Porcine Husbandry

Chapter 22

Courtesy of Sasha Jones Royal 2012http://quizlet.com/11439778/piggies-and-ears-flash-cards/

Objectives

• zoological classification of the species.• terminology associated with the species.• TPR• common instruments relevant to the species and their

uses. • prominent anatomical or physiological properties of

the species.• Identify and describe characteristics of common

breeds. • ear notching

Reading Assignment

Chapter 22: Porcine HusbandryChapter 2: restraint

Zoological Classification

• Kingdom - Animal• Phylum - Chordata• Class - Mammalia• Order – Artiodactyla• Family – Suidae• Genus and species

– Sus – Scrofa - Vittatus

Terminology

• Swine: Refers to the porcine species

• Sow: Mature intact female

• Boar: Mature intact male

• Barrow: Male castrated before puberty

• Stag: Male castrated after puberty

Barrow Swine, Overall Champion Market Barrow, Linda Miller, Alma, KS. Photo by Jim Meyer.

Terminology (cont’d)

• Gilt: Immature female, before the birth of her first litter• Farrowing: The act of parturition• Piglet: Very young, small pig, generally from birth to weaning• Shoat: Intact male, before puberty; sometimes used as a

synonym for pig• Pig: Young swine of either sex, less than 120 lb (about 4

months old)• Hog: Large swine, more than 120 lb, of either sex; commercial

swine producers usually prefer this term when referring to any size of swine

Sus scrofa

• Some believe that pigs were the earliest animal to be domesticated, not the cat or dog.

• Paintings and carvings of pigs over 25,000 years ago have been found. The Chinese domesticated pigs 7,000 years ago

Physiological Data

• Temperature– 101º to 103.5º F

• Pulse rate– 60 to 90 per minute; 200 to 280 per minute in

newborns• Respiration rate

– 10 to 24 per minute; up to 50 in very young swine• Adult weight

– Varies by breed

Front one-third: Head, neck, snout jowl, shoulder, knee, pastern, elbow pocket

Middle one-third: Back, loin, length of side, underline (belly), Fore flank, rear flank

Rear one-third:Rump, tail, vulva, ham, hock, dew claw, toe, stifle region of the ham

Value• Front 1/3:

– shoulder : Boston Butt and the Picnic Shoulder

– jowl, feet, and neck bones

• Middle 1/3– loin and spare ribs:

most valuable• Loin: 20 cuts.

Canadian Style Bacon, Pizza, and chops

– Belly – bacon

Anatomical terms

Anatomical Terms

Internal organs

• Respiratory: – Laryngeal diverticulum – Lungs

• Right - 4 lobes (cranial, middle, caudal, accessory)

• Left - 2 lobes (cranial caudal)

• Cardiovascular– Left cardiac notch larger than

right – External jugular in deep.

Internal organs

• GI: Spiral colon:– Left side: Coiled in

two directions – Ascending colon

Uses of pigs other than for eating

Organ donors Source of biological materials, ex. Insulin or

heparin Model for biomedical research For entertainment As pets As truffle-finders (they are smell experts)

Swine Breeds

Breeds

• Use synthetic lines (crossbreeding)– Maternal lines

• More pigs/litter• Higher milk production• Docile temperament

– Terminal lines• Fast growth• Well – muscled meaty carcass• Durable• Leaner

American Landrace

• Denmark• maternal instincts

(large litters over extended time)

• White, Long, Flatter-topped

• sixteen or seventeen pairs of ribs

• hair color must be white

with drooping ears

American Landrace

Maternal breed, cross breeding

Berkshire

• England– Once kept at

Buckingham Palace• Black with 6 white

points: white legs, snout and switch

• Erect ears• Dished snout• high quality meats• Fast efficient growth

Berkshire

Terminal breed

Chester White

• Chester County, PA• White with long droopy ears• Mothering breed

Chester White

Duroc

• United States– One of the most

popular breed in US• Solid red • Ears droop forward• Slight dish to the face• Excellent meat type

hog

Duroc

Duroc/ Tamworth

Hampshire• United States

– oldest American breed

• Black with a white belt• Small, erect ears• Well-known meat breed

– Lean meat• Good rustling (foraging)• Crossbreeding• Terminal breed

Hampshire

Hereford

• Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska

• crossing Berkshires and Durocs

• Red with white face, legs and underline, long neck

• Medium-sized, drooping ear

• Good rustling (foraging)• Good mums, prolific

Hereford

Poland China

• US• black with 6 white points:

snouts, legs and switch• drooped ears • large breed• easily gain weight• quiet dispositions• generally poor mothers• terminal breed

Poland China

Spots/ Spotted swine

• Indiana• Black and white spots:

20-80% black/white• Efficient feeders• Noted for rapid weight

gain• Droopy ears• Terminal

Spotted Swine

Tamworth

• Ireland• red in color• deep-sided• well-arched back• erect ears• bacon breed• good mothers and large

litters• good foragers • very active

Tamworth

Yorkshire• England

– Popular in US and Canada• White (skin can have freckles)• Large, erect ears• Known as “The Mother Breed”

– maternal breed– Produces large litters

• Bacon-type hog: long carcass• High feed efficiency• Crossbreeding

Yorkshire

Vietnamese Potbelly

• Dwarf swine breed : 1960's in Vietnam

• In 1986: thousands of dollars

• weigh an average of 70-150 lb. with some reaching 200 lb. or more; they average 3-ft. long and 15-inches tall.

• Full growth: 5 years of age. • Colors: solid black to solid

white, with a variety of spots in between.

Vietnamese Potbelly……..

• Pets: but these pigs do not necessarily stay small, cute, or cuddly.

• Unspayed females suffer from "PMS" and strong mood swings; intact males produce a pungent odor in addition to displaying other unpleasant traits-neither are desirable pets

• As stated above, their average weight is close to 100 lb., and they do not like to be picked up or held.

• Unlike cats and dogs, pigs are prey not predators, so being lifted up or restrained causes them extreme alarm.

Potbellied Pig

• Pig story• 50% are abandoned or sent to another home

in their 1st year of life

Yucatan miniature

• Southern Mexico. • natural occurring

miniature pig• Cardiovascular research • Diabetes studies • Facial mandibular

research • Regenerative Medicine • Skin research

Yucatan miniature

• Charles River's mini pigs– small Yucatan strains

developed at Colorado State University from foundation animals imported from the Yucatan peninsula in 1960.

– Black or slate grey, relatively hairless, short profile and shortsnout

Blue butt pig

• No register as a breed

• Show animal for FFA programs

• Cross breding between a dark and white pig (York-Ham)

Ear Notching in Swine

Reasons for ear notching

• A permanent ID system – 1-3 days old

• Individual identity for all animals • Inexpensive means of identification• Enables producers to keep an accurate set of

records

Tools – Ear notching

• Ear Notcher’s – clean with toothbrush in hot

soapy water– disinfectant notcher’s :

surgical spirit for 10 minutes – Store dry within a plastic bag

• larger pigs– wound dressing– house them in separate pens

http://www.neogen.com/7500-01.htm

Ear notching

• Don’t make too shallow• Leave at least 1/4 inch

between notches• Avoid making notches

too close to the head. • Putting the notches in

the right locations

Principles of the system

• right and left: pig's perspective. – Same as yours if you are

standing in back of the pig– Reversed if you face the pig

• pig's right ear = litter ear. – When a sow has a litter, all

pigs in the litter receive identical notches on the right ear.

• left ear in pigs = unique notch.

Principles of the system

1 through 161

Except for the 81 notch, there can be two notches at each of the four locations

27981

3

1

9

31

Right EarLitter

Number

Left EarPig

Number

1

3

9

1

3

9 27

What are this pig’s numbers?

What are this pig’s numbers?

http://www.boarsemen.com/boarpen/earpart2.htm

Resources

• http://biology.ucok.edu/AnimalBiology/pigweb/pig.html• http://www.depts.ttu.edu/porkindustryinstitute/Swine

%20Production%20class/A&P%20lecture%202003_files/frame.htm

• http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/pregastric/pigpage.html

• http://netvet.wustl.edu/species/pigs/pignotes.txt• http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/swine• K Holtgrew-Bohling , Large Animal Clinical Procedures for

Veterinary Technicians, 2nd Edition, Mosby, 2012, ISBN: 97803223077323

References

• http://www.boarsemen.com/boarpen/earpart1.htm