Useful Facts
*Piglet: a baby pig *Gilt:A female pig that has never farrowed.(had babies) *Sow: a female pig that has had babies. *Boar: a uncastrated male pig. *Barrow: a castrated male pig. * Pig, hog and swine are all generic terms without regard to gender, size or breed. *Hogs have four toes on each foot. Each toe ends in a hoof. they only walk on two of their toes. *Hogs' bodies are stout, strong and covered with coarse, bristly hair. *Pigs have such a well developed sense of smell that they can easily find things underground. *Pigs do not sweat, they have no sweat glands so they need mud or water to keep cool. *A pig will generally reach butcher weight (230-300lbs) at 8 months of age. *Pigs do not overeat. They eat until they are full. *A full grown pig can drink up to 14 gallons of water a day. *The hog's snout is very sensitive to touch. Some producers put rings in hogs' noses to keep them from rooting, or digging up the earth, with their snouts. *A pig's small lungs makes them highly susceptible to pneumonia and bronchitis. *They can live to be 15 years old. *body temperatures of 102.5° F, sleek hair coats, and tightly curled tails are all signs of a healthy pig. Pigs like to graze, in fact you can raise pigs on pasture. Breeding: *The gestation period of a sow is 115 days (3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days). *When a pig had her babies it is called farrowing. *piglets are born with razor sharp teeth! *Normal litter size is 8-12 *Sows can be bred twice a year. *A piglet is born weighing around 3 lbs. *Piglets are up and moving (and have their eyes open) as soon as they are born. *A sow with piglets can be dangerous! even a sow with a normally sweet disposition. *If they have plenty of room you can let your sow farrow with the rest of your herd. They will all watch out for the babies! |
fun facts:
A pig can run a 7 minute mile. Pigs like to swim! Pigs snuggle close to one another and prefer to sleep nose to nose. They dream, much as humans do. Pigs were domesticated around 7,000 BC. They were the first animals to ever be used domestically. pig has approximately 15,000 taste buds, which is more than any other mammal, including humans. Newborn piglets learn to run to their mothers' voices and to recognize their own names. Mother pigs sing to their young while nursing. A human seldom gets sick from being around pigs, but humans can give pigs such diseases as bordetella, influenza, ring worm and hoof and mouth disease. How? From the bacteria on their skin. There is a sow on record that gave birth to 37 piglets when she farrowed. The largest pig that has ever been recorded weighed 2,552 pounds. It was a boar called Big Bill and he was 5 feet high and 9 feet long. Pigs are brave. One pig named Priscilla saved a boy from drowning. She is in the Pet Hall of Fame. Soldier pigs have gone to war. They have served as mine sniffers in battlefields. Hogs are a source of nearly 40 drugs and pharmaceuticals on the market. The scream of a frightened pig can measure 115 decibels, higher than the taking off noise of a jet engine (113 decibels). |