Swine, Pigs and Hogs – The basics

Animal terms:

Boar – entire male pig
Castrate/ Barrow – male pig castrated
Gilt – female from birth to having her first piglets
Sow – a female who has had piglets
Piglet – young pig which has not been weaned
Weaning – Removing the piglets from the lactating sow
Weaner – a pig after weaning – generally 18-24 days of age until 30 kg (66 lbs)
Grower – a pig older than 30 kg (66 lbs) – feeder pig

Finisher – a pig older than 60 kg (120 lbs)

Farrowing – giving birth - parturition

Lactating – producing milk

Gestating – the period from weaning to giving birth (dry sow period elsewhere)

Litter – each group of piglets from a sow

Parity – each parity refers to each separate farrowing – a 3^rd parity sow has had three litters

Mummified piglet – fetus which died during gestation born in a state of mummification

Stillborn – piglet born dead – but otherwise normal

Fostering – moving piglets between sows to assist them getting enough milk

Colostrum – the first milk after farrowing – full of antibodies

Processing – the variety of procedures carried out on piglets – castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, ear notching and an iron injection.

Pre-weaning mortality – the number of piglets who die in the farrowing house

Post-weaning mortality – the number of weaners/grower or finishers who die in the post-weaning period until slaughter

Breeding/service – the mating process

Weaning to breeding interval – the days between weaning until the next breeding

Repeat – a sow or gilt who fails to conceive

Conceive – to become pregnant

Farrowing rate – number of animals bred / number of animals who actually farrow

Culling – removal of an animal from the farm

Body condition score – a method of estimating amount of body fat 5 point scale 1-5

Food conversion ration – FCR – the rate of growth (g) / amount of dry food eaten (g)

Growth rate – number of grams increase in bodyweight per day

Types of production:

Farrowing house – the room where sows and gilts give birth and lactate

Gestation barn / dry sow house – where the sows live while pregnant

Nursery – the room where pigs live from weaning to about 30 kg

Grow/finish – the room where pigs live from 30 kg until slaughter

Wean to finish – a room where pigs live from weaning to slaughter

All-in/all-out – the process where buildings are emptied of one group of pigs, thoroughly cleaned and then populated with a new group of pigs

Batch – one group of pigs

Batch farrowing – a group of sows and gilts breed to farrow in a group

Three site production – a system where pigs are reared on three separate farms – classically gestation and farrowing on one farm/site : nursery on another and grow/finish on a third site.

Two site production – a system where pigs are reared on two separate farms – classically two forms – a) gestation, farrowing and nursery on one farm/site and the grower/finisher on another farm/site.

b) gestation and farrowing on one farm and wean to finish on another

Some variations in gestation housing:

Crates/stalls, ESF (Electronic sow feeding), trickle feeding (feeding small amounts over a short period of time), outdoor – housed outside in arcs.

Some basic facts:

Age at breeding – varies: for a gilt 220 days; for a boar about 7 months

Estrus cycle – 18-24 days – three weeks

Gestation – 115 days – three months, three weeks and three days

Breeding season – generally none – poorer in the summer and early autumn

Slaughter weight – about 114 kg (250-280 lbs) at about 26 weeks of age