the clinical signs and the frequencies of occurrence in different age groups. It compiles scientific evidence from clinical and histopathological studies in newborn piglets that argue for a primary endogenous aetiology of the disease. Bringing together the findings of a broad body of research, the possible mechanisms leading to the disease are identified and then discussed. This part will especially focus on microbe-associated molecular patterns in the circulation and their role in activating defence mechanisms and inflammation. Finally, the methods are identified to ameliorate the problem by optimizing husbandry and selecting a suitable breeding stock.

The effects of boar on susceptibility to swine inflammation and necrosis syndrome in piglets

Inflammation and necrosis can appear in pigs in several parts of the body simultaneously. The signs can affect newborns, suckling piglets and older pigs, and recent studies suggest that the syndrome is primarily endogenous. Inflammation and necrosis indicate impaired animal welfare, and thus should be controlled in pig production. This can be achieved by improving husbandry conditions. However, the variation in signs also appears to have a genetic component. The aim of the present study was therefore to test the effects of different boars from the Duroc and Pietrain breeds on the prevalence of swine inflammation and necrosis syndrome in their offspring. For this purpose, 646 suckling pigs from 39 sows (two herds) and 19 boars were made available. On the third day of life, the piglets were examined for clinical signs of inflammation and necrosis at tail base, tail tip, ears, face, teats, navel and claws. For the evaluation, we included the boar within the breed and the breed as fixed effects and the sow within the herd as random effects. More than 70% of the piglets were affected at the tail base, ears, coronary bands and heels. Bristle loss, swelling, redness, venous congestion and claw wall bleeding occurred most frequently. Exudation and necrosis affected fewer piglets. None of the piglets was completely free from signs of SINS. Offspring from Duroc boars had significantly lower SINS scores (4.87 ± 0.44) than offspring from Pietrain boars (10.13 ± 0.12). Within the Pietrain breed, significant effects of the boar were observed on inflammation and necrosis levels. Under the present study conditions, using Duroc boars instead of Pietrain boars resulted in a 59% reduction in the SINS scores of their offspring. The SINS score in the offspring of the most favourable Pietrain boar was almost 40% lower than that of offspring in the least favourable. These findings confirm considerable genetic effects on the outcome of SINS under a given husbandry. Further studies are necessary to characterise the genetic effects in detail and to make them useful to combat the syndrome.

Lameness in piglets - should pain killers be included at treatment?

Background

Joint swelling and lameness are the most obvious and persistent clinical signs of infectious arthritis in piglets. For a positive treatment effect of piglets with arthritis, early initiated treatments with antibiotics are desired. Hitherto pain-reducing drugs have rarely been used within veterinary medicine, but the potential of non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are interesting from an animal welfare perspective. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the long term efficiency of treating lameness with and without pain relief. Further, the incidences of affected joints in lame piglets were analysed.

Results

In total 415 of the 6,787 liveborn piglets included in the study were diagnosed with lameness (6.1 %). Around 86 % of these diagnoses took place during the first 3 weeks of life. There was no difference in the incidence of lameness between the sexes, but lameness was most commonly diagnosed in the offspring to old sows (>4 parturitions). Lameness was diagnosed in about every second litter and on average about two pigs were diagnosed in the affected litters. The incidence of affected litters as well as affected piglets increased with ageing of the sows.

Treatments with antibiotics solely and in combination with NSAID improved (P < 0.01 to 0.001) the clinical status from day to day, but the clinical response did not differ between the two treatment groups.

Piglets that remained healthy were 1.1 and 1.7 kg heavier (P < 0.001) than piglets diagnosed with lameness at 5 and 9 weeks of age, respectively. There were no differences in piglet body weights between the treatment strategies at any time.

Conclusions

The clinical response to penicillin was good. It was neither improved nor reduced by a concurrent administration of NSAIDs. Nevertheless NSAIDs may improve the animal welfare due to pain relief. An important finding of this study was that decreasing pain due to lameness not was negative in a long term perspective, i.e. reducing pain did not lead to overstrain of affected joints and no clinical signs of adverse effects were noted. Therefore the use of NSAIDs ought to be considered to improve the animal welfare, at least in severe cases.

A cross-sectional study on the prevalence and risk factors for foot and limb lesions in piglets on commercial farms in Ireland

A cross-sectional survey of 68 integrated Irish pig farms was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors for foot and limb lesions in 2948 piglets from 272 litters. One litter was selected per age category; 3-7 days, 8-14 days, 15-21 days and 22-28 days per farm. All piglets were examined for sole bruising, sole erosion, coronary band injuries, limb abrasions, alopecia, swollen limbs and swollen feet and scored from 0 to 3 based on relative size. Environmental parameters were recorded for each litter examined. A questionnaire was completed on management, health and performance factors for each farm. The overall prevalence of each lesion was calculated and multilevel mixed effect logistic regression models were used to elucidate risk factors. The prevalence (farm range) of lesions were: sole bruising=61.5% (7-100%), sole erosion=34.1% (0-100%), coronary band injuries=11.3% (0-46%), limb abrasions=55.7% (11-98%), alopecia=24.8% (0-83%), swollen limbs=2.4% (0-11%) and swollen feet=4.4% (0-14%). Age was negatively associated with sole bruising (OR 0.42; CI 0.37, 0.50) and coronary band injury (OR 0.69; CI 0.60, 0.81) and positively associated with limb abrasions (OR 1.54; CI 1.12, 2.14). There was a reduced risk of sole bruising in piglets in pens with plastic slats with oval voids in the piglet area of the pen with a plastic solid area for piglets and metal slats under the crate (OR 0.32; CI 0.15, 0.70) compared with plastic stats throughout and a plastic solid area for piglets. There was an increased risk of sole erosion (OR 1.81; CI 1.07, 3.09) and foot and limb swellings (OR 1.90; CI 1.01, 3.57) in pigs in pens with metal slats only and a solid plastic area for piglets compared with plastic stats throughout and a solid plastic area for piglets. There was an increased risk of coronary band injury in pens with metal slats throughout and a metal solid area for piglets (OR 4.25; CI 1.96, 3.57) compared with plastic stats throughout and a plastic solid area for piglets. We conclude no single floor type was ideal for piglet foot and limb health with all floors influencing different lesions in different ways, however, the positive association between sole erosions, coronary band injury and foot and limb swellings and metal slats suggest that this floor type was most detrimental and most likely to be associated with joint infections that lead to severe health and welfare concerns.

Large quantities of straw at farrowing prevents bruising and increases weight gain in piglets

Two major welfare issues in current pig production are the lack of nesting material for farrowing sows and poor claw health in suckling piglets. Therefore, a strategic method to supply loose housed sows with large quantities of straw at farrowing has been developed by Swedish piglet-producing farmers. The objective of this cohort study was to estimate the effect of a large quantity of straw (15-20 kg) supplied before farrowing compared to limited daily amounts (0.5-1 kg) on bruising and growth performance in pre-weaning piglets. On each of four commercial piglet-producing farms in south-west Sweden, one batch of sows was studied during two consecutive lactations. At inclusion, sows were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, and sows remaining in the batch during the second lactation switched treatment group. In the STRAW group (n=181 litters) sows were provided with 15-20 kg of chopped straw 2 days prior to expected farrowing. Sows in the CONTROL group (n=182 litters) received 0.5-1 kg of chopped straw on a daily basis plus 2 kg for nest building when the stockperson judged the sow to be about to farrow. Piglets were individually weighed within 36 h after birth, at 3-7 days after birth and at weaning. On day 3-7, limbs and feet were clinically examined for the presence and location of lesions. In conclusion, the provision of 15-20 kg of straw 2 days prior to farrowing effectively prevents the piglets from developing skin abrasions (IRR=0.38) and soft heel/sole erosions (IRR=0.08-0.35). We also conclude that the strategic use of large quantities of straw has a positive effect on weight gain, increasing the expected mean body weight at weaning by 0.33 kg.

Invited review: piglet mortality: management solutions

Preweaning mortality varies greatly among herds and this is partly attributed to differences in farrowing house management. In this review, we describe the various management strategies than can be adopted to decrease mortality and critically examine the evidence that exists to support their use. First, we consider which management procedures are effective against specific causes of death: intrapartum stillbirth, hypothermia, starvation, disease, crushing, and savaging. The most effective techniques include intervention to assist dystocic sows, measures to prevent and treat sow hypogalactia, good farrowing house hygiene, providing newborn piglets with a warm microenvironment, early fostering of supernumerary piglets, methods that assist small and weak piglets to breathe and obtain colostrum, and intervention to prevent deaths from crushing and savaging. The provision of nest-building material and modifications to the pen to assist the sow when lying down may also be beneficial, but the evidence is less clear. Because most deaths occur around the time of farrowing and during the first few days of life, the periparturient period is a particularly important time for management interventions intended to reduce piglet mortality. A number of procedures require a stockperson to be present during and immediately after farrowing. Second, we consider the benefits of farrowing supervision for preweaning mortality in general, focusing particularly on methods for the treatment of dystocia and programs of piglet care that combine multiple procedures. Third, we discuss the need for good stockmanship if farrowing supervision is to be effective. Stockmanship refers not only to technical skills but also to the manner in which sows are handled because this influences their fearfulness of humans. We conclude that piglet survival can be improved by a range of management procedures, many of which occur in the perinatal period and require the supervision of farrowing by trained staff. Although this incurs additional labor costs, there is some evidence that this can be economically offset by improved piglet survival.

A cross sectional study of prevalence, risk factors, population attributable fractions and pathology for foot and limb lesions in preweaning piglets on commercial farms in England

BACKGROUND

In a cross sectional study of 88 indoor and outdoor English pig farms, the prevalence of foot and limb lesions in 2843 preweaning piglets aged 1-4 weeks from 304 litters was recorded. The environmental risks for the prevalence of lesions and population attributable fractions were calculated. The risks for lesions in piglets were compared with those for limb and body lesions in their mothers. A small number of piglets with each type of lesion were examined post mortem to elucidate the pathology of the clinical lesions observed.

RESULTS

The prevalence of sole bruising, sole erosion, skin abrasion and swollen joints or claws in 2843 piglets was 49.4% (1404), 15.5% (441), 43.6% (1240) and 4.7% (143) respectively. The prevalence of all foot and limb lesions was higher in indoor housed piglets than in outdoor housed piglets. The prevalence of sole bruising (OR 0.3) and skin abrasion (OR 0.6) decreased with each week of age from 1-4 weeks, but there was no significant association between piglet age and the prevalence of sole erosion or swollen joints and claws. There was an increased prevalence of sole bruising (OR 3.0) and swollen joints or claws (OR 3.0) and a decreased prevalence of skin abrasion (OR 0.3, piglets

CONCLUSION

Piglets housed outdoors had a very low prevalence of foot and limb injuries. Indoors, no one floor type was ideal to minimise all piglet foot and limb injuries and the flooring requirements of sows differed from those of piglets.

Collapse

Key Words Collapse

MESH Headings

• Agriculture
• Animals
• Animals, Suckling/physiology
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• England
• Extremities/pathology
• Female
• Foot Diseases/epidemiology
• Foot Diseases/pathology
• Foot Diseases/veterinary
• Housing, Animal/standards
• Male
• Prevalence
• Risk Factors
• Swine
• Swine Diseases/epidemiology
• Swine Diseases/pathology
• Wounds and Injuries/epidemiology
• Wounds and Injuries/pathology
• Wounds and Injuries/veterinary

Collapse

Grants Collapse

Affiliation(s) Collapse

Incidence of lameness and abrasions in piglets in identical farrowing pens with four different types of floor

BACKGROUND

Lameness in piglets is a major animal welfare issue. Floor abrasiveness is a common cause of superficial injury in piglets in farrowing pens. The abrasion achieved may act as a gate for infections, which in turn may induce development of infectious arthritis. In this study, the influence of improvements of the floor quality and of increased ratios of straw in identical farrowing pens was measured.

METHODS

The study was carried out at a herd with four identical farrowing units with solid concrete floor bedded with 1 kg chopped straw per sow and 1 hg per piglet and day. Nothing was changed in the management of the four identical farrowing units, but four experimental groups were created: Group I--control, Group II--the amount of bedding was doubled. The surface of the floor was repaired in two units, Group III--Piglet Floor, Flowcrete Sweden AB, Perstorp, Sweden and Group IV--Thorocrete SL, Växa Halland, Sweden. Three farrowing batches were studies in each unit. In total, 93 litters (1,073 piglets) were examined for foot and skin lesions until the age of 3 weeks. The occurrence of lameness was registered until weaning at an average age of 4.5 weeks. Twenty seven lame piglets were culled instead of medicinally treated and subjected to necropsy including histopathological and microbiological examinations. Isolates of streptococci, staphylococci and E. coli were tested with respect to antimicrobial resistance.

RESULTS

Piglet born on the repaired floors had the lowest prevalences of abrasions at carpus. Also the doubled straw ration decreased the abrasions. Skin lesions at carpus decreased significantly in magnitude in all four systems from day 10. At day 3, the sole bruising scores of the control unit were greater than the other three units (p < 0.001). At day 10 and 17, sole bruising was less common in the units with repaired floors than in the control group and the group with doubled straw ration. In total 41 piglets were diagnosed as lame, corresponding to 3.8% of all live-born piglets (n = 1,073). Around 85% of these diagnoses took place during the first 3 weeks of life and the risk incidence of lameness decreased from 1.5% during the first week of life to 0.5% during the fourth week. The incidence of lameness was highest in the control unit and lowest in the units with repaired floors. Twenty lame piglets were confirmed to have bacterial growth in the joint. The causative agents were Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (60%), Staphylococcus hyicus subsp. hyicus (35%) and Escherichia coli (5%). These isolates were sensitive to all antibiotics included in the antimicrobial panels.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that proper maintenance of the floor can prevent the degree of roughness and abrasiveness of the floors, which in turn can contribute significantly to prevention of abrasions, sole bruising and lameness in piglets. Maintaining the surface of concrete floors with two different commercially available solutions both decreased the incidence of abrasions and sole bruisings and thereby also of arthritis significantly. Also doubling the amount of chopped straw turned out to prevent development of skin lesions and sole bruisings to some extent, and subsequently also the incidence of arthritis.

Abrasions and lameness in piglets born in different farrowing systems with different types of floor

BACKGROUND

The quality of the floor is essential to the welfare of piglets as abrasions often are recorded in newborn piglets, and such lesions may lead to lameness. Apart from animal suffering, lameness contributes to losses in form of dead piglets, decreased growth, and increased use of antibiotics and manual labour.

METHODS

In a herd with three different farrowing systems, 37 litters (390 piglets) were studied until the age of 3 weeks with respect to presence of skin wounds and abrasions. Lameness was registered until the age of 7 weeks. Eight lame piglets were sacrificed before medical treatment and subjected to necropsy including histopathological and microbiological examinations. Isolates of streptococci, staphylococci and E. coli were tested with respect to antimicrobial resistance. Mastitis was observed in ten sows.

RESULTS

The most severe abrasions at carpus and soles were seen in the system with a new solid concrete floor with a slatted floor over the dunging area. The lowest magnitude was observed in the deep litter system with peat. Sole bruising was more common in the systems with concrete floor compared to the deep litter system with peat, and the differce in prevalence was significant at all examination days. The lesions decreased with time and about 75% of the treatments for lameness were performed during the first three weeks of life. The overall prevalence of lameness was highest in the system with new solid concrete floor with a slatted floor over the dunging area (9.4%) followed by the old solid concrete floor (7.5%). A lower (p < 0.05) prevalence was seen in the deep litters system with peat (3.3%). No significant relationship between mastitis and abrasions or lameness in the offspring was observed.

CONCLUSION

There were large differences in the prevalence of abrasions and lameness between the floor types. The deep litter system with peat provided a soft and good floor for piglets. The overall prevalence of lameness was only diagnosed in every fourth litter in that system compared to in every second litter in the systems with concrete floor. In contrast, the incidence of mastitis in the sows during the first week after farrowing was higher than in the systems with concrete floor.

Monitoramento das patologias em suínos no período de crescimento

Determinou-se, por meio de um sistema de monitoramento de suínos em fase de crescimento e em matadouro, a presença de patologias como indicadoras de problemas na população de referência. O estudo foi realizado em uma criação intensiva de ciclo completo, durante nove semanas. Foram determinadas as prevalências dos diagnósticos clínico-patológicos obtidos durante um período de nove semanas. Utilizaram-se cinco grupos de 43 leitões, com pesos de até 19kg, considerados de baixa performance. Estimaram-se, por intervalos de confiança de 95%, as prevalências acumuladas em cada monitoramento. Obteve-se correlação de 0,99 (P<0,0001) entre as prevalências anuais com as nove semanas de estudo, mostrando correspondência com o achado em matadouro. Amostras em semanas alternadas de três grupos de 43 animais são bons indicadores das patologias que afetam os suínos em crescimento, mesmo aquelas de baixa freqüência ou muito letais.

Preliminary assessment of finishing pig welfare using animal-based measurements

A preliminary investigation was undertaken to evaluate a series of animal-based welfare measures for the assessment of finishing pigs in units that were members of the RSPCA Freedom Food farm assurance scheme. A total of 20 finishing pig units were visited in the summer of 2002 and 14 of these were revisited in late winter 2003. Behavioural observations of the pigs, both undisturbed and disturbed by the observer, were made in 128 pens containing 9,444 pigs and the physical condition of 650 individuals was examined. A range of event behaviours were observed including social interactions. Play behaviour was observed in 66% of pens during ten-minute observation periods. The prevalence of physical conditions varied greatly between units. The most prevalent skin lesion was on the flank (40.8%) however, only 4.5% of pigs had both fresh and healed flank lesions suggestive of persistent fighting.

Lameness in Piglets. Abrasions in Nursing Piglets and Transfer of Protection towards Infections with Streptococci from Sow to Offspring

A group of 175 newborn piglets were monitored with respect to development of abrasions and lameness. Lameness was diagnosed in 10.9% of the piglets. About every second litter was affected and around 75% of these diagnoses took place during the first 3 weeks of life. Skin lesions were present already on day 3. They increased in magnitude until day 10 and thereafter declined. They were generally bilateral and most commonly observed as abrasions over the carpal joints. Hocks, face and tails were affected in a similar way, but at lower magnitudes. Sole bruising was observed in 87% of the piglets on the third day of life, and moderate to severe lesions dominated until day 10. Thereafter the incidence decreased, indicating healing with time. Still 39% of the piglets were affected at day 17. There was a significant positive correlation between skin lesions of carpus and hock within all examination days in selected piglets with known identity (n = 48). Between day 10 and 17 significant positive correlations were found within all examination sites with exception of abdomen and teats. The offspring of sows treated against mastitis expressed more abrasions then piglets delivered by healthy sows and the mortality during the first 17 days postpartum was significantly higher among piglets delivered by sows treated for mastitis. The level of serum antibodies to Streptococcus equisimilis in eight dams decreased during the last month of gestation and a declining maternal immunity to S. equisimilis was demonstrated in all piglets (n = 47) during the first 5 weeks of life. During the first 2 weeks of life somewhat lower median levels of serum antibodies were recorded among the piglets that were treated against arthritis (n = 8).

Four-year study of lameness in piglets at a research station

Lameness in piglets up to nine weeks old was studied in a research station herd for four years; 9411 piglets were born alive, of which 9.8 per cent were treated for lameness. In litters born to gilts, 9.9 per cent of the piglets were treated for lameness, in litters born to sows of parity 3, 11.4 per cent of the piglets were treated, but in litters born to sows of parity 4 to 7 the proportion of piglets treated for lameness decreased to about 8 per cent. Around 75 per cent of all cases were observed in piglets less than three weeks old; the incidence risk of lameness decreased from 2.7 per cent during the first week of life to 0.3 per cent after weaning. The average weight of affected piglets was reduced by approximately 8 per cent at nine weeks of age. There was no overall association between lameness and sex or birth weight within sex. The mortality among lame gilts was higher at all ages than among healthy gilts, but among barrows a higher mortality was observed only during the late suckling period. Litters with 12 or more piglets had a higher incidence of lameness. Clinical signs of disease in the sow and whether the piglets were given an intramuscular injection of 200 mg of iron on their second, third or fourth day of life had no effect on the incidence of lameness.