Swine Terms
· Swine: A generic term for every kind of hog and pig.
· Hog: Usually refers to swine weighing over 120 pounds.
· Pig: Usually a word meaning swine weighing under, 120 pounds.
· Boars: Sexually mature males used for breeding.
· Barrows: Males that were castrated at a young age and are destined for the production of pork.
· Stag: Boar that is castrated after maturity.
· Sows: Older females who have given birth to at least 1 litter.
· Gilts: Younger females usually destined to become mothers.
· Marker Hogs: Swine weighing 220 pounds, ready for butcher.
· Feeders: Pigs of weaning age.
· Finishers: Pigs from 175 to 275 pounds.
· Weaner Pigs: Naturally weaned pigs weighing 25 to 40 pounds.
· Barbecue Pig: Swine usually under 100 pounds to be cooked whole.
· Chuffy: Lard type hogs, very plump and fatty.
· Soft Pork: Meat that remains soft, flabby and oily even under refrigeration. Usually caused by feeding unsaturated fats and oils
before butcher.
· Rangy: Usually refers to wild meat. Lean, but stringy and tough.
· Lard: Rendered hog fat.
· Cracklings: Bits of browned meat and skin removed when rendering lard.
· Render: Heating fat to drive out moisture and remove impurities. Improves keeping and cooking qualities.
· Farrow: Swine terminology for giving birth.
· Flushing: Increasing feed prior to breeding a female to increase the number of eggs shed and the size
of litter farrowed.
· Prolificacy: The number of piglets produced (born alive) by a sow.
· Overlaying: Sow crushes and kills her babies when laying down.
· Oxytocin: A hormone that causes smooth muscle contractions: stimulates uterine contractions and aids in birth. Also helps
cause milk letdown after birth.
· P.S.S.: Porcine Stress Syndrome
· Trichinosis: Parasitic disease caused by a microscopic nematode worm.
· Shipping Fever (Pasteurellosis; PSS): A set of flu like symptoms that is usually caused by stress of transporting.
· Sodium Nitrate/Nitrate: Chemical added to cured meat products to prevent food poisoning and improve flavor and color.
· Salt Peter: Potassium Nitrate.
· Scruf: Outer most hog skin layer containing oil, dirt, and skin cells.
· Lop Ears: Forward loppin ears, sometimes nearly covering the eyes.
· Wallow: A deep water or mud hole created by or for hogs and used for cooling and skin parasite control.
· Masting: Running swine through the forest in autumn to eat nuts and seeds.
· Hybrid Vigor: The result of crossbreeding; offspring grow faster and show better feed efficiency than purebred parents.
· SPF: Specific pathogen free hog that was born by caesarean section in a sterile environment.