AVS 1510 Midterm Starkey Swine Center + some suturing

The Starkey swine center raises pigs to be …

sold for food or they go back into the herd to be bred

The Faring House is the …

maternity ward

When sows are first brought into the faring house they are …

bathed and disinfected

Sows are brought into the faring house how many days before they are due?

3-4 days

The sows beds in the faring house are …

kept warm

Both the sows and the piglets get a heating lamp because …

the sows is set to 65 degrees while the piglets’ is set to 100

Pigs do not sweat so …

we use water to spray them and keep them cool

The Faring House is an ALL …

IN ALL OUT System (all the sows go in together and they all come out together)

Litters are usually how big?

10, they are usually around 2 lbs each

The runts of the litter will be …

smaller

piglets that are 5 lbs or more usually require …

help during birth

A clutch system is used to …

dispense feed

The farrowing house has …

fans for ventilation, (no ac unit, only heat because sows need it warm)

On day 1 of birth, the piglets ears are …

notched (number ID) and their tails are docked (keeps them from chewing on each other’s tails)

The pigs ear notches are read like …

1-3 (1 = which litter they are from, and 3 = the 3rd piglet of that litter)

When handling piglets be careful of their …

teeth, they like to chew and we need to minimize injuries as much as possible

Piglets are weighed immediately and by 2 weeks of age they can be given …

vaccinations and the males can be castrated

Piglets are weaned on days …

18-21, their weaning weight is taken and they get 3 shots

After piglets are weaned, the sows go …

back to the breeding herd, while the piglets go to the nursery

The nursery is kept at …

80-85 degrees and its lowered to 70-75 after a some time

The ventilation in the nursery is intensely managed because …

the piglets have weak immune systems

Piglets get 20-22% …

pellet

We put ______ in all the stalls for the pigs to …

Chains, chew on, its one of their natural habits

Flush pit system is in the …

Farrowing and nursery houses which flushes out waste

When piglets leave the nursery …

the entire building is disinfected, EVERYTHING

The nursery has a …

weighing station, food station, etc (we keep everything in the building that way we won’t bring in any other pathogens from around the farm, less cross-contamination)

After sows are bred they are taken to the …

gestation house, the sows are usually kept in groups

A duroc is a …

red pig

An influenced pig is one that …

phenotypically looks like a specific breed, but its not a pure bred animal

Landrace are …

white pigs with big ears

Berkshires that are not full bred often have …

a marbling pattern

A closed herd is when …

all the SOWS are bred and born on site, we bring genetic diversity by importing semen

AI is done …

99.99% of the time

Sows in the gestation house get ID cards that say …

when they were bred, who they were bred to (semen), and when their next heat is

Gestation length of a pig is …

3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days (114 days)

A gilt is …

first time moms (they are kept together)

Sows are usually kept in the same groups to discourage …

fighting, they can be agressive

The gestation house does not have a …

heating system, instead it has a curtain system that lifts when they need more air flow and there is an under area where they can feel a breeze

Most of the pigs at Starkey Swine are …

cross-bred

We feed pigs by the …

ton, 4-6 lbs a day once a day (meal = ground corn and soybean)

Water is available …

all day through a pipe system (not a trough)

When sows are alone in an enclosure they will sometimes have …

a toy of some kind that they can push around

The old gestation house is used for …

research, so the pens are sized for one sow, they are fed individually and there is a loafing area, has the same curtains as the new gestation barn, they have a feed bin and cart to put food in troughs, same water system

It takes pigs about 2-3 days to learn a …

routine, specifically to go from their pens in the old gestation house to the loafing area

Sows are brought to which barn to be bred?

the boar barn, there are boars kept there not for traditional breeding but for their presence, their scent and seeing the boars helps the sows prepare for insemination

Boars will get frothy at …

the mouth which releases pheromones that also help the female prepare

We want sows to be as close to …

the boars during insemination as possible, increases the likelihood of successful insemination

Sows don’t cycle while …

nursing, so if they stop nursing at the same time the whole group will go back into heat at the same time

5-7 days after piglets are weaned, the …

sows go back into heat

When sows are in heat they will be …

active and trying to get the boar’s attention

Standing heat/lordosis is …

when the sows lock up and prepare to be mounted, their tails and ears will get rigid (some ears will pop up and down), we will simulate a boar mounting them by pushing on them

Sows stay in heat for about …

2-3 days, they are bred twice, 12-24 hours apart

At Starkey Swine center, the sows are marked with different …

colors to signify whose been bred

The Starkey Swine center currently doesn’t

collect boar semen, although they do have a collection station

Bowling pins are sometimes put in pens as …

toys that the pigs can push around

The boar barn has the same …

curtain and water system as the gestation house

The tags above the stalls of boars includes …

their parents, the year they were born, and some other things too

Sows stay in the boar barn for …

1-2 weeks after they are bred and then they go to the gestation house

piglets are normally what weight when they are moved from the nursery?

40-45 lbs

What is the barbecue size?

140-160 lbs

Top hogs are normally what size?

260-280 lbs

Buyers are not …

allowed on the farm

The arena is used …

for show prep like driving around using a whip or stick, hosting labs for reproduction, and hosting colleges

The ventilation in the boar barn consists of …

windows and 3 fans, can use positive pressure by turning all the fans around, also has 2 heaters set to 70 degrees

Starkey doesn’t finish off a lot of pigs because …

of space and sixe

Never grab a needle at the tip, you’ll …

dull it

Do not use a simple running stitch when …

the animal is not under easy observation, if they are exclusively outside and you don’t have eyes on them often then they could snag the stitch which would pull out the whole thing

When is the most appropriate time to wean a litter of pigs?

21 days

Which facilities on the farm are considered environmentally controlled?

the farrowing house and nursery

During their time in the nursery, pigs do not have constant access to …

the sow

Boar =

an intact adult male pig used primarily for breeding

Barrow =

a male pig that was castrated before reaching sexual maturity, typically raised for pork production

Gilt =

a young female pig that has not given birth before (first time mom)

Sow =

an adult female pig that has given birth to at least one litter of piglets

Feeder pig =

a young typically, weighing around 40-60 lbs that has been weaned and is ready to enter the finishing phase

Finish =

the final phase of pork production where pigs are fed and grown from nursery/feeder weight up to market weight

Market weight =

the optimal target weight at which pigs are sent to market/slaughter, typically between 270 and 300 lbs

Colored Breeds =

swine breeds with non-white skin/hair (such as duroc, berkshire, hampshire) often valued for meat quality, hardiness, and terminal sire traits

Maternal breeds =

breeds selected primarily for mothering abilities, large litter sizes, and milk production

Terminal breeds =

breeds selected primarily for growth rate, feed efficiency, leanness, and muscle content in offspring (duroc, hampshire)

Commercial cross =

a pig produced by crossing different purebred lines, often a maternal cross female mated toa terminal sire, to utilize heterosis (hybrid vigor) for optimal production

Farrow =

the process of a sow or gilt giving birth to piglets

Estrous cycle =

the recurring reproductive cycle in female swine, lasting approximately 21 days on average (the entire cycle)

Standing heat =

the phase of estruc when a female pig is receptive to mating and shows a rigid “standing reflex” when pressure is applied to her back

Piglet processing =

routine preventive health procedures performed on newborn piglets shortly after birth, which usually include tail docking, iron injection, ear notching, and castration

Needle teeth =

eight sharp temporary teeth (four upper, four lower) that piglets are born with, often clipped shortly after birth to prevent injury to the sow’s udder and littermates

Teats =

the mammary glands on the sow’s abdomen through which piglets nurse milk

Iron =

a critical mineral supplement given (usually via injection) to newborn piglets within their first few days because piglet iron stores at birth are low and sow’s milk contains minimal iron

Weaning =

the process of separating piglets from the sow and transitioning them from milk to solid feed, usually occurring around 21 to 28 days of age

Ear notching =

a permanent identification system where small V-shaped notches are cut into a pig’s ears to identify the litter number and individual pig number

Farrowing crates =

specialized individual pens designated to house a sow and her newborn piglets, structured to allow the sow to lie down safely while protecting piglets from being accidentally crushed

Group housing =

Housing systems where multiple gestating sows or finishing pigs are kept together in larger communal pens

Lagoon =

an outdoor earthen basin used to hold, decompose, and treat liquid swine manure through natural biological processes

Evaporative cooling =

a facility ventilation system (such as cooling pads or misting systems) that lowers barn temps. through the evaporation of water, helping prevent heat stress in pigs