Nilsson, Christer
- Department of Rural Buildings and Animal Husbandry [LBT], Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Claw injuries, leg weakness, or locomotor disorders are common problems in pigs. These disorders have been documented in scientific research for many years but the principal cause of the problem has been hard to find. In literature gait and force analysis have proven to be promising methods in linking claw injuries to surface material conditions. In present experiments the objective was to investigate if pig gait in different floor conditions can be characterised by a combination of kinematic and kinetic methods. To determine the relationship between claw disorder and floor physical properties, the factors controlling gait must be characterised. In the studies this was achieved by using kinematics and kinetics to record gait parameters and slip frequency. Kinematics were used to record gait parameters such as walking speed, stride length, swing and stance time, stride elevation together with limb support phases, gait symmetry, diagonality and duty factor. This was done by using two different types of digital video cameras with 25 Hz and 60 Hz frequency respectively. In both cases the film was imported, processed, and digitised in a commercial gait analysis programme. The kinetic method included a force plate which was used to record kinetic gait parameters such as stance time, vertical and horizontal forces, and time of peak vertical force. Ground reaction force (GRF) data were collected during the passage of moving pigs at 1 kHz. In the GRF data acquisition system the force plate was connected to a digital converter and a computer. The GRF was presented as three orthogonal components (longitudinal, latitudinal, and vertical force). The kinematic and kinetic methods proved to be reliable techniques for assessment of relevant gait parameters in characterising pig gait. The subject can be used as indicator in finding floor properties that better comply with the biological needs of the pig
Keywords
Kinematics; Kinetics; Pig; Floor; Walk; Friction; Slip
Published in
Title: Proceedings of the XVIIth World Congress of the CIGR
Publisher: Canadian Society for Bioengineering (CSBE/SCGAB)
Conference
XVIIth World Congress of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR)
SLU Authors
Von Wachenfelt, Hans
- Department of Rural Buildings and Animal Husbandry [LBT], Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Rural Buildings and Animal Husbandry [LBT], Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Pinzke, Stefan
- Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Veterinary Science
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/30167