University of Gondar

College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences

Department of Animal Sciences

Swine Production and Management

Course code: AnSc-221

By
Emebet N.
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction
 

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 Cont.…
1.1 INTRODUCTION: Terminologies
 Swine- are non-ruminant monogastrics animals.
 Pig - an animal of porcine species of any age, kept for breeding or
fattening.
 Pig meat is called pork.
Sex Classes of Swine
1. Gilt – Any female pig that has not yet given birth (An immature
female).
-A female pig intended for breeding, after puberty and
before farrowing (also known as clear pig).
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 Cont.…

2. Sow – A mature female pig that has given birth.

- A female after first farrowing.

3. Boar – An intact male hog kept only for breeding

purposes.
- A male of breeding age.
- A male pig after puberty intended for breeding (un-

castrated male).
4. Barrow – A castrated male hog used for meat.
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 Cont.…

Gilt

Sow

Boar Barrow
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 Cont.…

 Hog - The castrated male (usually at 6-8 week of age).

 Stag - A male pig castrated late in life to facilitate fattening.
 Rig - A male pig with one un-descended testicle.
Farrowing - Act of giving birth.
- The name of parturition for swine.
Piglet - a pig from birth to weaning.
Weaner - a pig from weaning to the age of ten weeks.
Rearing pig - a pig from ten weeks to slaughter or service.

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 Cont.…

Farrowing

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 Cont.…

Feeder Pig - A weaned pig

ready to finish for slaughter.

Needle teeth - Set of 8 very

sharp teeth in swine that are
usually removed from days
old piglets to prevent injury to
other piglets and sow’s udder.

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 Cont.…
Scientific Classification

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Chordata (backbone, vertebrates)

Class- Mammalia (warm-blooded, hairy animals that produce

their young alive and suckle them for a variable

period from the mammary glands).


Order- Artiodactyla (even-toed, hoofed mammals)

Sub order- Suina

Family- Susidae (non-ruminant Artiodactyla ungulates)

Genus- Sus

Species- domesticus
9
 1.2 Swine production systems in Ethiopia

• Swine production in Ethiopia is in its infant stage.

The population is estimated at about 19,000 (CSA,
2004).
• For the last number of years adequate emphasis was
not given for the sector.
• Unlike other livestock distribution, swine farms are
restricted to central part of the country near, Addis
Ababa. For instance,
 tradition of keeping swine is improving and their
population is increasing from time to time in and
around Holetta, west of Addis Ababa.
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 Cont.…
 Currently large numbers of swine are
widespread in these areas and some are kept
mixed with other livestock’s.
 The major feeds available for the swine in the
area were wheat bran; oil seed cake and
human food remain (rest food).
 Some swine also feed on pasture, crop residue
and garbage.

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 1.3Potential, importance and limitations of
swine production
1.3.1 Potential of swine production

The production potential of swine is 5 times much more than other

cattle, based on the yield obtained per tones of live weight.

 Around 1.4 billion pigs are slaughtered annually for meat worldwide.

 The majority of pork consuming nations are East Asia, particularly

China, which they produce, rear and consume over the half of the
world’s pig followed by the Europe, North America and Brazil

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 Cont.…
 Pigs are found throughout the world, but their distribution is not uniform.

 Pigs are found in great numbers in most of Asia, Europe, and North and

South America.

 However, cultural and religious differences among regions of the world

are partially responsible for differences in distribution patterns.

 The following table shows the amount of pig meat produced around the

world in 2000, along with the human population and the amount of pork

available per capita per year in each country or region, based on their

population.

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 Cont.…

Top Five Swine Producing Countries

1. China
2. European Union
3. United States
4. Brazil
5. Canada

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 Cont.…

1.3.2 importance of swine production

i. Efficient Conversion of animal feed to human food

• From the standpoint of the efficient production of pork, the
pig is superior to beef cattle, goat or sheep when the feed
provided is of a high quality.
• When the feed is of lower quality, the pig is not as efficient
as ruminant livestock.

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 Cont.…

ii. Financially rewarding

• The capital invested can be realized and returned in a relatively short period.

• It takes a 6 to 7 months feeding period to raise a weaning pig to a market

weight of 90kg, under average feeding and management condition in a humid
tropical climate
iii. Omnivores
• Pigs are voracious eaters of from crop waste products and offals of livestock
and poultry, which are converted efficiently into pork, thus yielding edible
protein and a food of high caloric value.
• Kitchen leftovers or restaurant refuse can also be converted efficiently into
pork.
• Farm grain that has been damaged by rain or fire can be eaten by mature pigs.

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 Cont.…
Iv Tolerance to a wide variety of feeds
•  Pigs of all classes, except young piglets, can tolerate all
kinds of feeds, even to some extent low quality, highly
fibrous foods.
• It has been a practice in developed and underdeveloped
countries engaged in pig production to feed pregnant sows
with freshly cut forage or corn silage mixed with a small
amount of protein feed concentrate.
• This reduces energy intake economically and improves the
sow’s reproductive efficiency.
v.Large litters
•  A sow can easily produce a litter of 8 to 12 pigs after a
relatively
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short gestation period of 112 to 120 days. 17
 Cont.…
• In many underdeveloped tropical countries in which pork
consumption is not restricted by religious customs and benefits, pig
raising can be a means of filling the gap between the production of
protein food and the rapid rate of population increase.
• Pork is not only rich in protein but is also a good source of energy.
vi. Live in small areas
• Pigs need a small space in which it grows.
• Unlike beef and dairy cattle, which usually require at least 1 ha of
natural pasture per head, pigs can be raised on a small area either in
close confinement within a building or on a small area of pasture.
• Even in sub-urban areas, pigs are raised either in the backyard or in a
medium production scale.
• A mature sow or active boar requires only 4-5 m2 of living space.

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 Cont.…
vii. High percentage of useful products per pig
•  has high percentage of dressed carcass.
viii. Improve soil fertility
 
• Like other farm animals, pigs contribute a considerable amount of fertilizing
ingredients to the soil through their manure.
• A mature pig can produce 600 to 730 kg of manure annually.
• The nitrogen content of fresh pig ranges from 0.55-0.6 percent; phosphate
content, 0.5 percent and potassium content 0.4 percent.
ix. Profitable for small farmers
• Many poor families in rural areas in the less developed tropical countries of
Southern Asia and Southern America raise one or two pigs as their ‘saving banks’
• The poor families in the sub-urban or rural areas find raising one or two pigs in
their backyard profitable since the feed used usually comes from leftovers in the
kitchen and from the farm.

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 Cont.…
1.3.3 Constraints of pig raising
 The major constraints in pig production are described as follows:
Pork is not internationally accepted food:
 consumption of pork is forbidden by certain religions and pig
production is not encouraged in Muslim countries in tropical Africa
and Asia.
Sub-urban pollution:
 because pigs have a single stomach and require only a small space,
they are usually raised on a back yard scale in communities where
kitchen leftovers are plentiful.
 As a consequence, the surrounding of these communities may swarm
with files, which could cause excessive pollution (contamination,
disease and bad smell).

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 Cont.…

Susceptibility to parasite and diseases:

 in many underdeveloped countries in the tropics, there are still a
large number of pig producers who raise pigs in a traditional
scavenging system.
 Scavenging pigs are not only susceptible to parasites and diseases but
also carriers of diseases.
Competition with people for food grains.

 Grains that are used for human consumption are used as a feed for
pigs and as a result food shortage occurs.

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 CHAPTER 2
SWINE BREEDS AND THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS

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 1.1 Major Breeds of swine

 There are about 300 breeds of pigs in the world. There are
three classifications of swine breed in the world:

1. Paternal (sire) or Dark breeds or Terminal breeds: -

typically colored and used for their production abilities such
as meatiness, leanness, muscling, durability, growth rate, and
feed efficiency.
2. White breeds or Maternal breeds: - typically white and are
used for their reproductive abilities such as mothering ability,
fertility, litter size, and milking ability (milk production).
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 Cont.…

3. Rare and Minor breeds:- preserve of rare, minor in

number, watch, and feral swine breeds.

 Principle breeds of swine are Berkshire, Chester White,

Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace, Pietrain, Poland China,
Spotted Swine, Vietnamese potbelly and Yorkshire.

 These breeds are two types. These are paternal breeds (sire
or Dark breeds or Terminal breeds) and maternal breeds
(White breeds).
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 1.2 Paternal (sire) or Dark breeds or Terminal
breeds

1.Berkshire

2.Duroc

3.Hampshire

4. Poland China

5. Spotted swine

6. Vietnamese potbelly

7. Pietrain
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 1.3 White/Maternal Breeds

1. Chester White
2. Landrace
3. Yorkshire

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 Cont.…

1. Berkshire

 Originated and developed in first in England for the pork

trade
 Black color(coat), white points(feet), nose and tail
 Short faced with erect ears
 Early-maturing
 Juicy, flavorful, tender meat

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 Cont.…
 The Berkshire breed has long been known for its efficiency in
gaining weight.

 Berkshire hogs have possessed their excellent carcass quality.

 The meat quality of the Berkshire is unique because it has a

greater proportion of lean meat intermixed with streaks of fat.

 This intramuscular fat gives more marbling in comparison to

other breeds.

 When cooked the increased marbling produces a juicer pork

product with more flavor for the consumer.
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 Cont.…

Berkshire swine breed

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 Cont.…

2. Chester White

 Developed in the United States

 White small drooping ears
 Excellent in:
– Litter size
– Milk production
– Fertility
– Mothering ability

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 Cont.…

 Chester white breeds are good feeders and are well

accepted on all hog markets.
 The Chester White breed originated in Chester and
Delaware countries of Pennsylvania in 1848.
 It is a prolific and is known for its durability and structural
soundness.
 For many years, Chester Whites have been popular with
pork producers because of their extreme longevity.
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 Cont.…

 The carcass is high quality and lean.

 Packers prefer Chester Whites because of their white
colored skin is easily removed during the harvesting
process.
 The sow averages 500 to 600 pounds and is noted for
length and good size, good breeding qualities, gentle
disposition, coarse, large litters and large dressing
percentages.

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 Cont.…

Chester White swine breed

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 Cont.…

3. Duroc


Developed in the United States

Drooping ears

Quick muscle growth

Aggressive

Durocs have considerable variation in color.

It’s color is solid red, although wide variations in the shade of red are

common, from golden to deep brick. But mostly it is Reddish brown

in color.
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 Cont.…

 The Duroc is a fast-growing large breed which has been

selected specifically for overall muscle and meat
production.

 The breed is well known for its hardiness and resistance to

stress with lower levels of mortality.

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 Cont.…

Duroc swine breed

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 Cont.…

4. Hampshire

 The Hampshire swine originated in southern Scotland and

Northern England. These pigs were known as the "Old English
Breed".
 Black with a white belt and erect ears
 Well-muscled, rapid growers
 Good tempered
 Good carcass quality
 Medium sized
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 Cont.…

 Hampshires possess less back fat.

 Their packer prefer them because of their carcass quality

and thin skin, which makes processing easier.

 They have the reputation of utilizing pasture well, and the

sows of the breed are considered to be excellent mothers.

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 Cont.…

Hampshire swine breed

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 Cont.…

5. Landrace

 Originated in Denmark
 Longer than other breeds because of extra vertebrae
 Have a rather fine hair coat
 Excellent in:
• Litter size
• Milk production
• Fertility

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 Cont.…

 Landrace are known for producing a high percentage of

carcass weight.
 The breed is easily known by its huge forward pointing
loop ears. It is characterized by a long, smooth body with
light shoulders and well developed hams.
 The breed is prolific with excellent mothering ability and
produces lean, fast-growing progeny.

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 Cont.…

 The landrace has a higher level of susceptibility to stress

than some other breeds.
 It is highly favored for cross breeding purposes.

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 Cont.…

Landrace swine breed

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 Cont.…

6. Pietrain

 Originated in Belgium
 The breed is of medium size and is white with black spots
with erect ears.
 High proportion of lean to fat
 Often carries the gene for Porcine Stress Syndrome
• Purebreds rare, instead used in crossbreeding programs

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 Cont.…

Pietrain swine breed

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 Cont.…

7. Poland China

 Developed in the United States

 Black, white on legs, snout and tail; drooping ears, and
large size
 Maximum weight at any given age
 Excellent feeders – gain readily
 Quiet nature and hardy constitution

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 Cont.…

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Poland China swine breed 47
 Cont.…

8. Spotted Swine

 Developed in the United States

 Black and white spotted with drooping ears

 Able to transmit their fast-gaining, feed efficient, meat qualities to

their offspring
 Excellent in:

• Leanness

• Growth

• Muscling
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 Cont.…

Spotted swine breed

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 Cont.…

9. Vietnamese potbelly

 Developed in Vietnam
 Average 3-ft long, 15-inches tall, and 70 – 150 lbs
 Solid black to solid white with a variety of spots
 It has a small to medium body size, and small, upright ears.

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 Cont.…

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Vietnamese potbelly swine breed 51
 Cont.…

10. Yorkshire

 Originated in the 18th century in Yorkshire, England by

crossing the large indigenous white pig of North England
with the smaller, fatter, white Chinese pig.
 White with erect ears
 “Mother breed”- large litters and excellent milking, fertility
and mothering ability

 Muscular with high proportion of lean meat

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 Cont.…

 A very popular breed throughout the world.

 It is fast growing, strong-framed with smooth and good
body length.
 It is renowned for its strength of legs.
 The breed is widely distributed in Africa and is used
extensively for crossbreeding.
 The white hair and skin render the carcass more acceptable
to consumers than that from the colored breed.

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 Cont.…

Yorkshire swine breed

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 Cont.…

 Many additional breed resources continue to be propagated

throughout the world.
 Many of these breeds are considered ‘minor’ breeds due to
limited numbers and often a lack of a breed society to
ensure breed purity.
 The Peoples Republic of China is home to an extensive
group of pig breed resources estimated to number more that
100 in total.

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 CHAPTER 3
SWINE PRODUCTION SYSTEM

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 Cont.…

 In most countries, a variety of different pig production

systems exist, from the simplest, with minimal investment,
to large-scale market-oriented enterprises. The common
systems of keeping pigs include the following:
1. Intensive System (Indoor Management)

 Intensive Production System is the commercial method of

pig production under which economic considerations are
the sole determinant of herd size.
07/16/2022 57
 Cont.…

 The farmer grows or buys feed especially for his pig

enterprise.

 Housing is generally more expensive with concrete floor,

and zinc roofing.

 Adequate shade, pen space, feed and water facilities are

provided to meet requirements of the pigs.

 There is an absolute requirement for skilled management

including veterinary protection against parasites and
diseases to optimize output. 58
 Cont.…

 Higher performance exotic or crosses between exotic and

indigenous breeds are used.

 Access to credit facilities are favorable.

 Cost benefit estimates are often the primary motivating

factors for farmers to invest in commercial pig production.

 These factors also determine the level of herd size and

capital intensiveness of the enterprise.

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 Cont.…

 Intensive pig production may be small scale (5 sow herd or up

to 100 stock/year), medium scale (10 sow herd or up to 200

stock/year) or large scale (greater than 200 stock. year) in

most developing countries.

 This system of pig farming can be combined with fish

farming and vegetable production.

 Such an operation enhances efficiency of resource use to

increase output.
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 Cont.…

 Fish ponds can be fertilized with pig manure, generating

algal growth which can then be utilized by fish.

 Pig houses can be constructed above the ponds so that the

manure can drop straight into the fish ponds.

 Pig manure can be used as organic manure to enrich soil for

vegetable gardening.

 While residues from vegetable products are in turn fed to

pigs.
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 Cont.…

2. Semi-Intensive
 In this system, the animals are restricted to a limited area
and therefore the farmer takes the whole responsibility of
feeding them.

 Once in ‘- while, the pigs are allowed into the fenced larger
yard to graze, wallow and exercise.

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 Cont.…

 Housing is mainly of very simple construction and made

from simple and inexpensive materials like mud, bamboo

and elevated thatched roof.

 The animals are fed on kitchen wastes, food by-products

etc, and some level of managerial skills are required.

 Productivity is better than under the free range and

therefore the herd sizes are bigger.

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 Cont.…

 Indigenous breeds are still prevalent in this system but

crosses between local and exotic breeds are more
commonly available.

 Many small holder pig farmers practice the extensive

system during the dry season and the semi-intensive system
during the rainy season to prevent damage to crops.

 In this regard therefore, no fenced yards are provided.

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 Cont.…

 The housing provided for night shelter during the dry

season is the same as that used during the wet seasons.

 The semi-intensive system can be recommended for small

holders and beginning pig farmers.

 The farmer can expand herd size and grow into a more
intensive management system with experience and a
conducive marketing environment.

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 Cont.…

3. Extensive System/Outdoor
Management/Free-Range/Scavenging/

 The free-range system is the traditional method of rearing

swine in most parts of the world.

 The system is cheap as it requires little investment. It also

requires minimal management.

 Each family keeps a few (one to three) sows per herd which
are allowed to scavenger or wander freely and pick up food
when and where they can.
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 Cont.…
 Feed costs on range system may be about 20-25% less than
with intensive rearing method.
 No special housing other than for night shelter is required
and there is minimum disease control.
 Pigs under this system are given supplementary feeds. This
makes them have attachment to their owners.
 Examples of feeds given are kitchen wastes, farm by-
products such as casava peels, brans of cereals, fruit pulps
and maize cobs.
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 Cont.…

 This technique of supplementary feeding to pigs makes

them come back home daily to the farmer.

 Local breeds of pigs predominate the free range system

because they are more highly adapted.

 The disadvantages of the system though are numerous,

losses are high and productivity is low with the erratic and
often seasonal food supplies.

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 Cont.…

 This can result in irregular breeding of sows, slow growth

rate and high piglet mortality.

 Breeding is indiscriminate as no particular attention is paid

to selection of pigs on desirable traits. They are particularly
susceptible to infestation by parasites from various sources.

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 Cont.…

4. Piggery Enterprises
 Since profit motivation is the major determinant for
commercial pig production, it is always better to start on a
small scale and then expand as more experience is gained.

 Essentially, there are four pig production enterprises.

I. Farrow-to-finish operations - The farmer keeps a sow

herd and produces his own growers for a finishing
operation which he also owns.
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 Cont.…

II. Farrow only - The farmer keeps a sow herd which

produces weaners which he sells to growing and finishing
operators.
III. Finishing operation - Farmer buys piglets either as
weaners or growers and fatten them for the pork market.
IV. Breeding - The production of breeding stock is a very
specialized enterprise reserved only for the experienced
pig breeders and requires heavy capital investment.

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 Cont.…

 The beginning farmer or pig producer who wants to expand

must take stock of the market needs of his environment and
the level of resources available to him to decide which of
these enterprises to invest in as wen as the level of
investment.

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 CHAPTER 4.
SWINE SELECTION AND BREEDING
SYSTEMS

07/16/2022 73
 4.1 Selection of breeding stock (boar and gilt)

 Select the breeding stock when the pigs are

sexually mature (i.e. about five months. of age ).
Select from the same age group for their fair
comparison.
 Good reliable indicators of the pig’s performance
are traits such as growth rate and efficiency of gain.

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 Cont…
A. Growth Rate
 Measured by determining the difference in weight at maturity and
weight at weaning divided by the number of days.
 A good rule of thumb is to weigh the animals at two months and
then at five months.
 The daily gain is the difference in weight divided by 90, the
number of days in three months.
 At five months, the live weight of a pig should be between 65-85
kg.

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 Cont…
B. Efficiency of Gain
 A measure of how much feed was consumed to put on the
weight gain. It is usually measured for a group of pigs.
 Add the total feed consumption of the group that was fed
together and divide by the total weight gain of all the group to
get the feed efficiency of the group.
 This trait is economically important because feed cost
accounts for 60-70% of the total production costs for
commercial producers.
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 Cont..
Obtaining feed efficiency records requires keeping individual or group

feed records.
However feed efficiency can be improved with out keeping feed
records, such as by testing and selecting individual pigs for gain and
back fat.
Fast-gaining lean pigs tend to be more efficient in their feed utilization

C. Litter Size
Is important, but it is a low heritable trait.

Select breeders from amongst large, healthy and well performing litters.

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 Cont…

D. Conformation and Sex Characteristics

 Pigs selected for breeding must be physically healthy,

have good strong legs, be free from any defects and
must not be too fat.

 It is important to note that the genetic influence of the

boar on the next generation is greater than that of the
sow since one boar will be used to mate several sows.

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 Cont…

 Boars must have two equally sized and firmly

suspended testicles, exhibit sex drive and be
avoid of bad habits.
 Gilts must have a good underline and udder
with at least 12 well-spaced, fully formed teats.

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 Cont..
E. Other Selection Criteria

 For the small-scale farmer, the above four criteria are adequate but
for the large scale farmer and pig breeding or testing stations,
other criteria are commonly in use.

 These include: farrowing rate, number of still born litter, average

pig birth weight, pigs weaned per litter farrowed, average weaning
weight, loin muscle area, carcass length, back fat depth, percent
lean, mortality rate at weaning and in growing finishing stage.

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 4.2 Swine breeding systems

 The pig farmer, no matter how good, cannot do better than the
animal’s genetic potential for production.
 Improvements in productive parameters can thus be achieved
only by selection of animals with superior genetic make-up as
the parents for the next generation.
 Since the primary objective of pig farming is for meat
production, the farmer must learn to select those animals that
can be manipulated through breeding and management in order
to tap that animal’s optimum potential for meat production.
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 4.3 Mating systems (pen and hand mating)

Breeding in swine are two types such as, natural mating or artificial

insemination

The natural mating is 2 types. These are:-

1. Hand mating: Boar is taken to estrus sow and supervise each service.
 the placement of an individual estrous female in a small pen where she is

mated to an individual boar with supervision by a person working in the

breeding area.

2.Pen mating: Boar is allowed to run with the sow herd.

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 Cont.…

 Advantages of Hand mating: It gives accurate breeding

dates for the female; more sows are bred by a boar which

are not allowed to bred.

 Disadvantage of Hand mating: Takes more time; missing

of heat detection.

 Best is the pen mating.

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 Artificial Insemination (A.I)

 This involves collection of semen from a boar and then

introducing it into a sow at a later stage by means of
catheter.
 This differs from the natural service where a boar mounts
the sow and introduces his semen.
 It allows for wider use and distribution of boars of high
genetic merit.

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 Cont.…


Artificial insemination offers several potential advantages to the pig

producers and can be used more extensively when producers are

experienced. The advantages of artificial insemination are as follows:

a.It prevents transmission of diseases from farm to farm by the sale of

boars.

b.It helps to overcome the practical problems of differences in size of

males and females. On occasions, this problem can severely limit the

use of heavy boars of high genetic caliber.

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 Cont.…

c. It eliminates the need to purchase, house and feed a boar

especially on small scale pig farming.
d. It reduces the farmer’s risk of handling boars for natural
service.
 Estrous control, heat detection and timing of insemination
are very essential for any successful A.I.
 These allow for precise scheduling of breeding and
farrowing.
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 Cont.…

 Both natural and artificial methods can be used for lactating

sows. Estrous (mating reflex) will occur within 4 to 7 days

after the litter is weaned.

 Thus several litters could be weaned on the same day and the

sows bred at the earliest opportunity.

 To attain good conception rate in sows, accurate heat

detection must be carried out to ensure that the timing of

insemination is correct
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 Cont.…

 During the heat period, the following signs may be

observed:

i. Sows/gilts will allow themselves to be mounted by the boar

or other sows.
ii. Sow in heat stands rigid when pressure is applied to the
region of the loin, i.e. exhibits “standing reflex”.
iii. There is swelling and reddening of the vulva

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 Cont.…

iv.
Sows become restless and give characteristic ‘grunt’.


There is also the practice of inducing estrous and ovulation by

judicious administration of certain hormonal or hormone-like

substances.


Sows in which estrous is induced during lactation do not show

strong signs of heat as do those coming into estrous normally.


Therefore, more careful observations for estrous must be made.

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 Cont.…

Disadvantage of AI

Requires high degree of management

With liquid semen, storage is limited to 3 days

Cost of semen may become higher

Need trained technical manpower.

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 4.4 Problems of inbreeding
• Negative effects of inbreeding include 
 Inbreeding also increases the risk of disorders caused by
recessive genes.
 These disorders can lead to calf abnormalities,
miscarriages and stillbirths.
 Animals must have two copies of a recessive gene to have
the disorder.
  It reduces an animal's fertility and, also, productivity.

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 Cont..
 reduction rate of growth and size of the animals -stunted
growth,
 reduced conception rates – more services per conception,
 low birth weights,
 low weaning weights and
 low weight at maturity.
  to increase the frequency of pairing of similar genes.
--- All genetic and phenotypic changes associated with the practice
of inbreeding stem from this one primary consequence.
 In general, inbreeding results in an overall lowering in
performance.

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 4.5 Crossbreeding (Rotational, Terminal, Rota-
terminal
What Is a Crossbreeding System?

 A crossbreeding system is the production of crossbred pigs following

a planned procedure.

 Crossbreeding is the mating of pigs of different breeds. Crossbreeding

improves overall performance compared to straight bred production.
 Major advantages of crossbreeding are, in individual pig vitality and
in reproductive performance of crossbred sows.

 Crossbred pigs are more active at birth, more likely to live, start faster
and reach market weight sooner than straight bred pigs.
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 Cont.…

The three basic crossbreeding systems are:-

1. Rotational crossing system and

2. Terminal crossing system

3. Rota-terminal system

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 Cont.…

1. Rotational crossing system

a system of breeding swine in which the female offspring resulting

from a cross between two breeds are bred to a sire of a third breed

and the female offspring resulting from the second cross are then bred

to a sire of one of the two breeds used in the original cross 

Rotational crosses are characterized by rotating or changing the breed

of sire each generation.

Rotational crosses may involve two, three, four or more breeds.

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 Cont.…

2. Terminal crossing system

 It involves two (different) breeds of animal that have been
crossbred
 A terminal cross is a specific cross in which all pigs
produced are sold for slaughter.
 Typically, no breeding stock would be kept from the
crossbred pigs produced. The male and female parents
would represent different breeds.

96
 Cont.…

With the terminal cross, either the boar or the sow can be crossbred

or purebred.

The most common terminal crosses use crossbred sows (usually F

1 - two breed first cross) and straight bred boars.

If crossbred boars are used, they should represent breeds not found

in the sows.

The terminal cross is the system of choice for feeder pig production

where replacement gilts are not kept.

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 Cont.…

What are the advantages of terminal crosses?

 Terminal crosses provide maximum levels of heterosis

because sire and dam represent different breeds.

 Ideally, in a terminal cross, the sows used should wean

large litters of pigs which grow rapidly and efficiently and
produce meaty carcasses.

 F 1 females would often be used. The sire should produce

fast growing efficient pigs which produce excellent
carcasses.
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 Cont.…

3. Rota-terminal system

A. Simply a combination:

1) Use a rotational system to produce gilts

2) Use lean, fast growing boars to produce market pigs.

B. Taking advantages of the two systems:

1)Excellent system for producers who want to raise own replacement

females.

2)At the same time, they can produce market hogs with good heterosis.

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 CHAPTER 5
SWINE REPRODUCTION
Group Assignment

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 Cont..
Female and male reproductive systems
 Puberty, oestrus cycle and its sign
Gestation and farrowing
Onset of oestrus cycles after farrowing

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