Pigs

Did you know?

• A male pig is called a boar
• A female pig that has not had a litter is called a gilt
• A female pig that has had a little is called a sow
• A baby pig is called a piglet
• The gestation period of a pig is 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days
• A sow normally gives birth to between 6 and 12 piglets
• A sow can have two litters of piglets each year
• A sow will feed its piglets for about 6-8 weeks
• Pigs have no sweat glands, so dont sweat, and white pigs risk sunburn, so they roll in mud to keep themselves cool and protected.
• Pigs are extremely clean, and they are careful not to soil the area where they live.

 Feeding Pigs

Young pigs have a very high nutrient requirement, but a relatively low appetite. To maximise nutrient intake and growth rate they are given feeds with high concentrations of energy, amino acids and minerals. As pigs age, their appetites improve and their requirements for amino acids and other nutrients decline as growth slows.

Pellets are the most commonly used feed form and reportedly increase feeding efficiency and feed intake. Meal is cheaper to produce than pellets. Meal is generally a coarse grist product, which can be beneficial for digestion as well as giving better flowability and reduced dust. Compared with pellets, feed conversion tends to be poorer, but mortality can be lower when meal is fed. Meal has been shown to be beneficial in on-farm health challenge situations by reducing the incidence of diarrhoea.

Traditional breeds of pigs:

Berkshire: smaller pig, with black skin, white socks and a white nose, pricked ears
British Lop: larger pig, all pink/white and with lopped ears
Gloucester Old Spot: larger pig, pink/white with black spots and lopped ears
Large Black: larger pig, all black with lopped ears
Middle White: smaller pig, pink/white with lopped ears and a scrunched up nose (looks as though it has run into a wall)
Oxford Sandy and Black: medium to larger pig, ginger/sandy colour with black blotches, with lopped ears
Tamworth: medium to larger pig, red/organge colour, pricked ears and a long snout
Landrace: larger pig, pink/white colour with lopped ears
British Saddleback: larger pig, black with a white saddle over the shoulders and down the front legs, lopped ears
Large White: larger pig, pink/white colour with lopped ears
Welsh: larger pig, pink/white colour with lopped ears

Modern breeds of pigs:

Duroc: medium pig, orange/brown colouring, with semi lopped ears
Hampshire: medium pig, very similar to the British Saddleback, but with pricked ears. black pig, with white saddle over shoulders and down frontlegs.
Pietrain: medium to larger pig, greyish white body with dark spots, heavy muscling, and semi lop ears