ABOUT HOG RAISING

Before you bring home the bacon, learn about what it takes to get started in the pig farming.

- LISA MUNNIKSMA

Of all the farm animals out there, pigs may be the most misunderstood. Phrases such as “sweating like a pig,” referring to someone as being “useless as teats on a boar hog” and calling someone a “dirty pig” are examples of this disconnect. (Pigs don’t sweat, the number of teats on a male pig are an indicator of the mothering ability of its female offspring and pigs are relatively tidy animals!) Starting a hog-raising business, you might find information out there that’s equally as off-base. From common terminology to simple husbandry and selecting your stock to raise pigs for meat, there’s a lot to understand before you venture into the hog-raising business.

COMMON TERMINOLOGY

The basics of pig farming can be made clearer when you understand some of the terminology used among hog farmers. As you read this article and do your research, keep in mind these terms:

PIG, HOG or SWINE: used interchangeably, meaning any member of the porcine family.

PIGLET: an unweaned baby pig

RUNT: a small, weak piglet

BOAR: an uncastrated male pig

BARROW: a castrated male pig

FARROWING: giving birth

GILT: a female pig that has not farrowed

SOW: a female pig that has farrowed

SUCKLING PIG: a piglet processed for tender meat

FEEDER PIG: a pig sold to be finished for meat

GROWER: a pig being raised for meat

FINISHER: a pig nearing processing weight

HERD: a group of domesticated pigs

SOUNDER: a group of wild pigs

PRODUCTION SYSTEMS