Use of rubber mats in farrowing pens for loose housed sows

Poor claw health of preweaning piglets is regarded as a major welfare issue in today’s pig industry. Rough concrete flooring is a well known risk factor for development of abrasions on claws and limbs. The aim of the present study was to investigate if use of rubber mats on the solid laying area in the farrowing pen for loose housed sows, were able to prevent development of skin and claw abrasions in suckling piglets compared to the original solid concrete floor.The study was carried out on two commercial piglet producing farms during February - December 2012. Two types of solid rubber mats with different softness were installed on the lying area. The harder mat (PORCA relax, Kraiburg Elastik GmbH) was installed in 3 pens in farm A and 2 pens in farm B. The softer mat (KKM Porca prototype, Kraiburg Elastik GmbH) was installed in 4 pens in farm A and in 2 pens on farm B. In total, the limbs and claws of 759 piglets from 67 litters were clinically examined when the piglets were 4-12 days old (18 litters from hard rubber pens, 16 litters from soft rubber pens, 33 litters from concrete pens).Skin and claw abrasions were found in 72 % of the examined piglets in farm A and in 68 % of the examined piglets in farm B. Skin abrasions on the knee was the most common lesion found, followed by soft heel erosions, sole erosions and skin abrasions at the fetlocks. On both farms, installation of rubber mats (soft and hard) resulted in significantly less soft heel erosions (p<0.05). Sole erosions were also less found on both types of rubber mats in farm A but only on the softer mat (KKM porca prototype) in farm B compared to concrete flooring. However, use of rubber mats did not prevent piglets from getting skin abrasions on knees and fetlocks. In order to prevent all types of lesions, it is therefore advisable to also provide the pen with sufficient quantities of straw or similar material during the piglet’s first days of life when the lesions develop.