Domestic pig and its breeding

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A pig is a large cloven-hoofed animal, domesticated, according to some sources, about 7000 years ago, according to others, more than 12,000 years ago. Taurus and pigs are among the most ancient animals tamed for meat. It is believed that domestic pigs came to Europe from the Middle East region. They then interbred with wild boars. For breeding to be successful, the pig must be studied from A to Z, otherwise diseases, improper feeding can reduce the economic benefit to zero.

Pig

Description and types of pigs

All domestic pigs are non-ruminant artiodactyls from the pig family. They trace their ancestry from a wild boar. The number of chromosomes of wild and domestic subspecies is the same, 38 pairs. It is possible that European breeds have the blood of some Middle Eastern species. In modern pig breeding, they are actively used for crossing Asian, primarily Vietnamese, pigs.

Types of wild pigs

In nature, 22 species of pigs were known, to date, evolution has preserved only seven:

• Babirusa. The only habitat is the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, it can be seen in the zoo, it has numerous fangs on its face.
• Big African pig or forest pig. Lives in the equatorial jungles of Africa, the largest representative of the family.
• African warthog. Lives in the African savannah, has growths on the face that resemble warts.
• Wild boars or boars. The European species that inhabits our forests, which everyone knows, from him came the domestic pigs.
• Bearded pig. A long-legged boar with thick hair on its face, it lives in Southeast Asia.
• Dwarf pig, or minipigs. An endangered species that lives in Nepal, at the foot of the Himalayas. Tiny animals are about 35 cm tall and are often bred as pets.
• Pig-eared pig. Lives in the Central and Western regions of Africa. These are very variegated and beautiful piglets, their muzzle is black, the body is covered with red or red-yellow bristles, and a white stripe runs along the back.

Description of the domestic pig

The anatomy and structure of the domestic pig, be it a meat or greasy breed, is similar to that of wild relatives. The pig has an elongated cylindrical body, the size of which is about 1.5 m. The limbs are short, with four fingers, 2 of them are covered with a horny hoof. The pig's muzzle is elongated, ending in a round patch. The stigma helps the animal to dig holes. The jaw consists of 44 teeth, the canines are well developed. Pork smooth skin is almost naked, covered with thin bristles, although there are breeds with rather thick hair. The tail is always curled.

Pigs have weak eyesight, but hearing and scent are well developed. No wonder these animals are bred in France to search for truffles underground. In some countries, pigs' sense of smell is used to identify drugs.

The pig is an omnivore, unlike many other equids. Her stomach is simple, with one chamber, the intestines are of medium length.

The pig has a high intelligence. Facts show that she is able to memorize simple commands, nicknames, and reacts to music. Grunting in a pig has many sound combinations, which indicates a complex system of communication between animals. It is interesting that many physiological parameters of this species are similar to those of humans, therefore animals are often used in medical experiments. The hormone insulin is extracted from the pancreas of pigs for the treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus.

There is a misconception that pigs are very dirty. Sometimes they say: "I am a pig because I got dirty." In fact, this is a pretty clean look. Felting in a swamp is a physiological necessity. Thin hairless skin quickly overheats, the pig cools in puddles of mud. A layer of dirt, drying out, protects the pigs from parasites.

If you do not adhere to cleanliness when kept at home, the pigs begin to hurt and may die. Do domestic pigs know how to swim? They have retained this quality from their wild ancestors, they even dive in the water.

Breeding pigs

One of the reasons for the popularity of pig breeding is their fertility. For one litter, a sow can give birth to 10-15 piglets, record holders produce up to 20-22. The females hunt every 18-24 days, the cycle repeats regardless of the season. Pregnancy lasts 110-114 days, the female gives birth easily. Small pigs drink milk for 1-2 months. After weaning, the uterus is again ready for mating, therefore, 2 offspring can be obtained from a pig in a year.

Sexual maturation of the female occurs quickly, at 9-10 months she is considered suitable for mating, boars are capable of fertilization at the age of about a year. When choosing a pair for mating, they look at the genital organ of the boar and the number of nipples in the female. Also pay attention to the exterior, how well the pig is recovering.

Mating during estrus goes smoothly. When the female is hunting, she behaves restlessly, reacts vividly to the male, grunts, the sound of her voice changes, switches to screeching. Sexual intercourse lasts 15-30 minutes, during this time you cannot scream and disturb the couple. In households, double mating is practiced to guarantee fertilization and achieve a quick result. Sometimes a couple is left together for one or two days so that the mating takes place repeatedly. On industrial farms, females are fertilized artificially.

Little pigs are born strong, they already have teeth in their mouths. After a couple of minutes, they know where to crawl to find the mother's udder. There are from 10 to 16 nipples in a pig. During the first feeding, the piglets fight for the nipple. The stronger ones grab those that are closer to the female's head. In the future, the cub comes exclusively to its nipple. Stimulation of the glands by young animals leads to increased milk production. In healthy sows, most of the offspring survive.

Pig breeds

The number of pigs in the world exceeds one billion individuals. It is the most numerous large equid-hoofed animal on earth. Wild boars are bred in European countries, North and South America, Southeast Asia. Due to diseases in Africa, the livestock is insignificant. In the Middle East and Central Asia, piglets are not bred due to religious restrictions. In Islam and Judaism, this is an unclean animal. In China, on the contrary, it is almost sacred.

The main purpose of animal breeding is to obtain meat. Suitable for use bristles, skins. They make shoes, clothes, interesting accessories from them.

There are three types of breeds in the world:

• meat or bacon;
• greasy;
• universal.

In the countries of Western Europe and America, meat breeds are most often grown, in Eastern Europe, where the cuisine is slightly different, greasy and universal are popular. Bacon breeds include:

• Hampshire;
• Duroc;
• Estonian;
• Pietrain;
• Landrace;
• Pigs of the Iberian varieties.

The most famous sebaceous breeds:

• Large or large black pig;
• Bashkir;
• Curly Hungarian Mangalitsa or Mongolian pigs;
• Mirgorodskaya;
• Meishan breed;
• Breitovskaya.

In home farmsteads, universal piglets are brought up, from which you can get both meat and a greasy layer. The most popular breeds in this area:

• Yorkshire white large pig;
• White Ukrainian steppe pigs;
• Northern Siberian;
• Chinese-Polish;
• Belarusian black-and-white;
• Vietnamese pot-bellied;
• Livenskaya.

When breeding breeds, attention is paid to fertility, the rate of weight gain, whether it is a greasy or meat breed. Sebaceous varieties accumulate subcutaneous fat well, meat ones, on the contrary, have developed muscles with a minimum amount of fat. The universal ones take an intermediate position.

Product characteristics of pigs

The domestic pig is very productive and grows well. Animals gain weight quickly at relatively low feed costs. If you compare them with cattle, the benefits of breeding are obvious. Already at 6-7 months, pigs weigh 100-110 kg, and the mass of their carcasses reaches 73-75 kg. The meat yield largely depends on what live weight in adults:

• with a body weight of 90-100 kg, the yield is 72-75%;
• with a weight of 120-140 kg - 75-77%;
• huge pig 140-160 kg - 80-85%.

The high fertility of pigs and the peculiarities of their reproduction allows almost all animals to be sent for slaughter throughout the year. Even the meat of breeding boars is used, although its taste is worse, there is a specific smell. Males that are unsuitable for breeding are castrated before puberty (at 5-6 months). Such wild boars are called hogs.

Pig keeping

There are several types of pigs at home:

• closed;
• easel-walking;
• walking.

Due to the spread of infections, veterinarians and sanitary services advise closed housing, be it a large or small farm.

A pigsty with your own hands must be built strong, since large evil animals can easily fill up flimsy walls and make tunnels. Cinder blocks, shell rock, brick are best suited for construction. The walls are plastered and whitewashed inside. The roof should not overheat in summer and keep warm in winter. The fencing of the machines is made of strong wood, pegs are driven in to strengthen it. The floor is best made of planks, with a slight slope. Be sure to equip sewers for excrement in the machines. Ditches are diverted away from the pigsty, into special cesspools.

Pigs can be moved to a closed pen for the summer. In winter, an insulated barn is best suited for them. It will not be superfluous to carry out the resinification of the walls, overlay them with straw. You can see how the insulated pigsty looks like in the photo. The barn should have the following premises:

• machines for keeping pigs;
• a place for walking;
• swimming pit.

Pennants for young animals that are fattened for meat should be made at the rate of 3 m² per animal. One machine can hold up to 30 heads. Separate pens with an area of ​​4 m² are made for pregnant sows. After farrowing, they are moved together with the young to larger rooms of about 6 m². In separate pens, breeding boars are kept, they are measured according to the weight of a particular male. A walking paddock is made with an area of ​​10 m² per head.

The litter is made of straw, the earthen quickly becomes dirty. You can use shavings and sawdust. Feeders and drinkers are attached to the front wall of the pens. When keeping pigs without walking, instead of pens, spacious cages can be used, sometimes they are even placed in two tiers.

Caring for piglets is not particularly difficult. The main thing is to create a normal microclimate in the pigsty and adhere to the following rules:

• The normal temperature in the stable where the young livestock should be 18-22 ° С, for adult pigs - 12-16 ° С.
• The optimum humidity is 75%, the maximum allowable humidity is 85%.
• Protect animals from drafts, dampness and hypothermia.
• The barn should be clean, the bedding should be changed regularly, the gutters should be washed and disinfected periodically.
• If the young are kept without walking, they are given drugs for rickets or irradiated with ultraviolet light.
• Drinking water should always be clean and fresh.
• The trough is thoroughly cleaned after each feeding, once a week it is treated with alkali.
• Cleaning of the pigsty with disinfection and pest control is carried out at least once a month. If the livestock is large, a special harvester is used.

It is important to stick to these simple guidelines, listen to those who know how to care for animals and have kept them themselves. Then the pigs will quickly gain weight, they will not start to get sick.

Feeding pigs

The quality of pork meat is highly dependent on feeding. Certain products can change the taste, fat content in the final product. Conventionally, feed can be divided into 3 groups:

• Significantly improving the quality of meat: wheat and barley grains, rye, millet, legumes (including peas), carrots, fodder and sugar beets, clover leaves and flowers, alfalfa, silage, milk back and whey. The benefits of such food are the greatest.
• Partially reduce the taste of meat: corn grains, potatoes and their peels, buckwheat, bran from wheat, beet molasses. The content of such products should not exceed 50-60% of the total diet.
• Significantly reduce the quality of meat: cake, cake, rapeseed, oat, bard, soy and its products, waste from the kitchen, fish waste. If you feed pigs with such food, the meat will acquire a specific smell. An excess of vegetable fats is bad for the digestion and metabolism of animals. Such food can be introduced into the diet, but its amount should not exceed 30%. 1.5-2 months before slaughter, products from the third group are completely excluded.

So that pork does not contain too much fat, pigs are given concentrated feed, greens. Pigs are fed until reaching a weight of 100-110 kg (approximately up to 8-9 months). Further weight gain is already underway due to an increase in subcutaneous fat.

It is best to feed pigs in summer with greens, which can make up about 50% of the diet. Then the meat will taste tender, with a low fat content. The layer of subcutaneous fat will not exceed 4 cm. In winter, greens can replace combined silage.

When pigs are fed for lard, they are given more grain and boiled potatoes. The average slaughter weight in such cases is 130-140 kg. The layer of subcutaneous fat can be within 7 cm. Often rejected boars are fattened for fat. Such pork is used for the production of sausages, minced meat, meat and bone and bone meal, liver, canned food are made from it.

Pigs are fed 4-5 times a day. Animals are very voracious. If they are not given food on time, they gnaw on the feeders and walls of the pigsty, and this harms not only the premises, but also the pigs themselves. A special table helps to distribute food throughout the day. It indicates the norms, dosage of each type of feed. Sows must be given vitamins, mineral supplements, chalk.

Pig diseases

To understand everything about pigs, you must definitely learn about the pathologies that are inherent in them. Diseases are infectious and non-infectious. Most often they occur when the rules of keeping are violated, when the food is stored in poor conditions, is served stale. Dangerous bacteria and viruses can accidentally get on farms along with feed, equipment, cars that travel from infected regions. Often annelids and flatworms, their eggs and larvae enter the intestines with food.

In order to identify pathologies in time, you need to know their main symptoms. In most cases, sick animals become lethargic, depressed, eat poorly, fall on their side, roll around, sometimes the pig squeals loudly for no reason. (It is no coincidence that the expression "squeal like a pig" appeared). The pigs may have a fever, rash, purple or blue spots appear on the skin. The pig's bristles ruffle, grow dull, snot and pus flow from the eyes and nose.If the pig is poisoned or has an intestinal infection, diarrhea, vomiting occurs, which lead to dehydration. A mild illness can go away on its own; in severe cases, mortality often reaches 100%.

The most common diseases in pigs are as follows:

• ascariasis;
• cystocerciasis;
• macracantorhynchiasis;
• leptospirosis;
• salmonellosis;
• erysipelas or erysipelas;
• rotavirus infection;
• circovirus;
• brucellosis;
• swelling;
• mastitis in sows;
• dysentery;
• flu;
• atrophic rhinitis;
• pasteurellosis;
• pleurisy;
• arthritis;
• anemia;
• vitamin deficiency or hypovitaminosis;
• foot and mouth disease;
• anthrax;
• food poisoning;
• lichen;
• scabies;
• scab;
• ear mite;
• ixodid ticks;
• classical and African plague.

Treatment of diseases depends on which diagnosis is made. The drug and its dose should be selected by a veterinarian, only he can correctly understand the signs and symptoms of pathologies. For the treatment of bacterial infections, antibiotics are used, for example, gentamicin, metronidazole, injections of nitox, bicillin. With parasitic infestations, in order to worm pigs, antihelminthic drugs are given: albendazole or alben, brovermectin. With vitamin deficiency, tetravit and other vitamin supplements are given, with anemia - iron.

Viral diseases are often incurable, the prognosis for them is poor, the entire herd is killed when infected. For prevention, vaccination is used, sanitary and hygienic measures are taken. All vaccinations and prevention of dangerous infections should be consulted with your veterinarian.

Pig selection and pig slaughter

Piglets are purchased at the age of 1-2 months. A three-week-old cub weighs 7-8 kg, at 7-8 weeks its weight reaches 14-16 kg. A healthy pig is mobile and active. His skin and mucous membranes are clean, pink in color, like Mr. Mabel's pig. He eats well, grabs food, and does not suck them. The choice should be stopped on individuals with a straight long back, straight profile and straight legs. If you plan to breed pigs, be sure to look at the nipples of the female. They should be developed, not depressed, located far from each other. The optimal number of nipples is 12-16.

How much does a piglet cost? The price depends on the breed and age. Agricultural farms sell monthly piglets of the most common breeds for 1500-4000 rubles. Often it is not the head that is assessed, but the live weight. Then they ask for 100-400 rubles per kilogram. A kilogram of live weight of an adult pig costs 100-150 rubles. The price of pork when buying in bulk is about 200-250 rubles.

How are pigs slaughtered? It is best to donate animals to a specialized station. The slaughterhouse where the cutting takes place can provide hygienic conditions. If this is not possible, a trained person can carry out the slaughter. Before sending the pig for meat, it is not fed for 24 hours.

For slaughter, use a sharp knife, a pigbreaker, a pig cutter. First, the cervical arteries and veins are cut, the blood is drained. You can pre-drown the pig with a blow. The carcass is then hung to singe the bristles. Keep the carcass in this position until all the blood has drained, then cut the peritoneum to remove the insides. Almost every organ (intestines, bile, spleen, liver, ear, rib, spine, tails, brains, hooves) is processed. Even the cheek can be used. This is another benefit of raising pigs. At the end, when the whole carcass has cooled, they remove the skin along with the bacon, and begin to cut it into pieces. Detailed instructions can be shown in a video or a special picture.