Back to: Animal Husbandry SS 1
3. PIG
Pigs are non-ruminant animals and they belong to the family called sudae. There are two main species of pigs_sus sacrofa and sus vittatus.
Breeds of Pig
(1) Large White
(2) Large Black
(3) Duroc Jersey
(4) Poland China
(5) Tamworth
(6) West African Dwarf pig
(7) Hampshire str
(8) American Landrace
(9) Chester White.
(10) Belgium Pie Train
All the breed types are grouped into three classes:
(a) Meat type
(b) Lard type
(c) The Bacon type.
Pigs are reared mainly for meat, pig skin, bristle and manure.
Terminology Used in Pig
Boar – A mature male pig.
Sow – A mature female pig.
Gilt – A female pig that is mature to reproduce or has reproduced once.
Piglet – The young or baby pig.
Weaners – Young pigs just separated from the mother.
Fatteners – Old pigs reared for the market.
Barrow – A castrated male pig
Farrowing – The act of parturition in pig
In sow – Pregnant sow.
Dry Sow – Sow that is not pregnant
Pork – The meat of pig.
Bacon – Salted pig meat
Lard – Pig meat with fat.
Characteristicss of Pigs
(1) Pigs are very prolific animals. At 8-9 months of age, a gilt is mature and can farrow twice a year, producing 8-10 piglets per litter.
(2) It has a short gestation period of 114 days, i.e., three months, three weeks and three days.
(3) They mature very early. A piglet gets to 60-90kg market weight in 6-9 months.
(4) Pigs are good converters of feed into meat. They can easily convert industrial, agricultural and compounded feed into meat more cheaply and rapidly than most other domestic animals.
(5) Pigs have an excellent dressing percentage, i.e. the proportion of flesh to bone is high.
(6) Pigs require a very little investment in terms of building and equipment.
(7) Pigs are polyoestrus animals. This means that pigs can be bred at any time of the year.
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