Content
- 1 Significance of testimony
- 2 What determines the weight of a pig or piglet?
- 3 How to find out the weight of a pig by weighing
- 4 How to measure a pig's weight using quarters
- 5 Table of pig measurements by measurements
- 6 How to find out how much a piglet weighs
- 7 How much should an average pig weigh at slaughter?
- 8 Conclusion
The weight of pigs is a very important indicator that determines many aspects of the animal’s life. The type of diet, dosage and prescription of drug treatment, if necessary, depend on how much a pig weighs, and this indicator is also used to judge the health and normal development of the animal as a whole.
Significance of testimony
The severity of a pig is a very informative indicator in livestock science, by which one can judge the following factors:
- health of young piglets and adults;
- weight gain, which is the first sign of normal development of the pig;
- a sufficient amount of food received (and, if necessary, adjustment of the mode and volume of food received);
- dosage of medications prescribed for the treatment of animals, as well as dosage of drugs used for vaccination.
Based on the exact indicators of the weight of the pig, breeders can correctly determine the regime and type of nutrition, which directly affects the increase in mass indicators, preventing obesity and improving the taste criteria of pig meat before slaughter.
Thus, the severity of a pig is a parameter by which the normal development of the animal, the correctness of the conditions of its keeping and fattening are monitored and checked.
What determines the weight of a pig or piglet?
The weight of an adult organism usually depends on several of the following factors:
- gender of the pig: males almost always weigh much more than females - the difference is about 100 kg; although in the case of dense feeding and a sedentary lifestyle, the sow can sometimes catch up with the boar in terms of severity;
- age of the pig: adult organisms usually weigh between 150 and 300 kg. However, you can also find specimens with much larger mass indicators, up to 700 kg. Naturally, this is not the norm and should be avoided. There are also dwarf breeds of pigs, the weight of which in adulthood does not exceed 30 kg;
- breed of pigs: this is one of the main factors on which the mass indicators of animals depend. For example, as an adult, a Steppe White boar can easily weigh more than 300 kg, while a Vietnamese boar will barely gain 140 kg;
- conditions for feeding and keeping pigs: if the type of feeding concentrated feed is chosen for the animal, the gain of kilograms will occur quite quickly, and if the pig is fed with green mass, vegetables, fruits or root vegetables, the increase in weight will not occur at such a rapid pace.
In young organisms under 30 days of age, the nature of kilogram gain is influenced by the milk performance of the sow, since the piglets are in the suckling period of their development.
How much does an adult pig weigh?
The average weight of an adult pig directly depends on its breed and the direction of its productivity.
You can determine how much a pig weighs on average using the following table:
Pig breed name | Productivity direction | Mass indicators of a male individual (in kg) | Mass indicators of a female individual (in kg) |
Duroc | Meat | 350 | 260 — 320 |
Landrace | Meat | 300 — 310 | 250 — 255 |
Vietnamese | Meat | 120 — 170 | 100 — 140 |
Estonian bacon | Meat | 320 — 330 | 220 — 240 |
Large black | Greasy | 275 — 350 | 225 — 260 |
Mangalitskaya | Greasy | 300 — 350 | 290 — 310 |
Large white | Universal (meat-fat) | 275 — 350 | 225 — 260 |
Siberian northern | Universal (meat-fat) | 315 — 360 | 240 — 260 |
White Ukrainian steppe | Universal (meat-fat) | 300 — 350 | 230 — 260 |
How to find out the weight of a pig by weighing
The easiest way to determine the weight of a pig is to use a scale. If we are talking about a young animal, then ordinary household scales will do, but to weigh an adult animal you will need specialized scales. Electronic scales have advantages in all respects in this regard. They are a cage equipped with two doors: one the animal goes in, the other goes out. This cage is equipped with special sensors that allow you to accurately determine the severity of the body.
In order to determine the weight of a pig, it is placed in a cage.As a rule, all scales are equipped with a special approach along which the animal itself rises into the weighing cabin. After this, the sensors calculate the mass, and the result is displayed on an electronic display. After completing the weighing process, the scales must be thoroughly cleaned and, if necessary, disinfected.
Any measuring instruments that are used for weighing (regardless of whether they are mechanical or electronic) must meet the following parameters:
- have a protective layer against corrosion and various polluting factors;
- be designed for weighing living objects that are in constant motion;
- The bottom of the cage in which the animal is located during the weighing process must be made of material that prevents the animal from sliding.
How to measure a pig's weight using quarters
You can determine the weight of a pig without scales using the method of quarters. This is a very approximate and imprecise way of determining the severity of an animal. A quarter is the distance that is formed between the widely spaced thumb and forefinger. Depending on how many such quarters can be counted from the back of the head to the tail of the pig, that will be its weight.
One quarter is equal to one pound of meat, i.e. 16 kg.
Thus, the formula for calculating a quarter will look like this:
- Live weight of a pig = H (number of quarters) x 16 kg.
The method is very inaccurate and is recommended to be used in the most extreme cases, when it is not possible to determine the severity of the pig by other methods.
Table of pig measurements by measurements
One of the simplest and at the same time very accurate (if all conditions are correctly met) ways to determine the severity of a pig is to determine the live weight of the pig from measurements. The error when using this method is only 4 to 10%. In order to determine the weight of an animal in this way, it is necessary to make only 2 measurements using a regular tailor's centimeter: the circumference of the animal's chest and the length of its body.
It is quite difficult for one person to carry out these manipulations, taking into account the fact that several conditions must be met:
- the animal must stand during measurements;
- the animal's head should not be lowered;
- The measurement should be taken a couple of hours before the pet eats.
In order to determine the exact weight of a pig without scales, you need to use a table and simply compare the figures obtained as a result of the measurement with the data presented in it.
Pig weight table by size:
Formulas for determining accurate readings
There are 2 formulas that can also be used to determine the severity of a pig, knowing just a few indicators and taking into account several additional factors.
- Formula for calculating weight. Live Weight of a pig = (1.54 x chest circumference) + (0.99 x body length) – 150. This formula gives a fairly accurate idea of the weight of the animal and should be used if the indicators obtained as a result of the measurement do not fit the data tables.
- Formula for calculating gravity taking into account the correction factor. This correction factor depends on the fatness of the animal and the breed of the pig:
- for meat breeds (lack of fatness) – 162;
- for sebaceous breeds (pronounced signs of obesity) – 142;
- for meat and fat breeds (average degree of fatness) – 156.
The degree of fatness is determined by eye. After its determination, weight is calculated using the formula: Live Weight of a pig = chest circumference x body length/fatness coefficient.
How to find out how much a piglet weighs
In order to determine the weight of a young pig, the easiest way is to use a scale.
You can find out the weight of a piglet without scales using the following table, which shows the average weight of young animals:
Age of the juvenile (in months) | Mass indicators of a young individual (in kg) | Description of weight gain |
1 | 8 — 12 | The first month, while the young animal is fed on the sow's milk, its weight does not need special control, since its stable gain is almost always observed. |
2 | 12 — 15 | In addition to mother's milk, the baby's diet includes balanced complementary foods, which have a positive effect on weight gain. |
3 | 25 | The period of a sharp jump in mass is a 2-fold increase. |
4 | 45 — 60 | From this period, they begin to monitor the indicators of the severity of the young individual and take measures if the indicators differ from those indicated in the table |
5 | 75 — 90 | A period of intensive fattening of young individuals and the introduction of highly concentrated feed. |
6 — 7 | 100 | A young animal enters the stage of puberty, its diet changes completely, and this affects a slight increase in weight. |
8 — 10 | 120 — 150 | From this period, the piglet is considered an adult. |
Piglet weight table by week
You can find out the weight of a piglet for each week of its development by referring to the table below.
Age of juvenile (in weeks) | Average weight of a young individual (in kg) by the end of the week | Average daily weight gain (in g) |
6 | 12,5 | 350 |
7 | 15,5 | 450 |
8 | 19,0 | 510 |
9 | 23,0 | 580 |
10 | 27,8 | 670 |
11 | 32,5 | 690 |
12 | 37,5 | 700 |
13 | 42,5 | 710 |
14 | 47,5 | 720 |
15 | 52,5 | 730 |
Piglet weight by month
A table with age indicators will help you find out the weight of a pig without scales, which every breeder should be able to use for a timely response if the weight of a young individual does not correspond to the average indicators.
Age | Weight |
A newborn in the case of a normal pregnancy of the sow | Weighs about 1 kilogram. Some breeds of piglets may weigh a little more or less, for example, Vietnamese babies are born weighing about 500 g.
|
At the age of one month | Babies feed only on mother's milk, and weight gain occurs at a rapid pace. On average, by the end of the first month of life they weigh 9 kg. |
At 2 - 3 months | Babies begin to be introduced to special complementary foods, and their severity increases by more than 2 times. |
4 – 6 months | The age at which young animals begin to be actively fed; their weight during this period is already about 50 kg. |
6 - 7 months | Young individuals are transferred to the gilt department, they reach sexual maturity, at which point their mass indicators are 100 kg. |
At 9 - 10 months | Individuals are considered mature and ready for mating. Their weight at this moment is 140 kg. |
Finding out the weight of a pig from a table that indicates the age of the animal is quite simple. But such indicators cannot be called as accurate as possible.
How much should an average pig weigh at slaughter?
The slaughter weight of a pig depends on the breed and age of the animal.The largest breeds of pigs, which can reach a weight of 300 kg, must be slaughtered when they reach a weight of 150 kg. Small breeds, the maximum weight of which is 140 kg, are slaughtered at 80 kg. Regarding the age criterion, it should be said that pigs are usually slaughtered after they reach the age of 8 - 9 months.
Conclusion
The weight of pigs is an important indicator used in livestock farming. It can be used to determine the health status of each individual, the correctness of the diet and nutritional balance, and the dosage of medications prescribed for treatment. Correct determination of the weight of a pig is the key to the healthy development of young piglets and high-quality weight gain of adults.
