Skin Lesions and Callosities in Group-Housed Pregnant Sows: Animal-Related Welfare Indicators

Effects of stall or small group gestation housing on the production, health and behaviour of gilts

“…Leeb et al (2001) suggested that the opportunity to move around reduces the incidence of callosities, but we found no greater incidence of calluses in stall-housed animals. However, callused areas did not appear to cause pain or impair mobility.…”

Welfare of entire males and females in organic pig production when reared in single-sex groups

“…Lesions located on the front part of the body (front, chest and side) predominantly come from reciprocal fighting (Turner et al, 2006). Lesions located on the rear end (hind quarter) may originate from bites directed at a fleeing opponent (Turner et al, 2006), competition for food (Leeb et al, 2001), or lesions from mounting (Rydhmer et al, 2006). We predominantly found lesions on the front part of the pigs, which suggests that aggression among the pigs may have occurred frequently even if the aggressive interactions observed were of low intensity.…”

Hierarchy formation in newly mixed, group housed sows and management strategies aimed at reducing its impact

“…This aggression results in superficial skin lesions (Stukenborg et al, 2011) predominantly to the front third of the body (Turner et al, 2006;Spoolder et al, 2009). Lacerations on the shoulders of sows have been associated with the number of aggressive encounters (Jensen and Woodgush, 1984;Barnett et al, 1992;Zurbrigg and Blackwell, 2005), whereas lesions on the rear have been linked with competition for food (Leeb et al, 2001) and attacks on retreating sows (Mount and Seabrook, 1993). Injuries are linked to adverse welfare, as injuries are a source of pain or discomfort, make areas susceptible to infection and also indicate that conflict has taken place (Hodgkiss et al, 1998).…”