Swine Unit

Eight Major Traditional Breeds

• Berkshire• Chester White• Duroc• Hampshire• Landrace• Poland China• Spotted• Yorkshire

Berkshire

• Breed developed in Berkshire, England• Imported to U.S. in 1820’s• Characteristics –

Black body with 6 white points(4 feet, nose, and tail)

• Maternal and Paternal Breed

Chester White

• Developed in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the early 1800’s• White bodies with small droopy ears• Maternal

Duroc

• Developed in New York, New York in 1860’s• Red to dark-red in color• Paternal breed

Hampshire

• Developed in Boone County, Kentucky in 1890’s

• Black with a white belt circling the shoulders and front legs

• Maternal breed

Landrace

• Imported to U.S. from Denmark in 1930’s• Whitish pink with extremely long-bodied and

large drooping ears• Maternal breed

Poland Chinas (Polands)

• Developed in Southwest Ohio in 1800’s• Black bodies with white points with droopy

ears• Paternal breed

Spotted Swine (Spots)

• Developed in the state of Indiana in early 1900’s

• Spotted black and white with drooping ears• Paternal breed

Yorkshire (Yorks)

• Developed in Yorkshire, England in early 1800’s

• White with upright ears• Maternal breed

Other Known Breeds

• Tamworth- red with upright ears• Herefords- red with white face, legs, and

underline• Pietrain- black with white spots

Baby Pig Processing

Baby Pig Processing = Newly-born piglets require some special management procedures the first few days of life.

1. Cut umbilical cord, iodine remaining cord2. Cut needle teeth3. Dock tails4. Notch ears5. Vaccine shot of antibiotic6. Castrate males

Swine Facts

• Gestation- length of pregnancy • Swine gestate for 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days

or 114 days• Ideal Litter Size = 9 piglets per litter• Ideal Birth weight = 3 lbs.• Piglets should be weaned at 6 weeks• Ideal Market Weight = 250 lbs. at 20 weeks• Top Swine States = Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois,

Indiana• Swine generate over 10 billion dollars in gross receipts each year to the

United States

• Weight of adult brood boar – 500 to 700• Weight of adult brood sows – 300 to 500

Maternal/Paternal Breeds

Maternal: Good mothers/fathersLarge littersProduce lots of milk for young

Paternal: Excel in growthMusclingLeanness

Swine Names

• Adult Male - Boar • Adult Female - Sow

• Young - Piglet • Castrated - Barrow

• Young Male – Boar Piglet

• Young Female - Gilt

Scientific Names

• Scientific name = Used in scientific writings to reduce confusion of multiple common names, the scientific name (or Latin name) of an animal is two words long; consisting of the genus and species names. The entire name is written in italics (or underlined if italics are not available), with the genus capitalized.

• Example: Humans = Homo sapiens

Homer sapiens

Scientific Classification

Kingdom – Aminalia (animal)Phylum – Chorodata (vertebrate)Class – Mammalia (mammal)Order –Artiodyctal (non-ruminant)Family –SuidaeGenus – SusSpecies – scofa

•Genus species name for swine is “Sus scofa”