Appendix
Pig Science Centre Script
Passport Answer Key
Living In and Caring For Our Environment | GRADE 4
Pig Science Centre Script
Meet the Hoggs
Hi, we’re the Hogg family: Jim, Shelley, Jessica and Kyle.
Our whole family gets involved in raising pigs. This barn
is home for 225 sows (mother pigs) and their piglets.
These pigs weigh between 1 kilogram at birth and 300
kilograms when fully grown. We can’t wait to tell you
more. So, come on in!
Pigtionary-Pig Basics
1. Sow: adult female pig (“sow” rhymes with “cow”)
6. Runt: smallest piglet in the litter
2. Farrow: when a sow gives birth after being pregnant
for 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days
7. Boar: adult male pig that fathers the piglets
3. Gilt: a young, female pig that has not given birth
(farrowed)
4. Piglet: a small pig that is still nursing and weighs
approximately 1-5 kilograms
8. Barrow: male pig that has been neutered or castrated
9. Market hog: barrow or gilt raised for meat
10. Pork or Hog Producer: the people that raise pigs
for food
5. Litter: a group of piglets that belong to the same sow
and are still nursing
Biosecurity
Biosecurity is an important word in the pork production
industry. It means that whenever a person goes into a
hog barn, they must be free of dirt and germs.
between species, this is very uncommon between pigs
and people. However, you should always wash your
hands after handling any animals and before eating.
ARE
BIOSECURITY
YOU CLEAN ENOUGH TO VISIT OUR PIGS?
You could make a pig sick! People can carry germs on
their shoes, hair, skin or under their fingernails.
WASH
THOSE GERMS AWAY!
Everyone must shower and change into clean clothes and
boots each time they enter or leave a modern hog barn.
Help keep our pigs healthy! Go take a virtual shower!
CAN
I GET SICK?
No, and if you have a cold or cough it will not infect the
pigs either. Although some diseases can be transmitted
SHOWER INTERACTIVE DISPLAY
What’s that on the floor?
What’s that on the floor? Germs can get to the pigs from
the dirt on your shoes, your skin and under your
fingernails. Our virtual biosecurity shower will clean you
up so you do not bring germs into the pig barn.
Stamp of approval sign
You are now Squealy Clean! Get your stamp of approval
and enter the pig barn.
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GRADE 4 | Living In and Caring For Our Environment
The Farrowing Room and the Piglet
To ensure a good, healthy start in life, a newly born
piglet must begin nursing within a few hours. Its
mother’s milk (colostrum) is full of nutrients and
antibodies, which gives the piglet strength, the ability to
produce body heat and helps it grow.
Newborn piglets can get cold quickly, so the producer
puts a heat lamp or a heating pad in the pen to keep the
temperature between 30°C-32°C. Watch how the piglets
cluster around the heat pads!
Since producers began raising pigs in modern barns,
piglet health has improved dramatically. Better shelter,
cleaner pens, new feeding systems and more hands-on
care helps prevent disease and piglet deaths.
Caption: Piglets on a heat pad and a picture of a pig
laying down.
Kyle Hogg says… “Piglets are able to walk at birth.
My little sister didn’t walk until she was one year old.”
The Farrowing Room & the Sow
To farrow means “to give birth.” About a week before
she is expected to give birth, the sow is moved into the
farrowing pen. The farrowing pen makes it easier for the
producer or farrowing technician to examine and care
for the pregnant sow. It allows the sow to give birth in a
place where other pigs will not bother her.
Her pregnancy (gestation period) lasts for about 114
days. That works out to three months, three weeks and
three days. Sows give birth approximately two times a
year and average 9-14 piglets each time.
THE CYCLE
OF
LIFE
After she gives birth, the sow and her piglets stay in the
farrowing pen for 10 to 28 days. The pen helps keep her
piglets safe. It prevents the sow from laying or
“flopping” down too quickly and crushing her piglets by
mistake.
Shelley Hogg admits… “Last year, one of our sows gave
birth to a litter of 22 piglets at one time. I’m sure glad
people don’t have litters!”
See Pigs
It is easy to recognize a pig. They all have long snouts,
big ears, a long body and a tail. Different breeds or cross
breds have distinctive characteristics such as a highly
muscled body and sows with good mothering abilities
that produce large litter sizes.
Factoid: Look at the pigs in this barn. They are crossbreds, part Yorkshire and part Landrace.
Unlike humans, pigs have eyes on the sides of their
heads. That gives a pig a wide field of vision (310
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degrees). Pigs are able to see in front, to the side and
behind them. This was an advantage to the wild pig
hundreds of years ago, because it could spot a predator
coming from any direction.
However, having eyes on the side of the head can also be
a disadvantage for a pig. It gives pigs monocular vision,
so their eyes don’t see the same thing at the same time.
That makes it difficult to know how far away an object is.
Living In and Caring For Our Environment | GRADE 4
Hear Pigs
Pigs use a variety of grunts and squeals to communicate
with one another.
1. Feeding time for piglets
Listen to how the sow makes low grunting noises in
the back of her throat as she calls her piglets to nurse.
2. Piglets at play
Does it sound like they are enjoying themselves?
3. A startled pig
Listen as a group of pigs squeal with excitement as
they hear the barn door open. Can you hear how
other pigs respond?
4. Sows at feeding time
Cover you ears! Sows get very loud when they are
hungry!
Feel Pigs
When pigs are born, they barely have any hair on their
bodies and their skin is soft and smooth. As they get
older, their skin gets rougher and coarse hair starts to
grow all over.
Although pigs are covered with hair, it isn’t enough to
protect them from the elements. If they live outside, pigs
must have shelter to help protect them from sunburn or
frostbite and straw to keep them comfortable and warm.
Factoid: Scientists believe that the wild pig was
domesticated 2000 years ago in China. Early European
settlers brought pigs to Canada in the 1600s.
Caption: After processing, a pig’s hide is tanned and used
to make leather products such as shoes.
Smell Pigs
Pigs have a keen sense of smell. Long before pigs were
domesticated, their super snouts helped them find food
and warned them of danger.
air bond to the smelly compounds and carry those
odours through the atmosphere. That is why pig manure
seems smellier than the manure from other farm animals.
Just like people, pigs go to the bathroom. The only
difference is that they don’t use toilets. Pig urine and poop
falls through slats (spaces) in the floor and into a pit.
Manure is what is leftover after digestion. It is made up
of about 200 different compounds. Some of these
compounds are smelly or become smelly when mixed.
Ammonia and hydrogen sulphide are two smelly
compounds that are found in pig manure and the
manure of all mammals, even humans.
Water used for cleaning the barns also falls into the pit
and turns the manure into a liquid. Water droplets in the
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GRADE 4 | Living In and Caring For Our Environment
The First Week of Life
Pigs can be aggressive animals. Sometimes they often bite
and bully other weaker pigs because they want the best
place at their mother’s udder. Each piglet takes
ownership of a specific teat and always returns to suckle
on that teat. Producers try to prevent injuries with tail
docking and teeth clipping:
IRON
• The tip of a piglet’s tail has very few nerve endings. If
another pig chews on it, it doesn’t hurt very much.
However, the tip will bleed and can become infected.
That infection can travel to the rest of the piglet’s body
and make it very sick. So, producers eliminate the
chance for infection by removing a portion of the
piglets’ tails.
CASTRATION
• Producers also clip the tips of a piglet’s eight needle
teeth. Piglets use these teeth for fighting and
establishing a position within a group. These teeth are
so sharp, they can cut the sow’s teats while a piglet
nurses.
Some pork producers use ear notching and tattooing to
identify the litter that the piglets came from as well as
their age. In addition, some older pigs are given ear tags
for identification.
Piglets grow quickly and require a large amount of iron
in their diets. The sow’s milk however is very low in iron
content. Therefore, the piglets are given an injection of
this important mineral when they are between three and
six days old.
Male piglets are castrated within the first week of their
life. If not castrated, male pigs produce compounds that
affect the smell and taste of their meat. Castrated male
pigs, called barrows, are also less aggressive toward
other pigs.
EAR
NOTCHING
&
TATTOOING
Jessica Hogg: “To keep bigger pigs from bullying smaller
pigs, I sort piglets of the same size into pens together.”
Weanling Pen
Weanling rooms are filled with piglets of the same size
and often from different litters. Piglets are weaned or
removed from their mother’s milk between two to four
weeks of age. Newly weaned piglets are called
“weaners” and weigh between 5-10 kilograms.
It is important to group weaners with pigs the same size
and age because larger pigs will bully and injure smaller
pigs. A group of “weaners” will live together until they
weigh about 25 kilograms.
After these weaners move on to the Grower/Finisher
room, the Weanling room will be cleaned and
disinfected. It will dry for a full day before another
group of weaners move in.
DO
THE MATH!
If you were a 20 kilogram weaner pig, and you gained
300 grams per day for the first four weeks and 500
grams per day for the next three weeks. . . A. How
much would you weigh after those seven weeks? B. If
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you continued to gain 500 grams per day for another
seven weeks, how much would you weigh? C. If you
continued to gain 500 grams per day, how many more
weeks would it take for you to get to market weight?
Answers:
A. 38.9 kilograms
B. 63.4 kilograms
C. 13-15 weeks
FIGHTING
OR PLAYING?
When piglets move into the weaner pens, they begin to
fight immediately. They are figuring out their dominance
or “pecking order.”
To learn more about growth and development of the pig,
see the weigh scale down the hall.
Kyle Hogg knows that… Pigs play-fight or “scrap” by
facing head to head and swinging their head sideways.
Living In and Caring For Our Environment | GRADE 4
Five Freedoms
Only pigs in storybooks or cartoons live in houses. In
Canada most real pigs live in barns and a small number
outdoors. Barns keep pigs cool in the summer and warm
in the winter. There are “Five Freedoms” that guide
producers’ decisions as they raise pigs:
• Freedom from hunger and thirst
• Freedom from discomfort
• Freedom from pain, injury and disease
• Freedom to express normal behaviour
• Freedom from fear and distress
Caption: The Life Cycle of a Pig
Weaner
PIglet
Gilt/Barrow
Young Pig
To Market
Sow/Boar
Mature Pig
Pig Growth
The majority of a pig’s growth takes place during the
grower/finisher stage. It will gain 75 kilograms in about
10 weeks. To take advantage of the pig’s ability to
convert feed into high quality meat, a pork producer
must provide a complete diet, with over 70 nutrients.
Grower/finisher pigs are treated to an “all you can eat
buffet!” until they reach 110-115 kg or “market
weight.” Some producers schedule feeding times
throughout the day or provide feed in self-feeders.
During the grower/finisher stage, it takes about 3 kg of
feed to produce 1kg of weight gain in a pig.
Based on the information above, how many kilograms of
feed would a 45-kilogram grower/finisher pig need to eat
before it reached market weigh? Hint: A market weight
pig weighs 110-115 kilograms.
Answer: 195-210 kilograms
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GRADE 4 | Living In and Caring For Our Environment
Pig Growth continued
Factoid: A grower/finisher gains 3% of its body weight
each day. Imagine if your body grew like that! If you
weighed 45 kilograms on Monday, you would weigh 55
kilograms by the following Sunday.
• A computer controls the barn temperature and keeps
fresh air flowing with a system of fans and heaters.
• A pig drinks fresh water by biting this nipple.
• Feeders are filled on a continuous basis to keep pigs
well-fed.
• Manure and urine fall through the slats (spaces) in the
floor. This keeps the area dry and gives pigs a clean
place to sleep.
Pig Poop Cycle
THE
ORIGINAL RECYCLING PROGRAM
Centuries before the Blue Box program began, farmers
were already recycling. Farmers recycle by applying
manure to their fields. Manure is just as important as
sunshine and rainfall to a grain plant, such as barley.
Just like commercial fertilizer, manure contains the same
nutrients like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash
(K). These key plant nutrients help barley grow. Barley
makes pigs grow.
Manure becomes fertilizer, fertilizer nourishes barley,
barley feeds pigs and some of it is recycled as manure.
THE 3RS
OF MANURE
Producers reduce, re-use and recycle. When they use pig
manure, producers cut down on the demand for
chemical fertilizer and the fossil fuels required to
produce it.
Manure is reused by spreading it on fields or by injecting
it directly into soil. Plants can use the nutrients in
manure whether it is in liquid or composted form.
Factoid: Compost is organic waste (such as grass
clippings, old leaves or livestock manure) that has been
broken down by microorganisms into a form of soil that
contains many plant nutrients.
Do pig barns use a lot of water?
The amount of water a pig drinks is three times the
amount of feed it eats. A 50 kilogram pig will eat 1.25
to 1.5 kilograms of feed per day. That same pig will
drink 3.75 to 4.5 litres of water per day.
Compared to humans, pigs use very little water. The
average Canadian uses 36 times more water than the
average pig.
• The average person uses 256 litres (includes drinking
& household use) of water each day.
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• The average pig uses 7 litres (includes drinking & all
other uses). Courtesy of Epcor
It is difficult to compare people and pigs, since pigs don’t
brush their teeth, take a shower, or water their lawn.
However, it is important to remember the water isn’t
lost. It is always recycled.
Factoid: Flushing the toilet uses an average of 9 litres of
water each time. Courtesy of Epcor
Living In and Caring For Our Environment | GRADE 4
Where’s Agriculture?
You would be surprised to know...
Football - pigskin in early days
Pork by-products are everywhere. Agriculture touches
your life from the games you play to the house you live in.
Bone China - bones from pigs make dishes durable
Look at this picture and see if you can find some of these
28 products from hog farming. If you want to find more,
there are over 90 agricultural by-products to find.
Curling broom - pig hair
Leather gloves - pig skin
Cosmetics - collagen and fatty acids (glycerine) from
pig fat
Lipstick - beewax and glycerine from pigs
Toothpaste - cornstarch from corn, glycerine from
canola and pigs
Bath products, lotions & creams - fatty acids from pigs
Hospital - heart valve from hogs used in surgery, antirejection drugs from blood of hogs, pig skin is used as a
replacement for human skin in burn clinics, and pigs
corneas are used for transplanting into human eyes
Diabetic Clinic - test strips to measure blood sugar from
enzymes in horseradish, Insulin from hogs
Briefcase - leather from cowhide and pigskin
Shoes & boots - leather from cowhide and pigskin
Purse - leather from cowhide and pigskin
Fertilizer - manure from cattle, sheep and pigs
Meat products - meat from cattle, sheep, chickens
and pigs
Baked or processed food products - grains, fruit and
vegetable crops, processed dairy and meat
Candy products - gelatin from pigs
Gum - pepsin from pig stomachs
Soap & detergent - linseed oil from flax, fatty acids
from pigs
Drywall - hog hair
Wallpaper - glue from collagen in skin, bones and
hides of pigs
Tires on bikes & cars - tires are manufactured using
fatty acids from pigs
Camera film - gelatin is used for coloured paper. X-ray
products, graphic arts & instant films from bones of pigs
Crayons - texture from glycerine of pigs
Paint brushes - hair from hogs
Fishing line - adhesive from fatty acids in pigs help give
it the smooth texture
Baseball glove - pigskin
... and there’s more.
Chalk - glycerine from pigs
Gestation Stalls
Pigs can be aggressive. If left in groups, sows often fight
with one another over food and territory. Gestation stalls
were specially designed to prevent injury and give timid
or smaller sows equal access to feed and space. Keeping
a sow’s environment stress-free helps ensure she will
deliver a healthy litter of piglets.
A stall contains enough room for a sow to lie down,
stand up or sit down. The stall also gives the producer
easy access to the sow so he can examine and care for
her. Stalls are widely used in Canada.
Jim Hogg informs us…“A sow will ‘gestate’ or be
pregnant for three months, three weeks, and three days.
That works out to 114 days.”
GESTATING
IN
FREE STALLS
The sows you are watching use free stalls. A free stall is
just like a gestation stall, except that a sow has the
freedom to come and go as she pleases. She will walk
around and exercise, as well as satisfy her curiosity
about the other sows and the environment. A sow will
willingly spend up to 80% of her time inside the stall
where she can eat and rest without being bullied or
disturbed.
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GRADE 4 | Living In and Caring For Our Environment
Gestation Stalls continued
HOUSEKEEPING - “PIG
STYLE”
Pigs organise their pens into three different areas. 1. The
far end of the pen is for sleeping. 2. The middle part of
pen is slatted (has spaces). The sows use this area for
exercise, accessing water and for dunging (pooping and
urinating). When they poop, it falls through the floor
and into a pit. 3. The front part of the pen, under the
window, is for eating.
Shelley Hogg remarks… “Keeping sow pens clean isn’t
always simple ... but it is easier than getting Junior to
keep his room clean.”
Sleeping Area
GROUP HOUSING - GESTATING
IN
GROUPS
Caption: Sows resting comfortably in a group.
Although it doesn’t happen at this facility, some
producers house their gestating sows in groups. These
sows usually sleep on straw and can exercise freely. A
disadvantage of this system is that when penned in
groups, larger sows tend to bully smaller sows and eat
their food.
Modern technology has helped solve this problem for
some. Producers can use an electronic sow feeding
system. Each sow is given an ear tag, which is monitored
by a computer that allows her to enter the feeding
station without being disturbed. The computer also
records how much each sow has eaten.
Exercise, Water, Dunging Area
Feeding Area
Breeding & Genetics
Different types of pigs are called breeds. While a few
producers specialize in one breed of pig, most fill their
barns with a selection of cross-breds.
The most common breeds used in Canada are the
Yorkshire, Landrace, Duroc, Hampshire and Lacombe.
The Lacombe, the only true Canadian breed was
developed in Lacombe, Alberta in the 1940’s and 1950’s.
Good breeding stock is very important to the hog
producer. Most stock in Canada are cross-breds. They
have inherited good characteristics from two or more
different breeds. Specialized breeding companies have
developed specific cross-bred animals that exhibit
valuable traits. Many producers use artificial
insemination to bring these traits to their animals.
Although there are many important genetic
characteristics, a producer generally looks for gilts and
boars with genes that produce the following
characteristics:
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Strong Legs & Feet - A pregnant sow puts on a lot of
weight as her litter of piglets grow inside of her.
Large Number of Teats - If a sow has many teats, it
increases the chance that she will have enough teats that
produce milk for piglets.
Large Number of Piglets - When a sow and boar
produce a large number of piglets, the barn is operating
at its highest level of efficiency, offering a better return
to the producer.
Good Mothering Abilities - A sow has good mothering
abilities if she is quiet and gentle and produces enough
quality milk for all of her piglets.
Meat Quality - Good meat quality is affected greatly by
genetics, breeding and feeding. Because people prefer less
fat in their food, pigs that are naturally leaner are
selected to become breeding stock and pass that leanness
onto their litters. Since 1990, the amount of fat in pork
has decreased by 47%.
Living In and Caring For Our Environment | GRADE 4
Pork - The Most Popular Meat in the World!
When a market pig is sold to a processing facility, it is
turned into pork. Pork meat is sold as either fresh
product (pork chops & ribs) or as processed product
(bacon & ham). More people eat pork than any other
meat in the world.
PORK
IS A
HEALTHY CHOICE
Today’s lean pork is a tasty, compact source of essential
nutrients, high quality protein and energy. Just one
serving of pork contains the following essential vitamins
and important minerals:
• Zinc - helps keep your bones strong and fights off
infections.
• Iron - getting enough iron from a variety of foods is
important especially to females. Not all iron is equal there are two kinds:
1. Heme iron found in meat, poultry and fish is EASILY
absorbed by the body.
2. Non-heme iron found in vegetables, fruits, grains,
eggs and nuts is NOT easily absorbed by the body.
• Thiamin (Vitamin B1) - plays a role in digestion,
builds and maintains healthy nerves and muscles.
Pork is the best dietary source of thiamin!
Factoid: Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating
recommends Canadians eat two to three servings of
leaner meat every day.
• Niacin (Vitamin B3) - helps release energy from foods,
maintains healthy skin and digestion.
WORLD MEAT CONSUMPTION
Source: USDA’s FAS
BY
SPECIES
Others 4%
• Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) - is important for healthy
skin and eyes.
• Vitamin B6 - helps keep the brain working so you can
concentrate and learn.
• Vitamin B12 - is only found in foods from animals. It
helps form red blood cells and genetic material.
Pork 43%
Beef/Veal
26%
• Phosphorus - strengthens bones and teeth, and helps
keep skin healthy.
Poultry
27%
• Magnesium - helps forms strong bones and teeth, and
is needed for healthy muscles.
Pig Feed
BARLEY
CANOLA MEAL
Barley is the most common cereal grain used for pig feed
in western Canada. Feed barley is a good source of
energy and is very easy for pigs to digest. Alberta is
Barley-growing country because of its excellent soils and
climate.
Canola is easy to spot during the summer, when its
flowers paint producers’ fields bright yellow. The name
Canola comes from the words Canada and oil. Canola
seeds are crushed to remove the oil. Since the remaining
meal contains a large amount of protein (amino acids), it
is used for pig feed.
WHEAT
Wheat is also an important part of a growing pig’s diet,
because of its high energy content. The whole wheat
kernel is ground up and fed to pigs.
SOYBEAN MEAL
Soybean meal is a major part of pig feed because of its
high protein content. Soybean meal is what’s left after
the oil has been removed. Soybeans are mainly imported
from the United States, as our climate is not warm
enough to grow them. Trucks or train cars transport the
meal to Alberta.
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GRADE 4 | Living In and Caring For Our Environment
Pig Feed continued
VITAMINS & MINERALS (PRE-MIX)
PIG FEED
To be sure the pigs have a balanced diet, vitamins and
minerals are added to pig feed. Barley, wheat, canola and
soybeans all contain vitamins and minerals. However,
they may not be available in proper amounts for the pig
to fully digest. A swine nutritionist will create a
formulation of vitamins and minerals, called “pre-mix.”
The amount of vitamins and minerals that go into a premix are selected for a particular stage of a pig’s growth.
A swine nutritionist created this pig diet for his
customer, a hog producer. This recipe will make one
tonne of pig feed for hogs weighing 50 kilograms at the
grower/finisher stage. A tonne of this pig feed would
feed 100 weaner pigs for about eight days.
200 kg Barley + 570 kg Wheat + 50 kg Canola + 150 kg
Soybean meal + 30 kg Vitamins and Minerals (pre-mix)
= 1 tonne of pig feed = 1000 kg
A 50 kilogram pig will eat 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 kilograms per
day. This pig feed will provide all the nutrients a pig
needs to grow quickly and stay healthy.
Pig Scale
Factoid: The biggest pig on record was Big Bill. He was
2.7 metres long and weighed 1157 kilograms.
Stage of growth
Weight
Piglet
1-15 kg
Weaner
16-23 kg
Market hog
110-115 kg
Mature sow
200 kg
Marketing
Market weight means “ready for market,” or big enough
to sell to a meat processing facility. Market weight pigs
weigh between 110-115 kilograms.
Transportation
Pigs are loaded into trucks designed for transporting
livestock. The number of pigs that go onto a truck is
based on the size of the truck, the distance the pigs must
travel and the outside temperature. Livestock truckers
use straw or wood shavings as bedding for pigs.
Truckers must make sure their trucks are properly
ventilated, not over crowded, and that the pigs are kept
warm or cool depending on the season.
50 | SCRIPT
Factoid: The Canadian Quality Assurance® program
monitors how hog producers implement good
production practices to minimize food safety risks that
may be introduced at the farm level.
Living In and Caring For Our Environment | GRADE 4
Processing
When pigs arrive at the meat processing plant, they are
unloaded and moved into pens. They rest for three hours
before they are humanely processed.
Each carcass is washed and then examined by a food
inspector according to government regulations. Strict
temperature and sanitation requirements are followed as
the pigs are turned into pork. The carcasses are cut up to
make pork chops, roasts, ribs, hams and bacon or
further processed to make sausages, ground pork and
sandwich meat.
Canadian pork including Alberta pork and pork
products are exported to over 90 countries.
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