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Lameness and fertility of sows and gilts in randomly selected loose-housed herds in Finland

¹ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Saari Unit, Pohjoinen pikatie 800, 04920 Saarentaus, Finland

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.