Swine Lab Flashcards

1
Q

Pig General Features

A
  • the majority of the hogs produced in the US are confinement-reared
  • Midwest has highest pork production
  • this is because the Midwest also produces corn, the primary feed for pigs
  • the number of pigs on a farm in the US is increasing
  • the number of pig farms in the US is decreasing
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2
Q

Domestication

A
  • much later than other livestock because they were not as easy to travel with as sheep, cattle, or horses
  • certain religions (Judaism, Islam) forbid the consumption of pigs
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3
Q

Dressing Percentage

A
  • pig carcasses have a very high dressing percentage, typically around 75%, meaning that a 60 kg pig will produce approximately a 45 kg carcass
  • this dressing percentage is higher than that of both sheep and cattle
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4
Q

Yorkshire

A
  • white; erect ears
  • very prolific
  • good maternal quality
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5
Q

Hampshire

A
  • black color with white belt around shoulders; erect ears
  • not very prolific and average maternal ability
  • excellent carcass yield
  • good meat quality
  • leanest breed
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6
Q

Duroc

A
  • red; floppy ears
  • very prolific
  • poor mothers (do not lactate well, etc.)
  • meaty body type; best rate of gain
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7
Q

Landrace

A
  • white; large floppy ears
  • finer bone structure than Yorkshire
  • very prolific and good maternal ability
  • known for confinement adaptability
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8
Q

Production Cycle of Swine

A
  • see lab manual pg. 80
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9
Q

Farrow-to-Wean Operation

A
  • breeds and farrows sows/gilts and raises baby pigs until weaning at approximately 3-4 weeks of age
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10
Q

Nursery

A
  • weaned pigs are raised in a nursery for about 8 weeks after weaning
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11
Q

Grow-to-Finish

A
  • after leaving the nursery
  • pigs are raised in this facility for 11-12 weeks until reaching market weight, going to slaughterhouse at approximately 23-24 weeks of age
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12
Q

Farrow-to-Finish

A
  • breeds, farrows, and finishes
  • no longer common in the commercial swine industry
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13
Q

Purebred and Show Stock Breeders

A
  • similar to farrow-to-finish, except that the animals are used primarily as breeding boars and gilts or show pigs
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14
Q

Boar

A
  • intact male pig
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15
Q

Sow

A
  • mature female pig
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16
Q

Gilt

A
  • young female pig
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17
Q

Barrow

A
  • male pig castrated before sexual maturity
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18
Q

Stag

A
  • male castrated after reaching sexual maturity
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19
Q

Hog

A
  • mature/market pigs over 54 kg
  • swine, hog, and pig are typically interchangeable terms
20
Q

Basic Husbandry Practices

A
  • antibiotics not used in regular production
  • antibiotics only for sick animals
  • moving animals is done with as little stress as possible
21
Q

Biosecurity

A
  • measures taken to prevent the herd from being exposed to pathogens it has not previously been exposed to
  • includes segregation, cleaning, and disinfection
22
Q

Segregation

A
  • control of animal entry from areas outside of immediate farm
  • maintaining farm-only work clothing
23
Q

Cleaning and Disinfection

A
  • high- and low-pressure washing of facilities
  • personnel shower in/shower out
  • foot baths
24
Q

UC Davis

A
  • “specific pathogen free” facility
  • strict about entry reqs but do not exclude students, etc., because of what we try and share
25
Q

Piglet Processing

A
  • multiple procedures, typically done together
  • 1 day after birth: clip needle-teeth, dock tails, ear notch, maybe give antibiotics
  • 3 days after birth: iron dextran injection, castrate males
26
Q

Ear Notching and Anatomy

A
  • see lab manual pg. 82
27
Q

Breeding

A
  • 90-95% of breeding done by AI
  • breeding stock is generally purebred
  • market animals are generally crossbred
28
Q

Puberty

A
  • gilts: 5-7 mo, 68-113 kg (150-250 lbs)
  • boars: 5-8 mo, 79-113 kg (175-250 lbs)
29
Q

Estrous Cycle

A
  • 21 days
  • non-seasonally polyestrous
30
Q

Signs of Heat

A
  • standing to be mounted (can apply pressure on sow’s back with hands to check)
  • restlessness
  • frequent urination
  • enlargement and discharge from the vulva
31
Q

Ovulation

A
  • 24-36 hours after onset of estrus
32
Q

Gestation

A
  • 114 days
  • 3 mo, 3 weeks, 3 days
33
Q

Normal Litter Size

A

8-10

34
Q

Areas of Interest When Selecting Breeding and Replacement Pigs

A
  • prolificacy (the number of pigs produced over a lifetime)
  • weaning weight of the litter
  • the effectiveness of selecting for pigs to breed that have desirable outcomes for these traits is dependent on the heritability of those traits
  • traits w/ high heritability can have the most rapid improvement through generations
35
Q

Heritability of Economic Traits

A
  • carcass length: 60% heritability
  • basically meat characteristics more heritable than breeding characteristics
36
Q

Applied Nutrition

A
  • swine diets are largely corn and soybeans
  • other ingredients: milo, oats, barley, wheat, alfalfa meal, almond hulls, brewers grains, etc.
  • primarily concentrates (below 18-20% crude fiber, such as corn)
  • need good quality protein feeding
  • protein must have all of the essential AAs
37
Q

Digestive System

A
  • non-ruminants, having a single, simple stomach
  • they cannot utilize roughages (above 18-20% crude fiber, such as alfalfa hay) as well as ruminants (like cattle, sheep, and goats)
  • pig has cecum and, w/ colon, allows some limited use of fibrous feeds under certain conditions
38
Q

Essential Amino Acids

A
  • when the amino acid cannot be made at all by the animal or be made fast enough to satisfy its requirements
  • lysine is the limiting, essential amino acid for swine
39
Q

Rules of Thumb for Diet

A
  • 3-4% of body weight per day in dry matter
  • pigs in maintenance require 1.5-3.5 gallons of water daily
  • pregnant sows require 4-5 gallons of water daily
  • lactating sows require 5-6.5 gallons of water daily
40
Q

Housing

A
  • farrowing room and nursery are kept constantly warm
  • manure is flushed either under the pens (nursery, farrowing room) or at the back of the pens (growers)
  • the waste water typically goes typically goes to a lagoon for spreading back onto fields
  • ammonia gas is important to watch out for as it can be released from wastewater and can affect animal health
41
Q

Porcine Stress Syndrome (PSS)

A
  • shock-like syndrome that was most common in the 1960s and 1970s as the result of breeding almost exclusively for heavily muscled pigs
  • partial or total confinement of pigs exacerbates the condition
  • stress is induced through routine management procedures (moving, handling)
  • symptoms include open-mouthed breathing, fever, tremors, and PSE (pale, soft exudative) pork
  • when pigs with the condition survive through to slaughter the pork is PSE and unsellable
  • the best control for PSS is not breeding pigs w/ PSS and DNA testing for PSS
42
Q

Exudative Epidermitis

A
  • skin disease that occurs in baby pigs aged 5-60 days old
  • affects 10-90% of baby pigs
  • skin lesions caused by Staphylococcus hyicus entering cuts that are caused by fighting between baby pigs (why you need to clip tails and needle teeth)
  • immunity to this disease can be passed through the colostrum of mature sows who are immune themselves
  • antibiotics can also be used to treat this disease (exudative epidermitis, N.D.)
43
Q

Hog Panel (Hurdles)

A
  • to move hogs, particularly when animals are in large groups
44
Q

Ear Notcher

A
  • used to place notches in the ears as a means of permanent identification
45
Q

Farrowing Crate

A
  • pens used to house and restrain the sow so that she does not crush the baby pigs
  • the sow is brought in about 3-4 days prior to farrowing
  • once baby pigs are born, they will remain in the farrowing crate for about to 21 days
46
Q

Teeth Nippers

A
  • to clip the needle teeth of baby pigs
  • can also be used to dock the tails of baby pigs