Swine Production and Management

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing swine production, piglet processing, nutrition, limiting amino acids, reproductive management, and breed classifications.

Farrowing Crate

A penning system that provides a protective zone for newborn piglets to prevent the sow from crushing or eating them, while allowing producers to manage piglets with heat lamps or radiating heaters.

Needle Teeth

Eight sharp, pointed teeth present in newborn piglets that can cut littermates' tails or injure the sow's teat line during nursing; they develop into tusks if left intact.

Intramuscular Iron Injection

A treatment administered to newborn piglets because they are born anemic and raised on concrete or slatted floors without access to dirt, boosting hemoglobin, red blood cells, and oxygenation.

Tail Docking

The removal of a portion of a piglet's tail to prevent tail biting, an omnivorous social disorder triggered by boredom and playful chewing among littermates.

Segregated Early Wean (SEW)

A management program where piglets are weaned between $12$ and $16$ days of age to reduce exposure to pathogens—specifically respiratory disease—and improve sow longevity and rebreeding time.

Nursery Unit

A specialized facility where weaned pigs weighing approximately $20$ to $25\text{ pounds}$ are fed high-energy diets containing lactose and whey protein to reach $50$ to $60\text{ pounds}$.

Porcine Plasma Protein

A spray-dried protein powder derived from the blood plasma of slaughtered hogs that is incorporated into nursery pig diets as a high-protein feed source to drive rapid growth.

First Limiting Amino Acid (Swine)

Lysine; the essential amino acid that cannot be synthesized by pigs and must be strictly met in the diet first to ensure proper muscle, bone, and carcass development.

Second Limiting Amino Acid (Swine)

Methionine; the essential amino acid prioritized second behind lysine when formulating and balancing swine rations.

Third Limiting Amino Acid (Swine)

Threonine; the essential amino acid evaluated third in line when balancing protein quality in swine diets.

Split-Sex Feeding

The practice of separating finishing barrows and gilts into different pens to feed them distinct diets, because barrows build muscle faster due to testosterone while gilts deposit fat faster due to estrogen.

Swine Feed Efficiency (Finishing)

A conversion ratio of approximately $3:1$, meaning it requires about $3\text{ pounds}$ of feed to produce $1\text{ pound}$ of live weight gain.

Semen Extenders

Chemical solutions added to freshly collected boar semen to preserve sperm cell viability for roughly $3$ to $7\text{ days}$ during shipping and prior to artificial insemination.

Swine Gestation Length

The gestation period of a sow, lasting $3\text{ months, } 3\text{ weeks, and } 3\text{ days}$, or approximately $112$ to $115\text{ days}$.

Pre-Farrowing Lactation Diet

A high-energy, high-fiber ration fed at $10\text{ pounds}$ or more per day starting roughly $3\text{ weeks}$ before farrowing to slow digestion, maximize nutrient absorption, prevent runts, and prepare the sow for lactation.

Generation Interval

The average age of parents when their offspring are born compared to when those offspring produce their own young; in swine, this is roughly $1$ to $1.5\text{ years}$.

Blue Butt

A popular commercial crossbred hog resulting from the cross of a Yorkshire and a Hampshire, combining maternal traits with terminal carcass traits.

Maternal Breeds

White-skinned and white-hided swine breeds (such as Yorkshire, Landrace, and Chester White) known for soundness, reproductive efficiency, heavy milking, and body length.

Yorkshire

A white maternal pig breed characterized by erect ears, maternal ability, and high reproductive performance.

Landrace

A white maternal pig breed known for its extreme length of body and drooping or flopped ears.

Terminal Breeds

Meat-type swine breeds (such as Hampshire, Duroc, Berkshire, and Pietrain) selected primarily to produce red meat, heavy muscling, and fat/marbling on the rail.

Hampshire

A terminal meat breed recognized by its black body with a white belt circling the shoulders and front legs, often described as resembling an 'Oreo cookie'.

Berkshire

A black terminal meat breed with erect ears and five white points located on the four legs and the muzzle.

Poland China

A black terminal meat breed possessing five white points (four feet and muzzle) and drooping or flopped ears.

Duroc

A red terminal meat breed noted for having 'no weaknesses' and increasingly marketed for high-end, premium cuts of pork.

Pietrain

A spotted terminal breed carrying a myostatin gene effect that causes double-sized muscle fibers, giving the animal an overexpressed, extreme double-muscled appearance.