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TLE – AFA
SWINEPRODUCTION
Quarter 1- Module 8
SELECTION of BREEDING
TLE – Grade 10
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 8: Selection of Breeding
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education

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Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

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Antonio B. Baguio, Ed.D
Printed in the Philippines by ________________________
Department of Education –Region VII Schools Division of Negros Oriental
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TLE-AFA
SWINE PRODUCTION
Quarter 1 – Module 8:
Selection of Breeding
Introductory Message

For the facilitator:

Welcome to the Technology and Livelihood Education 10 Alternative Delivery Mode

(ADM) Module on Selection of Breeding!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators

both from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or facilitator in
helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum while
overcoming their personal, social, and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also aims to help
learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into consideration
their needs and circumstances. In addition to the material in the main text, you
will also see this box in the body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies

that will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module.
You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist
the learners as they do the tasks included in the module.

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For the learner:

Welcome to the Technology and Livelihood Education 10 Alternative Delivery Mode

(ADM) Module on Selection of Breeding!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities
for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be
enabled to process the contents of the learning resource while being an active
learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

This will give you an idea of the skills or

What I Need to Know competencies you are expected to learn in the
module.

This part includes an activity that aims to check

What I Know
what you already know about the lesson to take.
If you get all the answers correct (100%), you may
decide to skip this module.

This is a brief drill or review to help you link the

What’s In current lesson with the previous one.

In this portion, the new lesson will be introduced

What’s New to you in various ways; a story, a song, a poem, a
problem opener, an activity or a situation.

This section provides a brief discussion of the

What is It lesson. This aims to help you discover and
understand new concepts and skills.

This comprises activities for independent practice

What’s More to solidify your understanding and skills of the
topic. You may check the answers to the exercises
using the Answer Key at the end of the module.

This includes questions or blank

What I Have Learned sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process what
you learned from the lesson.

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 This section provides an activity which will help
What I Can Do you transfer your new knowledge or skill into real
life situations or concerns.

This is a task which aims to evaluate your level of

Assessment mastery in achieving the learning competencies.

In this portion, another activity will be given to

Additional Activities you to enrich your knowledge or skill of the lesson
learned.

This contains answers to all activities in the

Answer Key module.

At the end of this module you will also find:

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the
module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.

2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.

3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.

4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers.

5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.

6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.

If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not
hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are not
alone.

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and
gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

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 What I Need to Know
Content Standard

Demonstrates an understanding of concepts, underlying theories and principles in

selecting the right materials for breeding swine..

Performance Standard

Select the right material for breeding swine stocks.

.Learning Competencies

1. Identify factors that contribute in the success of selecting breeding materials .

2. Discuss the effect of the said factors in the production cycle of the herds.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the factors involved when selecting swine breeding materials.

2. Discuss the influence of these factors to swine production.

What I Know
A. Multiple Choice: Read the questions carefully and select the best answer by
writing the letter of your choice on a separate sheet of paper.

1.It refers to a condition where litters are dead upon delivery from a Sow.

A. mortality C. dead borne

B. stillbirth D. congenital

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2. A constant occurrence of the genes that carry desirable characteristics

A. Gene heretability C. gene characteristics

B. Gene frequency D. genetic condition

3.This is a term manifested by death of piglets before weaning stage.

A. Piglet stillbirth C. Piglet looses

B. Piglet mortality D. Piglet disease

4. It is commonly used as a bench marking measurement to compare the

productivity of breeding herds.

A. Pigs weaned per sow per year C. Prolonged weaning interval

B. Pigs born alive D. High pre-weaning growth rate

5. Among the choices are examples of undesirable traits in swine, except;

A. dwarfism C. cryptorchidism
B. hernia D. heterosis

6. This term indicates that the condition was inherited by the piglet from the sow’s
or the boar’s genes.

A. hereditary C.characteristics
B. genetics D. Quality

7. It is a behavior when sow barks to warn piglets walking by her head and then
later attack them, biting them to death.

A. temperament C. cannibalism
B. aggression D. bullying

8. This refers to the area around an animal that it considers its individual space.

A. Flight deck C. Flight path

B. Flight zone D. Flight area

9. The general body shape and features of the pig as determined by his framework
or his skeleton and muscle structure..

A. Body structure C. Body framework

B. Body conformation D. Body posture

10. To situate itself in its surroundings, pig uses the following senses except;

A. smell C. sight
B. touch D. hear

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Note: If you get 100% correct in this pre- assessment, skip the lesson but if

not and only get 50% to 99% correct, then proceed with the lesson.

What’s In
1. Is the specified breed of animal more than enough when selecting a breeding
material for swine?
2. Is sow prolificacy measured only by the number of litters she delivered?

What’s New
Let us study and learn these terms.

1. Pigs Weaned per Sow per Year ( PWSY )

2. Congenital Disease
3. Prolificacy

What is It

Selection of Breeding Stock

The breeding of animals is under human control, and the breeders

decide which individuals shall produce the next generation. The breeder makes a
choice. These choices are based on one of the major factor known as genetics.
Hence valuable qualities are passed on from parents to off -springs. The qualities
can be maintained or improved in the next generation.

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 Selection is used as a tool for livestock improvement. It is the process
of allowing certain animals to be parents of future generations. Group of males and
females with desirable characteristics to produce more were chosen from their
batches and act as parents of future generations. While the rest which do not
perform to the desired level are culled and removed from the herd.

Selected animals make up the breeding stock.These stock should pass

the good qualities to their offspring for better performance, to improve the
livestock.The process is repeated for many generations to increase chances of
formation of desirable qualities in an animal. Genetically, it is termed as gene
frequency (occurrence of the genes that carry desirable characteristics.) Selection
increases occurrence of desirable genes and decreases occurance of undesirable
genes.
During selection, the characteristics to be selected for are first
studied closely to ascertain that it is not influenced by the environment, but
mainly by the genetic make-up.

Selection helps improve characteristics which are highly heritable,

meaning the likelihood of a particular trait to be transmitted to the offspring and
they are strongly inherited. The degree to which selection affects a character
depends on the following factors; for instance heritability of the character, the
intensity with which the selection is done and the interval between generations
and kind of selection being practiced. A character like milk yield is lowly heritable,
i.e. it is weakly inherited and a bigger percentage of the character is affected by the
environment.

Factors To Consider When Selecting A Breeding Stock.

Age

The age profile of the herd is important in relation to fertility and same
is true with the performance of the sow in the farrowing house. The table below
shows typical results expected in gilts and older parities in terms of litter size,
mortality and pigs reared per sow per year. Stillbirth rates should be noted with
increasing age of the sow and piglet mortality which will often exceed 12% from
parity 8 onwards.Also with increasing age, birth weights and litter sizes become
more variable and there are greater losses associated with poor viable pigs.

However older sows may have to be retained to maintain the mating

programme and they can be useful in rearing surplus piglets. It should be noted
that there are four distinct groups of breeding females in the herd; gilts, second
parity, parities 3 to 8, and old sows, all with different performance levels. Each can
become a specific problem associated with management and disease.

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Level of performance

There are critical factors associated with reproductive performance of

female breeding pigs, their lifetime performance and herd productivity in
commercial herds. The factors include both sow-level and herd-level factors. High
risk sow-level groups for decreasing reproductive performance of female pigs are
low or high parity, increased outdoor temperature, decreased lactation feed intake,
single insemination, increased lactation length, prolonged weaning-to-first-mating
interval, low birth weight or low preweaning growth rate, a few pigs born alive at
parity 1, an increased number of stillborn piglets, foster-in or nurse sow practices
and low or high age at first-mating.

We direct our focus on the reproductive performance of sows,

particularly on Pigs Weaned per Sow per Year ( PWSY). The number of pigs weaned
per sow per year (PWSY) is commonly used as a bench marking measurement to
compare the productivity of breeding herds. The target values for PWSY have
increased from 20 to 30 pigs over the last three decades, and it is likely that
genetics and sow management can increase PWSY up to 30–40 pigs in the future
(Fig. 1). However, even though PWSY is a good measurement for herd productivity
in the short term, it is not the best measurement for sow longevity, nor a good
measurement for piglet quality or welfare of piglets and sows. There is serious
concern that herds with high PWSY may produce many runts or small piglets. The
increase in numbers of pigs born alive (PBA), up to 20.3 pigs as shown in Fig. 1,
means that the birth weight of piglets is getting lower and also that some light
piglets are not able to receive enough colostrum from the sow. This is a problem
because lower colostrum intake and lighter birth weights have been associated
with a higher preweaning mortality and poorer post weaning growth performance
[2]. So piglet quality and welfare may be compromised when sow prolificacy is
genetically increased to such a high level, unless genetic improvements are
directed to increasing the uterine capacity, the number of functional teats and
milk production in sows.
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 40 pigs weaned/sow/year

17.2 weaned /sow 2.32 litters/sow/year

28 d lactation length

115 d gestation length

20.3 pigs born alive 15% pre weaning mortality 33

nonproductive sow days (NPD)

14 d weaning to mating
interval

22.3 total number of pigs born 7 d reservice

interval

1.5 still births 12 d removal

interval

0.5 mummies

Fig. 1. Example of productivity tree for 40 pigs weaned per sow per year.

Physical Fitness

Hereditary (genetic) and congenital diseases are quite common in

swine and include a range of conditions. The term “hereditary” indicates that the
condition was inherited by the piglet from the sow’s or the boar’s genes. The term
“congenital” means that the condition is present at birth but implies it is a
developmental abnormality that occurred during the growth of the fetus while in
the uterus, rather than a hereditary defect of abnormality.

It is said, some developmental abnormalities are not evident at

birth, for example, an inguinal hernia, and these develop at later stage--described
as delayed developmental abnormalities. If a congenital defect occurs frequently
and is related to a particular line or breed then it is likely to be hereditary.

Defects in piglet can also arise from nutritional issues, poisoning,

infectious agents or spontaneously due to abnormal metabolism.

Another type of problem that occurs at birth is difficulty in farrowing

associated with a small or abnormal development of pelvis.

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 These are serious issues that matters when selecting your breeding
materials. They should be free from these abnormalities and defects for them to
pass the criteria.

Health

Health is a primary factor in a successful swine farming. Herds selected as

breeders must be free from diseases and never do these animals experience
health issues . Vaccination program must be strictly observed. Parasite and
disease control routines are observed and administered accordingly.

• Sick animals do not breed well and are expensive to keep.

• Animals that are resistant to diseases pass these characteristics to their
offsprings.

Body Conformation

Conformation is the general body shape and features of the pig as

determined by his framework or his skeleton and muscle structure. The ideal
market hog is three dimensional - he is medium tall, long and wide. Market hogs

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are either barrows (castrated males) or gilts (young females who have not
farrowed). In the market hog, balance is also important. A well balanced hog will
be tight middle, with a smooth blending and proportion of body parts. A poorly
balanced hog will be long necked, high and narrow shouldered, heavy middled and
short rumped. Never criticize a hog for being off balance because of an over
abundance of ham.

The ideal muscle pattern in today’s hog is long and smooth. When
evaluating the hog, make sure that what you are seeing is muscle and not fat. The
best way to do this is by feeling the body of the hog. Muscle will be firm and
bulging. Fat will be much softer, often feeling squishy or like jello.

A heavily muscled hog will have a plump, firm, deep, thick meaty
ham and long rump. When viewed from the rear, the lower part of the ham should
be the widest part of the hog. The ham should extend well down onto the hock.
The hog should be muscular over the shoulders with a wide chest and the loin
wide along the back. The muscles meet the spine at the very top of the animal. If
there is a groove along the top of the animal all the way to the tail, it indicates that
there is significant muscling of the loin and that the space between the muscle is
not covered with an abundance of fat.

Temperament or Behaviour

Calm pigs are easier to handle than excited, agitated pigs. Handling
will be easier and pigs will be less likely to become agitated and bunch together if
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handlers use basic behavioral principles. An important part of effectively using pig
behavior during handling procedures is learning how the pig perceives and
responds to the handler in different situations and environments. There are three
basic characteristics of the individual pig to consider:

The flight zone is the area around an animal that it considers its individual
space. Pigs try to maintain a safe distance between themselves and their handlers.
That safe distance varies between pigs, from moment to moment for each pig, and
with even minor changes in handler behavior and body language. The more
threatening we are the greater the distance pigs want to keep from us. When a
handler gets too close or too threatening, pigs get scared or defensive and their
body language and behavior change. Handlers need to recognize cues that pigs are
getting scared and release their pressure to let pigs calm down and stay
responsive.

The point of balance to determine which way to move away from the handler as
long as the pig has space to move away and the handler allows it to move away.
Typically, the point of balance is located at a pig’s shoulder but this may change
depending on the environment. There are many conditions where the point of
balance will not accurately predict how a pig will respond. There are situations
where best results are achieved by working ahead of pigs and letting them

circle past for example, as they move out a gate. A common error handlers may
make is attempting to move the pig forward while standing in front of the pig and
tapping it on the rear or pressuring it to move forward. Also handlers should not
move, block or interfere from a forward position when another handler is
attempting to move pigs past them. Pigs may balk and refuse to move if they are
driven towards visible people.

The sense of hearing and smell to situate itself in its surroundings and uses
sight to complement information gathered by these two senses.2 The blind spot
exists because a pig’s eyes are on the sides of its head and a pig’s field of vision is
approximately 310 degrees leaving a blind spot directly behind it.3 Pigs want to see
anything that is a potential threat or source of pressure. They try to keep handlers
out of their blind spots. Pigs hold still and use their hearing to track people they
can’t see. We have to notice what pigs are paying attention to in order to move

1. Aggression Toward Other Pigs

Piglets show aggression to other piglets within the first week of life
while forming a teat order. Later, introducing new pigs into a group may lead to
aggression as the pigs establish social ranks. Pigs may spend 1–2 min nosing
each other, vocalizing, and then biting until one of the pigs retreats. It may take
several days to establish a hierarchy in older pigs. Once the hierarchy is
established, fights are rare and ranks are preserved mostly by threats from the
dominant pig and submissive gestures from subordinates (eg, twisting the head
away). During estrous cycles, sows may show severe aggression toward newly
added sows. Submissive sows show the least estrous behavior, have small litters,
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and lose weight (most likely due to low nourishment). Most aggression in pigs
seems to be related to resources such as food. Crowding and limited amounts of
food increase aggression. During breeding, boars may fight and become very
vocal; boars will strut shoulder to shoulder, champ their jaws (producing
pheromone-rich saliva), then finally face each other and attack. Serious injuries
may result, especially among boars that still have their tusks. Breed likely plays
a role; Large Whites are more aggressive than Hampshires, which are more
aggressive than Durocs. Body fat percentage may also be a factor; breeds with
lower body fat are more aggressive when handled.

Management includes slow introduction of new pigs into existing groups,

provision of shelters where subordinate pigs can hide, provision of sufficient
resources and toys, and application of boar pheromones. Most producers keep
lights dim in the pen to reduce aggression. Using tranquilizers such as azaperone
(2.2 mg/kg) or amperozide (1 mg/kg) can help reduce aggression but may not be
economical. Lithium (an antipsychotic) has been used successfully.

2.Tail Biting:

Tail biting is seen mostly in confined pigs. Overcrowding and

boredom seem to be the main causes. Free-ranging pigs spend 5–10 hr daily
looking for food and rooting, whereas pigs kept in pens consume meals in a short
time. Slatted floors without bedding, low-salt diets, and low-iron soil seem to
predispose pigs to tail biting. Once the problem starts, blood from the injured tail
seems to arouse the other pigs and can even lead to death of the victim but rarely
ad vances to pure cannibalism. Most losses are due to secondary infections that
result in culling. Management includes removing the biting pigs (if there are only
a few of them) and providing stimulation such as straw bedding to root, toys, and
corn on the cob to chew. Most commercial producers dock piglets’ tails; however,
this does not reduce the motivation for tail biting, and pigs may bite the stump or
ears instead.

3.Cannibalism:

Mostly seen in primiparous gilts, cannibalism accounts for 4% of

piglet deaths and is estimated to affect ~18% of litters. It is most common
immediately after parturition when the sow is stressed. Usually, the sow will bark
to warn piglets walking by her head and then later attack them, biting them to
death. Farrowing crates have been used successfully to reduce the incidence of
cannibalism. Azaperone (2.2 mg/kg) has been used for treatment as well.

4.Crushing Piglets:

Heavy sows may lie on their piglets, killing them. This normally
occurs when there are weak, underdeveloped, or sick piglets that cannot move
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fast enough to avoid the sow. However, it is also a breeding and management
problem—sows are naturally intensely protective mothers that will prevent the
handler from attending to the piglets; selective breeding for less-protective sows
has resulted in sows less devoted maternally. Management includes providing
appropriate farrowing crates with slopes and bars on the sides that allow the
piglets to move away from the sow and prevent the sow from rolling over on the
piglets. In addition, heat lamps provide the piglets with an alternative heat
source and motivation to rest away from the sow.

Animals with bad behaviors should be culled and remove from the
group of breeding herds. They should never be given an inch to the breeding pool
or otherwise these undesirable behaviors will be shared to their future offspring
that would lead to serious problems to pig productivity.

Quality of products

The pig breeding stock industry is at the top of the pyramid structure
of pig farms and plays an important role in providing superior genes to improve the
pork industry. Thus, the ability to breed pig stock is the most important factor that
influences the success or failure in the pig industry (Lee, 1996; Seo et al., 2012).
Currently, consumers prefer meat with excellent quality. Thus, in the three-way
crossbred, Landrace and Yorkshire are highly prolific and have a good mothering
ability, and Duroc has good meat quality (Kim et al., 2002; Kim et al., 2006a; Seo
et al., 2011). Also, fertility and litter size are inherited through the maternal line,
and meat productivity and meat quality are inherited through the paternal (Kim et
al., 2006b; Lee et al., 2011). Therefore, the improvement of pig breeding stock is
essential. On the other hand, (Johnson et al. (2002) stated that average daily gain
(ADG) is highest in Duroc. Among Hampshire, Landrace, Yorkshire and Duroc,
respectively, ADG values of 0.83±0.13 kg, 0.85±0.15kg, 0.87±0.14 kg, and
0.88±0.13 kg were found during 100-177 d of age. Oh (2005) reported that the
EMA (eye muscle area)'s heritability of Landrace, Yorkshire and Duroc were
estimated to be 0.33, 0.18 and 0.37, respectively.
Three way crossbred pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc) are mainly
utilized for production of commercial pork and have more great production
efficiency than pure or two-way crossbreds (Nelson and Robison, 1976). The Duroc
breed is used as a terminal sire when commercial pigs are produced. Also, this
breed has used for fattening of commercial pigs (Suzuki et al., 2003).

Mothering Ability

Maternal effects can be defined as all conditions that relate to how a dam’s
genetics and life history influences how her progenies perform.

These can be divided into:

1. Prenatal conditions such as the ability to conceive, establish and maintain

pregnancy as well as the extent at which uterine capacity may impact on litter size
and piglets conditions at farrowing,

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2. Post-natal conditions including the ability of the dam to produce enough milk
and her mothering instincts ( Robinson, 1972; Alves et al., 2018)

Maternal effects represent a sizeable source of variation could be a genetic factor,

or both. Accounting for maternal effects in swine genetic evaluation programs is
important for accurate estimation of breeding values for those with maternal
influence. However,accurately measuring maternal effects be a challenge due;

⚫ Maternal effects are only expressed later in the life of the sow and long after a
selection decision was made on her as a gilt.

⚫ An insufficient number of dams with multiple records can affect the ability to
properly adjust for maternal effects in the genetic evaluation program.

⚫ Maternal effects of dams on traits of its young are often confounded by the
dams direct contribution of genes to her progeny. For example how fast the
pigs grows from birth to weaning is influenced by the piglets own genetic
ability to grow which the piglet inherited from the sow plus the maternal effect
provided by the sow.

⚫ The use of cross-fostering effects the proper assessment of a dams maternal

effect on its offspring because the maternal ability of the sow is often directly
related to the reasons for cross-fostering.

Adaptability

Major environmental stresses affecting production and reproduction of

livestock are heat and nutrition stress . Increased ambient temperature leads to
heat stress in livestock which has adverse effects on animal production and
reproduction. Effects of heat stress in livestock are reduced feed intake, growth
performance, milk yield, increased sweating rate, panting, rectal temperature, respiratory
rate, and water intake .

Apart from these there are also changes in hematological parameters,

electrolytes, metabolites, increased mortality and morbidity, and reduced immune function .
Growth is defined as the irreversible positive changes in the measured dimensions
of the body. Body growth is affected by factors such as nutrients, hormones,
enzymes and temperature. The evident effects of heat stress on growth
performance are due to decrease in anabolic activity caused by decline in voluntary
feed intake, and increase in tissue catabolism . Further, heat stress causes
reduction in the body condition score (BCS) due to negative energy balance.
Factors such as, greater maintenance requirements during hot weather, poor
appetite and low quality forages during summer months contributes to the slower
growth and reduced body size.

Consequently, the knowledge of swine breeds and its behavior should

be given emphasis for the farmer to select wisely breeding herds that are high
adaptability to certain environments. Animals selected should be well adapted to
the prevailing climatic condition in the area .

Prolificacy

In practice, producers should avoid over feeding during gestation because fat sows

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eat less during lactation. Producers should avoid or minimize heat stress for sows.
Heat stress reduces voluntary feed intake. Practices that can reduce heat stress
include adequate ventilation, using a flooring material that conducts heat away
from
sows, drip cooling and snout cooling. Sows should be fed frequently (three to four
times a day). Water intake is also very important. Producers should be certain to
provide a clean, ample water supply. Cup waterers are preferred over nipples (if
nipple waterers are used, ensure an adequate flow rate). Producers should avoid
low energy(high fiber) diets during lactation.

Nutrition clearly affects sow prolificacy. It appears that the connection between
nutrition and subsequent reproductive performance is mediated through the
metabolic state of the sow. This indicates that sows should be fed moderately
during gestation so they will consume an adequate amount of feed during
lactation. A high level of feed intake is important during each phase of lactation. It
also appears that supplemental fat in the lactation diet has no large detrimental
effect on prolificacy. The amount of lysine required to maximize litter growth rate
can be estimated and should be utilized in production setting to determine the
appropriate level of supplementation. Management practices to encourage a high
level of feed intake during lactation should be encouraged. Chromium appears to
improve sow prolificacy probably through its effect on insulin.

Prolificacy then is not merely relying on a particular swine breed but on some
other factors which plays an important role in the production cycle of the pigs
namely; environment and nutrition. Animals selected are highly prolific only when
those factors mentioned above were properly addressed.

What’s More

Activity # 1 Cross-word puzzle: Look for the words or terms commonly used in
this module. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

H T T A I L B I T I N G Q U B

Y E A S V Y E C T Y O L L O W

T N R T E T S A Y U I O A B O

I V O I S I O N N A T R L S L

L I I L D L V O M B I J L U Y

A R V L D I M I F I D T A I C

T O A B A B T T U L N L C K A

R N H I E A F A H I O A T O C

O M E R R T S M R T C N A I I

M E B T H P E R A Y L R T L F

S N O H E A R O L C A E I A I

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 H T C E A D S F L H E T O R L
O A F U R A I N E I R A N B O

T L I G R E T O I L S M A O R
D O G N O I T C U D O R P P P

What I Have Learned

1. Fertility and litter size are inherited through the maternal line, and meat
productivity and meat quality are inherited through the paternal line.
2. Sick animals do not breed well and are expensive to keep.
3. Proper selection helps improve animal characteristics that are highly heritable.

What I Can Do
Activity #2

Based on the reading discussion what are the following factors you consider when
selecting swine for breeding. How do you choose your breeding material for swine
production? Copy the template below on a separate sheet and fill-in the data
required in this activity.

Name of Farm: ( name of your future farm)

Operator:

Location:

Selection of Breeding Materials

Pig Criteria Important features

Gilt/Sow

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 Boar

Assessment
A. Multiple Choice: Read the questions carefully and select the best answer by
writing the letter of your choice on a separate sheet of paper.

1.It refers to a condition where litters are dead upon delivery from a Sow.

A. mortality C. dead borne

B. stillbirth D. congenital

2. A constant occurrence of the genes that carry desirable characteristics

A. gene heretability C. gene characteristics

B. gene condition D. genetic frequency

3.This is a term manifested by death of piglets before weaning stage.

A. Piglet stillbirth C. Piglet looses

B. Piglet mortality D. Piglet disease

4. It is commonly used as a bench marking measurement to compare the

productivity of breeding herds.

A. Pigs weaned per sow per year C. Prolonged weaning interval

B. Pigs born alive D. High pre-weaning growth rate
5. Among the choices are examples of undesirable traits in swine, except;
A. heterosis C. cryptorchidism
B. hernia D. dwarfism

6. This term indicates that the condition was inherited by the piglet from the sow’s
or the boar’s genes.

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 A. hereditary C.characteristics
B. genetics D. Quality

7. It is a behavior when sow barks to warn piglets walking by her head and then
later attack them, biting them to death.

A. temperament C. cannibalism
B. aggression D. bullying

8. This refers to the area around an animal that it considers its individual space.

A. Flight deck C. Flight path

B. Flight zone D. Flight area

9. The general body shape and features of the pig as determined by his framework
or his skeleton and muscle structure..

A. Body structure C. Body framework

B. Body posture D. Body conformation

10. To situate itself in its surroundings, pig uses the following senses except;

A. smell C. sight
B. hear D.touch

Additional Activities
In your own opinion, is it really important to follow all the factors
considered when selecting swine breeding materials? What if some of the factors
mentioned are not found in the animals you are about to select? How will you
manage the selection?

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 Answer Key

Pre- Test Post- Test CROSS-WORD PUZZLE

1. B 1. B 1. HEREDITARY 11. PRODUCTION

2.B 2. D 2. PROLIFICACY 12. MORTALITY

3. B 3. B 3. LACTATION 13. GILT
4. A 4. A 4. CONFORMATION14. STILLBIRTH
5. D 5. A 5. ADAPTABILITY 15. BOAR
6. A 6. C 6. CONDITION
7. C 7. B 7. ENVIRONMENTAL
8. B 8. B 8. BEHAVIOR
9. B 9. D 9. TAIL BITING
10.D 10.B 10. MATERNAL

Glossary of Terms

Litter size the size of a newly born piglet.

Congenital a condition acquired during development in the uterus and not

through heridity.

Hereditary genetically transmitted from parent to offspring.

Maternal characteristics related through a mother.

Herds typically a large group of animals of one kind kept together under
human control.

Gilts refers to a young female swine not farrowed yet.

Prolificacy refers to a condition of being productive.

Progeny offspring of animals., a successor.

Culled removal of weak or sick animals.

Anabolic marked by or promoting metabolic activity concerned with of

complex molecules

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References

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metabolism and reproduction. Proceedings of the 14th IPVS Congress, Bologna,
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4-H Manitoba Contact Information 1129 Queens Avenue Brandon, MB R7A 1L9
Phone: 204-726-6136 Fax: 204-728-9040 Email: learns@4h.mb.ca www.4h.mb.c

https://thepigsite.com/articles/selecting-gilts-for-lifetime-productivity

http://ulster.cce.cornell.edu/resources/breeding-pigs
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https://www.nationalhogfarmer.com/mag/farming_age_parity_impact

5-H Manitoba Contact Information 1129 Queens Avenue Brandon, MB R7A 1L9
Phone: 204-726-6136 Fax: 204-728-9040 Email: learns@4h.mb.ca www.4h.mb.c

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/behavior/normal-social-behavior-and-
behavioral-problems-of-domestic-animals/behavioral-problems-of-swine

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