A Guide to Pig Breeding - A Collection of Articles on the Boar and Sow, Swine Selection, Farrowing and Other Aspects of Pig Breeding

Various

Description

This impressive volume contains a large and comprehensive collection of articles on pig farming, with information on diet, ailments, housing, preparation, marketing, and many other aspects of pig breeding. Constituting a complete and detailed treatise on the subject, this collection of articles contains everything an existing or prospective pig farmer needs to know about the practice, and makes for a worthy addition to collections of farming and animal-keeping literature. The articles of this compendium include: 'Breeding Farm Animals', 'Good Pig Keeping', 'Harris on the Pig', 'Hogs', 'Outdoor Pig Keeping', 'Pig Husbandry', 'Pig Keeping', 'Pigs and Their Management', 'Principles of Practical Pig Breeding and Feeding', 'Productive Swine Husbandry', 'The Book of the Pig', 'The Feeding and Management of Pigs', 'The Handbook of Modern Pig Farming', and more. We are proud to republish this volume, now complete with a new introduction on pig farming.

Sujets

• Agronomie
• Agronomy for Sustainable Development
• Agriculture
• Engineering
• Technology
• Sciences et techniques
• Animal Husbandry

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 06 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781473354685
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A Guide to Pig Breeding
-
A Collection of Articles on the Boar and Sow, Swine Selection, Farrowing and Other Aspects of Pig Breeding
By
Various Authors
Copyright 2013 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Pig Farming
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus , within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig and its ancestor, the common Eurasian wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), along with other species; related creatures outside the genus include the babirusa and the warthog. Pigs, like all suids, are native to the Eurasian and African continents - they are highly social and intelligent animals. Pigs (hogs in the United States) can be farmed as free range, being allowed to wander around a village, kept in fields, or tethered in a simple house. In developed countries, farming has moved away from traditional pig farming and pigs are now typically intensively farmed.
Almost all of the pig can be used as food, with various parts being made into specialities; sausage, bacon, gammon, ham, skin into pork scratchings, feet into trotters, head into a meat jelly called head cheese (brawn), and consumption of the liver, chitterlings, blood (blood pudding or black pudding) are common. Today, pig farms are significantly larger than in the past, with most large-scale farms housing 5,000 or more pigs in climate-controlled buildings. With 100 million pigs slaughtered each year, these efficiencies deliver affordable meat for consumers and larger profits for producers. This has led to substantial conflict with animal welfare activists as well as those concerned for the environment though. The costs and benefits of large-scale pig farming are still very much up for debate.
Individual farm management focuses on housing facilities, feeding and ventilation systems, temperature and environmental controls and the economic viability of their operations. Procedures and treatments should also carefully weighed, to consider the animals welfare, health and management in correspondence with accepted husbandry skills. The way in which a stockperson interacts with pigs in agricultural production systems impacts animal welfare, which directly correlates with production levels. Many intensive farms deal with huge numbers of pigs each day, often resulting in handlers becoming complacent with positive interactions . This is not always the case however, and many small farm / homesteaders are turning to raising their own animals, with a view to sustainability and independence.
When handling pigs, there are various methods of handling which can be separated into positive and negative handling techniques, which, in turn, lead to positive and negative animal reactions. These terms are based on how the pigs interpret a handler s behaviour. Negative interactions include heavy tactile interaction, including slaps, kicks, fast movements or even the use of an electric Goad. Negative interactions can result in fear and stress in the animals, which have a variety of negative impacts. For instance, tactile interactions can cause basal cortisol contractions (hypertension). These interactions also lead to animals fearing people, to the point of avoiding human interaction, which can result in injuries to both stock and handlers alike. Fearful animals are also likely to be very stressed, which can result in immunosuppression, leading to an increased susceptibility to disease.
Pigs are very curious animals, and consequently when entering a pen it is good practice for a stockperson to enter with slow and deliberate movements. Such actions minimize the fear for the animal, which reduces stress. Allowing the pigs to approach and smell whilst patting or resting a hand on the pigs back are all examples of positive behaviour. Pigs also respond very positively to verbal interaction - allowing handlers to perform husbandry practices in a much safer and more efficient manner. Pigs are farmed in many countries, though the main consuming countries are in Asia, meaning there is a significant international and even intercontinental trade in live and slaughtered pigs. Despite having the world s largest herd, China is a net importer of pigs, and has been increasing its imports during its economic development. The largest exporters of pigs are the United States, European Union, and Canada. As an example, more than half of Canadian production (22.8 million pigs) in 2008 was exported, going to 143 countries.
Pigs are omnivores, which means they consume both plants and animals. In the wild, they are foraging animals, primarily eating leaves, grasses, roots, fruits and flowers, whereas in confinement, pigs are mostly fed corn and soybean - with a mixture of added vitamins and minerals. However, because pigs are omnivores, they make excellent pasture raised animals, traditionally called mortgage lifters due to their ability to use the excess milk as well as whey from cheese and butter making, combined with pasture. Pigs are incredibly valuable creatures to human beings, utilised for almost all their meat, and can be a relatively easy animal to keep - if cared for correctly. Pig farming will undoubtedly continue for many years to come, and it is hoped that the current reader is inspired by this book to investigate further. Enjoy.
Contents
Breeding Farm Animals . F. R. Marshall
Good Pig Keeping . N. L. Tinley
Harris on the Pig. Breeding, Rearing, Management and Improvement . Joseph Harris
Hogs . A J Lovejoy
How to Treat Pig Ailments . Anon
Outdoor Pig Keeping . Ken Bolton
Pig Husbandry . Anon
Pig Keeping . Geoffrey Morgan
Pig Keeping. College Farm Auchincuive
Pigs and Their Management . H W Potts
Principles of Practical Pig Breeding and Feeding . E W Brooks
Productive Swine Husbandry . George E Day
The Book of the Pig; Its Selection, Breeding, Feeding, and Management . James Long
The Feeding and Management of Pigs for Pork and Bacon . Charles Crowther
The Handbook of Modern Pig Farming . H M Rikard-Bell
The Pig Farmers Veterinary Book . Norman Barron
SWINE BREEDING.
The swine-raising industry has reached a development in America greater than anywhere else in the world. Other countries have effected improvement in their bacon-producing swine, but the world s lard supply comes from the cornbelt. The improvement of swine for lard production began with the occupancy of cornbelt lands. The horses and cattle brought by settlers from east of the Alleghanies and from Europe were satisfactory for the time, but it was not so with the swine. Upon this class of stock devolved the work of readily converting the easily grown corn into a marketable product.
Need of Improvement .
Since the establishment of the first American breed, the Poland-China, down to the present, the most serious problems of American swine breeders have arisen from that striking feature of the environment of their swine, the corn diet. The original types, of which there were many, were too coarse and ill-proportioned from the standpoint of those in charge of the first packing enterprises. It was also clear that a greater economy of production was desirable. Development was too slow and too small in proportion to the feed consumed. The offspring of some of the stock at hand became marketable at an earlier age than the others did and the blood of such was freely used. This was no occasion to consider the idea of impairment of size or prolificacy. The great defects for many years were slow fattening and lack of market qualities. Until the beginning of the second quarter of the nineteenth century efforts to improve the swine were necessarily scattered and not very effective.

BERKSHIRE BOAR.
Breed Building .
Developments of the years following gave promise of reward to breeders who could supply the most profitable type of swine to the rapidly increasing numbers of farmers in the corn-growing areas. The Berkshire was the most carefully bred hog obtainable, though his breeding in England had not been directed with a view to adaptation to utilization of corn. However he was superior in many ways to the native stock and gained a place. Selection among descendants of crosses of the Berkshire with stock combining the good features of the types previously used gave the foundation of the Poland-China.
Extremes Needed .
The pronounced disposition to fatten that characterized this breed brought it into strong demand for improving the stock upon farms where little improvement had been effected. The native sows being disposed to mature slowly but to reach good size and breed freely, the opposite extremes were really needed for mating with them in order that the offspring should be as nearly right as possible. Most of the breeders made their selections to meet the general demand. Heavy feeding of corn was commonly practiced. Animals of the smaller size soon passed through the period of most rapid growth and became fat at an earlier age than those with greater tendencies to growth.

POLAND-CHINA BOAR.
Results of Extremes .
Because corn alone is more favorable to fattening than to growth its use in herds being bred for early-maturing qualities was an important factor in the elimination of animals that fattened less rapidly in their growing days. Well sustained gains are possible only by the continued development of frame that characterizes animals capable of coming to large size. The extreme of early fattening means rapid gains from accumulation of fat and also cessation of gains at a comparatively early age. It has been said that the tendency in all breeding of improved stock is to go to extremes. Extremes are usually demanded by stock-raisers who see the need of improvement in their previously neglected animals. Continued adherence