Anatomy &

Physiology
of the Pig
ANSC 4401
Swine Production
Why understand pig A&P?
 It will open new areas of application of
pig biology to benefit humans
 It helps you have a conversation with
other pig people, veterinarians and
scientists
 It will help you manage pigs in
meaningful ways on farms
 Recognize disease states more easily
 Obtain blood or other tissue samples
Anatomy & Physiology
Outline
 Anatomical terms
 Major bones

 Uses for pigs other than for eating

 Some terminology

 Blood collection

 Necropsy
Anatomical terms
Major bones of the pig
Uses of pigs other than for eating

 Organ donors
 As a source of biological materials,
ex. Insulin or heparin
 As a model for biomedical research
 As an organ donor to humans
 For entertainment
 As pets
 As truffle-finders (they are smell
experts)
 Xenotransplantation &
Cloning
New pig cloning research promising yet
risky, studies indicate

August 17, 2000

Web posted at: 12:57 PM EDT (1657
GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two groups of

researchers publishing work in rival
scientific journals report similar
successes in cloning pigs -- a difficult
process that may lead to ways to grow
organs in the animals destined for
human transplantation.
"The goal here is to reduce the shortage of
organs for transplantation and prevent
any more needless deaths that arise
because people simply don't receive
the organ they need," said Dr. Anthony
Perry of New York's Rockefeller
University.
 Some Terms
 Serum (fluid minus all
cells and clotting
factors)
 Plasma (fluid
including soluble
clotting factors)
 Red blood cells
(obtained only from
plasma)
 White blood cells
(obtained only from
plasma)
 Composition of Newborn
Pigs

Table 1. Composition of newborns of three species and neonatal pigs.

Data are percentage of total body weight.
Species Water Protein Fat
Human, newborn 69.1 11.9 16.1
Rat, newborn 86.0 10.8 1.1
Pig, newborn 84.1 11.3 1.1
Pig, 7 days old 68.5 13.6 9.5
Pig, 28 days old 61.8 14.4 17.8
From Widdowson, 1950 and Manners and McCrea, 1963.
 Blood Collection From
Pigs
 Ear veins
 Jugular vein

 Facial vein

 Tail vein

 Orbital Sinus
 Points to sample from or inject into
the venous system of pigs
Piglets Young pigs Adults
1. Ventral Neck
Vena Cava   
External Jugular   
Lingual-facial difficult  
Facial difficult  

2. Orbital sinus   not advised

3. Ear vein difficult difficult 

4. Tail vein difficult difficult 

5. Heart (cardiac puncture) na* na* na*

* not advised except as a last resort or in the case of euthanasia
Preferred method of restraint on back on back standing, snared
Common Bleeding Ports
Orbital
Auricular
venous
sinus (ear) vein

Facial Vein External

Jugular Vein
Bleeding Trough for
Young Pigs
Bleeding tools: Vacutainer
Bleeding sows
 Blood Collection Tubes

Table 2. Common blood collection tubes (tubes with * are commonly used)
Color of tube top Fluid type Anticoagulant Example uses
Red* Serum none Antibodies, minerals, other proteins
Blue Either Na heparin or none Special blood chemistries
Brown Plasma Na heparin Lead determinations & others
Black/light blue Plasma Na citrate Coagulation studies
Gray Plasma glycolytic inhibitors Glucose determinations
Green* Plasma lithium heparin Na, Ca sensitive assays
Yellow Plasma sodium citrate DNA extraction
Purple/Lavender* Plasma EDTA Clotting factors
Maximum safe blood draw

Total blood Maximum

Age & weight volume, mL draw, mL
Newborn, 3 lb 110 10

Nursery pig, 1,280 120

35 lb
Sow, 440 lb 16,000 1,600
Selected normal blood values

Measure Value
Blood volume 8%
WBC count 10-12 thousand/μL
Neutrophils 45 %
Lymphocytes 50 %
Gamma globulin 25-30 mg/mL
Necropsy – Why?

 To improve the herd health

 To contribute to the herd health
program
 To identify causes of illness or death
so that
 Effective treatments can be applied
 Preventative measures can be
implemented
Necropsy – What to look for
 Skin condition
 Swollen joints
 Wounds or abscesses
 Intestinal condition (fluid-filled, bloody, gas,
etc)
 Lung condition (hemorrhage, non-functional
tissues, edema, etc.)
 Liver condition (look for milk spots;
indication of a parasitic infection)
 Condition of other organs (kidneys, spleen,
heart)
 Snout condition (condition of the turbinates)
Necropsy – “normal”
Necropsy -- Tools

 Scalpel
 Probes (spatula or equivalent)

 Saw (hack saw or equivalent)

 Water

 Mechanism to dispose of parts (plastic

bags)
The End