Footing and gait of pigs on different concrete surfaces

Because pigs frequently lose their footing and slip, it is important to understand slipping and its relation to different floor surfaces. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the gait and footing of young pigs walking on concrete floor surfaces having known friction characteristics and to determine critical skid resistance values in terms of the fitness of a concrete surface for flooring in pig quarters. Barrows were cinematographed with a high-speed 16-mm camera as they walked on various surfaces, and gait and footing were subsequently analyzed in motion studies. The six concrete floor test pads with different surface treatments (fine and coarse sand, fine and coarse broom, wood float and steel trowel) were evaluated for friction coefficient (skid resistance value) using a British pendulum tester both before and after pig tests. Leg angle, pastern angle and time variables were not related with average skid resistance value of the different floors. However, slip variables during a stride's stance phase per se were well related to surface-treatment differences in average skid resistance. Thus, the average skid resistance value generated by the British pendulum tester yielded one piece of objective information useful in assessing the fitness of concrete surfaces for floors in pig quarters. All the surfaces except the steel trowel surface had average skid resistance value of greater than 65 British pendulum number, and they all reduced a pig's chance of slipping relative to the steel trowel (less than 60 British pendulum number). The front leg was a more sensitive indicator than the rear of a floor's effect on the pig's gait and footing.