Pig Breeding

Booklet No.193 Animal Husbandry- Pigs: PGS- 5

Contents Preface I. Introduction II Principles of Breeding III Reproductive Traits in Pigs IV. Methods of Breeding V. Selection and Improvement VI. Criterion for Improvement VII. Management of the Breeding Herd VIII. Conclusion Preface Though there are good genetic resources of pigs in our country they are not well developed as much as they should have been. The type of breeding that ISI practised in the villages is one of the main causes for the genetic underdevelopment of the pig population our country. Dr. K.T. Chandy, Agricultural & Environmental Education I. Introduction Pig breeding has long been a major part of the livestock industry in many countries. Availability of breeding stock, feed and markets are the important factors very conducive to the continual production of pig. The earliest domestication of the pig is thought to have occurred in China about 3000 BC. This was the Asiatic pig which was short, round and fatty in type; The European type which emerged later was by comparison, leaner but rougher in general appearance. The early pig breeders of Europe recognised the qualities of both the Asiatic and European types and by blending the two together formed the basic stock from which the modern pig has evolved. Pig breeding is, thus, a scientific practice which aims at genetic improvement of the pigs through successive generations by virtue of planned reproduction. Successful breeding of pigs is an art that is accomplished by only a few pig producers. A successful breeder should have adequate knowledge of the various qualities and capabilities of different breeds of pig in order to select the right breed and to combine all the desirable qualities to a fairly high degree. Highly scientific breeding of pig may not be possible in our villages. But an average farmer may follow the fundamental principles of scientific breeding. Selection and breeding are the common tools available to a breeder for the improvement of pigs. II Principles of Breeding. The main objective in the selection of a breeding pig is to produce large number of litters of fast growing pigs which are capable of being fattened to marketable weight at the age of 6 months i.e. 60 to 90 kgs. While selecting a pig for breeding, the principle considerations are (A) type of appearance of pig, (B) performance ability, (C) pedigree, (D) transmitting ability as

shown by the pedigree, (E) health, (F) reliability of breeder and (G) price which are briefly discussed here. A. Type of appearance Before selection, one should have a clear picture of the appearance of desirable type of pig for breeding. These are: 1. General form and conformation and breed types The selector should study the different parts of the body of the animal under consideration. He should observe the different parts of the body one by one and compare it with the same parts of an ideal pig and grade them. In selecting a particular breed, he should be familiar with the breeds characteristics. The pigs are generally grouped into three categories based on their body, size and shape. (i) Small and chuffy type. They are lard type, short legged and compact in body, quick maturing. (ii) Big legged and large type. These are long bodied, high backed, upstanding and shallow in body. (iii) Intermediate type. These are deep bodied, uniform in width and moderately long in body with large hams and legs of medium length. 2. Size or weight for age The swine selected for breeding should be reared under ordinary conditions and should be large enough for their age. The average weight of pigs at different ages are given in table 1. Table 1 : The average weight of swine at different ages Sl.No 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Age 0-7 days 7-21 days 21-35 days 35-56 days 3 months 4 months 5 months 6 months 8 months 12 months 18 months Weight (kg) 1 2-5 5-10 15-23 30 (approx) 40 50 60 120 180 200

3. Development in the regions of high priced cuts The high priced regions in pig are the back and lions which provide the pork chops, hind quarters which produce the hams and the sides which give the bacon. The breeding pigs should not be fat but be naturally fleshy having fairly wide backs and lions, wide and plump rear quarters and long and deep sides.

4. Feet and legs The legs should be straight, well set apart and medium in length. The pastern should be upright and short. Care should be taken not to choose one which is having any weakness or defect in legs and feet as these defects may be transmitted to the offspring. 5. Quality Quality of pig means a certain amount of refinement in the body make up. The gilt should have medium sized bones, trim growth, firm flesh, smooth shoulders, fine hair and skin, free from wrinkles. By examining the portion below the knee or hock we can get a good idea of the bone development. 6. Teat development The gilt and sow selected for breeding should have well developed udder with teats at least 12 in number. Gilts with blind or inverted or any other abnormality in the teats should not be selected. In the case of boars also, teat number and quality is important since the teat character is highly inheritable. 7. Freedom from heritable defects Pigs having heritable defects should not be selected for breeding. Blind and inverted teats are highly heritable. Such teats don't produce milk and therefore cannot nurse the young ones. The selector watch for swirls, whorls, or rosettes of hair if they are considered objectionable. B. Performance ability Productive ability of a gilt or sow is an important factor in its selection. Sows with higher litter number and weight should be selected. A good to excellent level of performance for a gilts first litter is eight or more pigs raised to a weight of 120 kg and in the case of sow not less than 150 kg at 56 days. C. Pedigree Pigs should be selected from such a herd which has a good pedigree record. This pedigree record. This pedigree record provide us with all kinds of information like birth, number of animals in each of several generations name of the breeder etc. D. Transmitting ability or prepotency An important test of a boar, gilt or sow as a breeding animal is how well it transmits good characters to its offspring. A gilt or sow that transmits desired characters to her offspring in a steady manner is said highly pre-potent. If a gilt or sow possesses dominant nature in most of the important genetic character, such an animal should be selected. E. Health The boar, gilt or sow selected should be healthy and immunized against all kinds of diseases. F. Reliability of the breeder The owner from whom you are selecting the pig for breeding should be truthful and reliable. He should give an accurate information on litter size and weight as well as on litter mates and parents which depends on the honesty and dependability of the breeder.

G. Price Price is an important factor in selecting a boar, gilt or sow and one should make sure of getting good yield for the money spent. He should buy a good and healthy pig for breeding, even though if he has to spend a few more. III Reproductive Traits in Pigs The breeders concerned with the production through pig farming must know the pattern of reproduction and reproductive behaviours of pigs. In fact, reproduction is said to be first and most important requisite of swine breeding. The pattern of reproduction in females and males is discussed below. 1. Age at puberty The age at puberty varies from 4-8 months, but gilts attain puberty within 6-7 months and the boars attain puberty within 7 to 8 months. The attainment of puberty also depends upon breed lines and environment especially the nutrition. 2. Reproductive cycle Reproductive cycle denotes to oestrous cycle in animals. The oestrous cycle normally completes within 16 to 25 days and in average by 21 days in pigs. The oestrous cycle is divided into four different phases and the breeders are mostly concerned with the oestrous phase since this is the sexually receptive period in all kinds of animals. a. Signs of heat The oestrous is synonymous to heat in animals. It is very important to be able to recognize the oestrus period of sexually mature gilts and of non-pregnant sows. The symptoms are given below: i. The first sign of oestrous is redness and swelling of the vulva. This is more obvious in gilts than in sows. ii. The wrinkleless of the vulva disappears and the tail frequently switches to either side and occasionally keeps elevated. iii. The female produces peculiar grunting sound and smakes producing frothy salivation from the mouth. iv. Feed intake reduces due to restless activity and efforts to comes out of the closure. v. Sniffing of external genitalia and nuzzling the flank of other pen mates are most common behaviour seen during this heat period. vi. Mounting other animals, both male and female and allowing mounting by other swine are most common behaviour seen during this heat period. vii. Frequent urination is also noticed in most of the oestrus sows. The period of heat lasts for 2 or 3 days and in occasional cases, especially in large sows, the period may extend up to 5 days. The symptoms of heat are most prominent during the second day of heat. b. Detection of heat The pigs remain still when pressure is applied on the lion region during the heat period. This reflex action shown by the gilts or sows is termed as stance reflex' or 'lion reflex' or 'standing reflex' and appears mostly on the second day of the heat. Examination of stance reflex

is a common practice carried out in pigs for day to day heat detection. The females are to be mated or inseminated during this period when the symptom of stance reflex appears first. c. Ovulation Release of ova from the ovary for fertilization is termed as ovulation. Ovulation in pig is spontaneous and occurs 38 to 40 hours after the onset of heat. Hence, pigs are to be mated twice or thrice at 8 hours interval starting from the detection of stance reflex to get maximum litter size birth. d. Flushing Increasing the energy level in diet increases ovulation rate in gilts and sows. So they are fed liberally that they may gain weight from 0.5 to 0.7 kg daily from 1 to 2 weeks before the breeding season. This practice of feeding is known as flushing. It is usually accomplished by increasing the concentrate ration by about 0.5 to 0.7 kg per animal per day. Over fat sows should not be flushed. 3. Gestation period The average gestation period of sows is 114 days and more commonly spoken as 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. The range of gestation period may vary from 108 to 124 days also. 4. Farrowing The act of giving birth to a group of piglings is known as farrowing. Pigs normally farrow at night or the last part of night or at dawn. The day before farrowing the vulva starts swelling and edematous, udder is fully developed and the number of teats is developed normally according to the size of the litter. The pigs show restlessness and loose appetite and sit idle here and there giving pressure over the vulva. They prepare their bed for farrowing if they are provided with paddy straws which are tender and dried. Farrowing normally completes within half to two hours. 5. Breeding after farrowing Sows should not be bred following few days of farrowing although they come into heat during this time. Piglets can be weaned at 8 weeks of age. After 5 to 9 days of weaning in average after 7 days, sows again come into heat and should be given sexual rest without breeding during this period. The sow should be properly flushed before the onset of next heat so that she can be bred to get maximum litter size at birth. 6. Age and service of the boar The boat is ready for a service at the 8 months of age and remain as a vigorous and reliable breeder up to 6 to 8 years of age provided they are given proper management and care. The number of services allowed will vary with the age, development of temperament, health, breeding condition, distribution of services and system of mating (hand breeding or pen breeding). However, in natural mating only four services can be allowed to a mature, healthy boar in a week. IV. Methods of Breeding Reproductive Traits in Pigs The methods of breeding generally employed for improving the pigs are (1) inbreeding, (2) outcrossing (3) cross breeding (4) grading up.

1. Inbreeding The mating together of related individuals such as parent to off-spring or between brother and sister is called inbreeding. Swine producers sometimes inbreed to concentrate good genetic qualities. This practice, however, may result in inbred animals being smaller, less vigorous and more difficult to raise if continued for long. If the parent stocks are of excellent qualities, there is a possibility of their good genetic qualities being inherited by the offspring. 2. Out crossing The mating of unrelated individuals of the same breed is called out crossing. The object is to hold the good traits already present in one family line and to capture the good one from the other strain. This is a common method of breeding and multiplying pre-bred swine. The results of this practice are quite good as some vigour will be obtained in the offspring with some gain in litter size, livability and growth rate. Out crossing is frequently done to introduce a trait which is lacking in a herd. 3. Cross breeding Cross breeding is mating of individuals of different breeds. For example, crossing Yorkshire sows with a Landrace boar and vice versa. The resulting progeny is called a cross bred. Cross breeding in pigs has resulted in increase in litter size, livability (greater resistance to environmental stress), rate of growth and have improved the traits of low heritability. But it will not substantially improve their feed efficiency, carcass merit and cover up poor management. There are two common systems of cross breeding viz. single crossing and criss crossing which are suitable and can be practised in intensive areas. a. SiagIe cmssing It is the mating of a boar and a sow of two different breeds. The resulting cross bred pigs are all marketed and the cross is repeated for the next crop of pigs. The system has one disadvantage, that the sows as well as boars have to be purchased and brought into the herd which can be a source of spreading of diseases. b. Criss crossing It is the alternate use of boars of two breeds on the female stock produced in a herd. For example Yorkshire gilts are bred to a Landrace boar, and the resulting crossbred gilts are mated to a Yorkshire boar. The next cross is bred to a Landrace boar and so on. The gilts and sows which are sired by a boar of one breed are always mated to the boar of the second breed. This system of cross breeding is well appraised and is widely used. 4. Grading uP Grading up means mating of any pure-bred boar gilts or sows of a non-descript or mixed flock to improve the quality of the progenies. The continued use of good pure bred boars for only a few generations (four) are all that is required to transfer the good qualities of a pure bred. However, it is advisable to use a breed that has thrived well under local conditions. V. Selection and Improvement Selection means choosing of animals for desirable characters like ( a) profligacy, (b) mothering ability, (c) disease resistance, (d) growth rate, (e) feed efficiency, (f) carcass quality and (g) strength of the total stock and breeding stock. Success in piggery production depends mainly on the quality of the animals selected and the breed. The selection of individual animals from a herd is more important than the selection of a particular breed. Once the herd is established, the selection of gilts and boars for replacement in the breeding herd should be

based on the type and the performance. The pigs that are to be kept for breeding should be seperated from the litter after about 3 months. They should not be allowed to get fat because this harms the fertility. Moving about a lot is very good for them. Selection, therefore, can be discussed in four separate phases, viz. selection of sows, selection of gilts, selection of boars and culling of sows. A. Selection of sows The important characteristic which need to be considered in developing a good sow herd are (i) size of litters, (ii) strength and vigour of litters,(iii) milking ability, (iv) temperament, (v) gain and feed efficiency of the progeny, (vi) longevity, (vii) fertility and free from defects. While selecting the sows, the following points should be considered. 1. They should have at least 12 normal teats. 2. They should be the biggest and heaviest of the litter. 3. They should have strong legs and can walk well. 4. The parents should be good breeding animals, to produce a good litter at regular intervals. B. Selection of gilts Selection of gilts for breeding should be made from a herd which is grown for market purpose. They can be selected from the same litter or different litters of the same age. Selection can be done at the age between four and six months. While selecting the gilts, following points should be considered. 1. The selected gilt for the breeding herd should have reached a body weight of 90 kg in about 6 months. 2. Gilts should be managed in a similar manner to other animals proposed for market, because, their performance will then be a better indication of what to expect from their offspring. 3. Selected gilts should be from sows which have consistently farrowed and weaned large litters, and have reached market weight in minimum time. 4. It is desirable to choose gilts whose litter-mates and other full sibs have given good performance in daily gain in body weight and feed conversion efficiency . 5. Gilts should have a minimum of 12 evenly spaced functional teats. Animal with blind or inverted teats should be avoided as there will be little or no milk from teats and the defect is heritable. 6. The pig should be free from other diseases and physical defects. C. Selection of boar The selection of a herd boar is extremely important particularly for a small breeding farm or unit. The performance of a herd boar to be selected should be of high standard and it should be purchased from a breeder or a farm maintaining adequate information on its performance. While selecting a boar, the following points should be considered. 1. The herd boar should be from a dam which has consistently farrowed and weaned large litters i.e. 10 to 12 pigs per litter. 2. The boar should have reached a bodyweight of 90 kg in about 6 months. 3. The boar should have good conformation and possessing light head, neat shoulders, good length and well rounded hams. 4. The boar should have the specific breed characters and should be masculine. 5. It should have strong feet and legs with good bone. 6. It should be big for its age and have well developed sex organs.

7. The performance of the boar in terms of feed conversions and carcass quality should be good. D. Culling of sows Culling can be defined as the elimination from the herds, of those pigs which are found to lack the qualities for which they were bred or their performance is poor with regard to prolificacy or fertility of the sow and mothering ability. The number of pigs farrowed indicates the prolificacy or fertility of the sow, while the number weaned, the total weaning weight and the performance beyond weaning of the pigs indicate the mothering ability. Both these measures are very important in the culling of sows. Accurate records should, be maintained for each sow which will make culling much easier VI. Criterion for Improvement. Improvement in the genetic material of swine through selection and breeding is important. In a selection programme, only those traits which are the most important with respect to economics of the enterprise should be included. These traits are (i) litter size and livability, (ii) total litter weight at weaning, (iii) economy of gains from weaning to market, (iv) type and conformation score, (v) carcass desirability. A. Litters size and livability The number of pigs born per litter and the number that will be weaned out of them will determine the profit of the enterprise. B. Total litter weight at weaning Weaning is the process of separation of suckling piglets from the sows. Total litter weight at weaning is a measure of the merit of pre-weaning performance in swine and is determined by the litter size, livability of pigs and the growth rate. It also gives an indirect measure of the milking and mothering ability of the sow. Pigs can be weaned starting from 3 to 5 weeks instead of the standard 8 weeks. To make selection easy, all pigs in a herd should be weaned at the same age. C. Economy of gain from weaning to market Daily gain from weaning to market influence profit because fast growing animals have to be kept only for fewer days, thus requiring less labour, housing and health care. Weight at 154 days of age includes both pre and post weaning growth and therefore is an important economic trait. To standardize pig weights to 154 days of age from weights taken earlier or later, adjustment factors have been worked out as Actual wt + 154 Adjusted weight = --------------------- (199) -154 Actual age + 45 The efficiency of feed conversion which is the amount of feed required 1 kg of gain by individual pigs is difficult to calculate as it requires individual feeding which requires additional cost. Due to economic reasons it can be used only by swine evaluation stations and for evaluating boars in all herds. Besides, rate of gain and efficiency of feed conversion depends on the strength of relationship between the two traits which varies with differences in breed, feeding and management. D. Type and conformation score Type and conformation are of important value in determining potential production and carcass characters. Rapid changes can be brought about in the conformation of pigs through

breeding. Nowadays, lean pigs are in demand. The aim is to produce pigs with the minimum fat and maximum percentage of the primal cuts, namely ham, trimmed lion, shoulder and bacon with desirable qualities of tenderness, juiciness and aroma. E. Carcass traits Swine producers are paying more attention to carcass qualities as the consumer demand is for more lean and less fat in pork. External appearances is only a very inadequate indicator of carcass quality. In recent years, attempts have been made to evaluate carcass quality in the live animals. The 'Probe' technique for measuring the backfat thickness was the forerunner of these techniques. It consists of feeding the prospective breeding stock on self feeders from weaning to about 90 kg live weight using a properly balanced ration based on corn or barley or both. Only this type of feeding will permit a pig the opportunity to demonstrate his genetic capabilities for rate of growth and carcass merit. At about , 90 kg, the pigs are weighed and backfat probed at three places; shoulders, midback and loin. The weight and probe figures are then adjusted to 90 kg weight for each pig. All prospective breeding animals should be weighed and probed as only this information can tell a producer his level of production and enable him to know what selection pressures he should apply to improve his herd. Table 2 : Adjustment of backfat to 90 kg live weight Sl.No 1 2 3 4 5 Live wt. (kg) 80 82 86 88 90 Add to total backfat (cm) 1.22 0.98 0.74 0.25 0.00 Live wt. (kg) 92 94 96 100 Substract from total backfat (cm) 0.25 0.49 0.74 1.22 -

The following points can be considered for effective swine improvement. 1. More attention is given to the important and highly heritable characters like carcass muscling, lion, eye area, back fat thickness, carcass length and leg length. 2. Observe, measure accurately and record the performance of prospective breeding animals. 3. Genetic variation is necessary for effective selection. Therefore, attempt shou1d be made to achieve variation in the performance of the purchased herd so that superior individuals standout. This can be done by several means such as out crossing and by full feeding prospective breeding animals to give them a chance a demonstrate their genetic capabilities for rate of growth. 4. Use the selected breeding animals to the best advantage. 5. For quick improvement of the local stock, use superior germplasm from exotic breed like Hamshire, Saddle Black, Yorkshire etc. according to the availability, preference and agroclimatic adaptability. Avoid inbreeding which may result in deterioration of the stock. 6. Use selective breeding for the local pigs. For this, select the sows which are prolific, have good mothering ability and temperament. The animals including the breeding boars should have the ability of rapid gain/fast growth rate, better feed conversion efficiency and carcass quality.

7. Straight bred exotic breeds should be reared if facilities are available, for higher profitability and to use these in grading up programmes of local pigs. Some amount of selection pressure should be applied for producing good quality breeding stocks. VII. Management of the Breeding Herd & Management of the Breeding Herd Proper management of the breeding herd is essential to obtain high fertility in a swine herd, which is a prerequisite for making high profits. A. Care of the boar The selected breeding boar should be reared alone in a pen or area where he can get some exercise. He should not be left with the female herd. The boar should be fed twice a day, a balanced dry sow ration fed will be adequate. Breeding should be done before feeding. The younger boar should be limited to one service a day and not more than three times a week and older boars up to twice a day maximum but should not be more than 5 times a week. Strange and new boars should not be placed together in the same pen before he is allowed to breed. This is to prevent any sickness from spreading in the herd. One boar is enough for 10- 15 females. The breeding boar should be treated gently and is trained to have good habits. B. Care of gilts and sows The gilts and sows for breeding should be well cared. They should be fed according to their growth and pregnancy requirements. Dry, clean, well ventilated draught free pen should be provided. The female pigs reach sexual maturity at the age of 6-8 months. The oestrus cycle of a sow lasts for 21 days. The gilts and sows are fed with more feed to fatten them just two or three weeks before breeding. After two or three weeks of flushing they are ready for breeding. After breeding watch for the next heat period. If a gilt comes into heat then she should be bred again. Gestation period of a pig is 114 days. During the first 2-2.5 months of pregnancy, the pigs are fed with normal ration. High level nutrition immediately after breeding causes high mortality of embryos. After this the quantity should be increased to support the piglings growth and development. The female should be placed in the farrowing pen at 3 months pregnancy at least week before farrowing so that she may get accustomed to the pen. The farrowing pen should be well washed cleaned and disinfected before the sow is placed in it. C. Maintenance of accurate records Accurate and up-to-date information on the breeding behaviour of each animal in the herd should be maintained. These data should include date of heat, service, details of boar used, farrowing treatment given, sex and state of piglets in each litter, any abnormality during pregnancy and farrowing etc. All the animals in the herd should have identification numbers or any other mark of identification. 1. Types of record The records vary from breeder to breeder and for the purpose for which breeding is done. Breeding records and financial records are the two main types of records to be maintained by a breeder. a. Breeding records The essential breeding records are: (1) Mating and farrowing records, (2) Litter record, (3) Breeding sow record, (4) Breeding boar record.

1. The mating and farrowing record should contain details of dates of mating of each sow, date of re-mating if any expected date of farrowing, litter number (born alive and dead) and any other detail which breeder wants to include. 2. The litter record have, litter number (born alive and dead), litter weight at birth, at 15 days, at 30 days, at 45 days and at weaning (60 days), percentage of pigs raised up to farrowing, etc. as details. 3. Breeding sow record contain the sow name or number, number of boar crossed with, dates of crossing and re-crossing, date farrowed, litter number (born dead or alive), litter weight at weaning etc. 4. Breeding boar record the details of breeding boar record is same as the breeding sow record except the weight at weaning. b. Financial records It is an indisputed question that financial records should be kept in a pig breeding enterprise. All the costs including interest on fixed capital and depreciation should be recorded. Similarly, all the income generated in kind and cash should be accounted. The kinds of financial records depends on the volume of transaction the breeder does. D. Correct feeding, housing and management practices The ration fed to the breeding stock should have recommended levels of protein (15 to 16%), minerals, and vitamins. The housing and management followed should provide protection from extremes of temperature particularly protection from heat. Swine house should be protected from dampness, drafts and overheating. In controlled and semi-controlled environmental conditions, temperature has been shown to affect behaviour, rate of gain, feed utilization, carcass composition, certain nutritive requirements and reproductive efficiency. E. Maintenance of health and prevention of diseases Addition of a new boar into the herd should be purchased from the best possible sources. Boar should be purchased and brought to the farm before they are of breeding age. Such boars will probably be free of breeding diseases. Older boars should be test mated on a few sows before they are used on the entire herds. VIII. Conclusion Pig farming and pork industry was considered a neglected concern in India. The traditional pig keepers belonging to socio-economically. backward class of the society did not progress due to lack of proper knowledge in breeding, feeding, housing and management. They are compelled to follow old and primitive method of pig rearing with the local non-descript as the poor farmers cannot afford to provide minimum needs for raising pigs in a scientific method. But many of them will follow the fundamental principles of scientific breeding that are practicable in villages if they are properly instructed and guided by the extension workers. The success in breeding will mainly depend on the parent stock selected. Selection for breeding should be done very carefully after taking into account all the aspects. Efforts should be made to improve the local pigs by using superior germplasm from some exotic breeds. A farmer not wishing to depend on the breeding stations as a source of supply may maintain a crossbred herd by simple selection on the basis of leg and nipples and hope for some improvement in genetic merit by the purchase of males from reputable herds.