Maximizing sow longevity is the most effective way to dilute gilt development costs and boost lifetime pigs weaned. Yet, many pork operations fail to reach peak herd profitability because they overlook a critical, early-life factor that determines whether a sow ever achieves her full productive potential.
“Longevity is already a main KPI for most producers,” says Lucas Rodrigues, Ph.D., swine technical manager with Zinpro. “The opportunity isn’t just focusing on longevity. It’s recognizing the factors that determine whether a sow stays in the herd long enough to reach her genetic potential.”
Rodrigues believes it’s time to pay closer attention to claw health as a KPI because it can provide an earlier indication of future performance. Most producers monitor longevity and production metrics such as conception rate, farrowing rate and pigs weaned. He says claw health provides an even more complete management picture.
When Do Longevity Issues Begin?
Most culls are the result of issues that begin months, or even years before the cull takes place.
“Sow lameness has a remarkable effect indirectly on a sow farm’s reproductive efficiency,” says Jason Ross, who serves as the chair of the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. “Sow lameness is a primary reason sows leave the herd early and as a result, compromises pigs weaned per sow per year.”
When you start investigating why a sow became lame, Rodrigues says you’ll often find the process started much earlier with claw lesions that developed over time.
Research has shown claw quality established as early as parity one can influence productivity throughout a sow’s lifetime. Sows entering production with poor claw quality consistently produced fewer piglets across multiple parities and experienced higher stillborn rates than sows with healthier claws.
“If a sow starts her productive life with poor claw quality, that concern often continues throughout her lifetime,” Rodrigues says. “Lesions don’t just affect mobility later on. We’ve also seen associations with farrowing performance and overall productivity.”
How Does Trace Mineral Nutrition Boost Claw Health?
There’s no question that management practices such as housing, flooring and stocking density all influence claw health, but Rodrigues points out that trace mineral nutrition plays a critical role in supporting claw integrity over time, too.
Trace minerals are essential for the formation and maintenance of keratinized tissues, including the hoof. When trace mineral nutrition is optimized, it supports stronger claw structure, improved tissue integrity and greater resilience to the daily stresses.
“Nutrition is one of the most proactive tools producers have,” Rodrigues says. “Using bioeffective trace minerals helps ensure those nutrients are utilized where they’re needed to support claw health before problems become visible.”
In one operation where routine claw evaluations prompted changes to the farm’s trace mineral program and management practices, Rodrigues recalls how claw lesion scores began improving alongside production performance after a couple months of the new program. But when the trace mineral program was reversed, claw lesion scores and performance gradually declined again.
“It reinforced that claw health isn’t something you fix once,” Rodrigues says. “It’s something you continue managing throughout the sow’s productive life.”
Why Is Claw Health More Important Than Ever?
Unlike a lame sow, which is easy to identify, early claw lesions are not as easy to identify.
“A sow can still produce reasonably well while carrying claw lesions,” he says. “That’s why they can be overlooked. But over time, those lesions can worsen, reducing productivity and eventually contributing to removal from the herd.”
Supporting claw health before lesions become a bigger problem is key, Rodrigues says. Regularly evaluating claws and implementing a targeted trace mineral nutrition program can help maintain claw integrity and reduce lesion risk throughout a sow’s productive life.
Although claw health has always influenced sow longevity, Rodrigues says today’s production systems make proactive management even more important. With more U.S. producers implementing group housing systems, claw health is expected to become an even bigger consideration.
Group housing allows greater freedom of movement, but it also increases interactions among sows as they establish hierarchy. The additional movement and competition can place additional stress on claws.
“Group housing itself isn’t the problem,” Rodrigues says. “It just means we need to pay closer attention to how we’re managing those sows and how we support them nutritionally to handle that added stress.”
Measuring the factors that drive longevity and proactively supporting claw health should result in healthier sows that stay in the herd longer, he says.
