Here is an essay on ‘Piggery’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Piggery’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Piggery
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Introduction to Piggery
- Essay on the Selection of Breeds of Pig
- Essay on the Feeding and Management of the Herd
- Essay on the Advantages of Pig Production
- Essay on the Products of Piggery
- Essay on the Diseases of Pigs and their Control
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Essay # 1. Introduction to Piggery:
Domestication of mammals has been an old and profitable business of man. It has been recorded in prehistoric period also. The domesticated mammals, in olden days, were used either for milk, traveling or for meat. There is a long list of animals domesticated by the man. These mammals help the man in various ways. Some of the common mammals which are domesticated by the man are cow, ox, deer, dogs, cats, buffaloes, elephants, horses, donkeys and pigs.
Today a number of industries are based on animals and their by-products. Thus these animals are providing handsome jobs to unemployed educated young men. Sheep, goats and swine are more successful in acclimatizing themselves in each and every environment so the industries based on these animals are always in profit and they are preferred by a large number of people.
The rearing and development of sheep, goat and swine requires less economies and technology whereas the rate of production is high and duration of maturity is much less as compared with another mammal.
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Rearing, development and breeding of swine is known as piggery. It is one of the most common and desired industry in developed countries and is gaining momentum in developing countries like India. Pig rearing has never been a new thing for Indian people, but its raising and production has always been in primitive stage.
There is no scientific planning and investment of money only because of the reason that it is in the hands of poor and uneducated persons. The higher class of people, educated students and economically sound parties did not show their interest in formation of pig houses and development of a piggery.
The Country Pig:
The common Indian pigs are most neglected, scrub animals without any marked characteristic features. They are not paid proper attention and food for their development hence they do not get a fair chance to grow into economical animals and compete with them.
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These swine are small, black and produce small litters. The meat is also not up to the mark and quite often they are infested with a variety of worms and diseases. They grow slower and die soon. The common Indian pigs have higher fat contents so they are used for medicinal purposes and the flesh is not tasty.
Essay # 2. Selection of Breeds of Pig:
In establishing a piggery the selection of breed plays an important role. It depends on the will of the grower as what type of pig he wants to grow. The profit and loss depends mostly on the selection of the pig. Some of the common breeds acclimatized in India are given below.
These breed can be divided into two major groups:
1. The English Class.
2. The American Class.
1. The English Class:
This class of breed generally includes the pig of English origin. They are well acclimatized in Indian environment and are used for improving the race.
Some of the Common English Breeds are:
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(a) The Large White Yorkshire:
It is an English breed but well established in U.S.A., Canada, India, Ireland and countries of Indian subcontinents. They are used for upgrading the Indian breed. These are white, big in size long and bulky with a long thin and forwardly inclined ear. They measure 350-400 kg.
(b) Middle White Yorkshire:
An English cross breed boar developed by crossing the white large with Yorkshire extraction. It is a high class bred famous for good quality of meat. It has an early maturing and good recovery. It converts the food into meat in large ratio. These are white, large sized, with a long back and level. They measure about 270 to 380 kg.
Berkshire:
This is the oldest breed of swine now established in Australia, New Zealand and Berkshire. It is famous for high yield and is used in upgrading the Indian breed. These can be recognised by its black colour and white patches on the feet, head and tail. The head is short and face is blunt. They weigh 280-300 kg.
2. American Breed:
The American breeds are equally good for upgrading the Indian races and meat production as well. They can be acclimatized easily in Indian environment and are widely used in all parts of India. Some of the common breeds are:
Chester White:
A native of Pennsylvania U.S.A. is a cross breed of English white Yorkshire with Cheshire and Lincolnshire breeds. These are white in colour and produce big litters. The litters develop fast and reach maturity very soon they measure about 400 kg.
Duroc:
Red coloured with white shade in colour. The colour may vary from golden to dark red. They develop fast and produce big litters. They have high milking capacity. These are used in cross breeding weigh about 300 kg.
Hampshire:
These are black pigs with white best encircling the body and front legs. Head and tail are black, ears straight and erected. Legs are short and produce good quantity of milk and meat as well.
Besides these a variety of porks are found which are equally good in amount of meat and its quality but require more attention. These breeds are Poland, China, Tamworth and Wessex saddleback etc. Day by day improved varieties are being produced which mature early and give flavoured quality of meat in large amount.
Essay # 3. Feeding and Management of the Herd:
The profit or loss of a piggery is determined on the basis of the total net gain from the piggery. This gain is calculated on the basis of the number of pits marketed. The number of pig produced in the herd depends on a variety of factors and feeding is one of them. Food feeding of the male boar and the sow is solely responsible for producing a big litter.
A protein rich diet keeps the male active and smart. It produces a good quantity of sperm with a large number of viable motile sperms, in the same way a healthy female produces a large number of eggs and they are fertilized perfectly. Such a sow produces healthy litter with maximum viability and minimum mortality. Such a sow produces less number of abnormal pigs. The diet of a lactating female is little different with the same given to the male.
The pigs have a very simple digestive system without much modifications and complications, so they require a good and protein rich diet. They are unable to digest more fibrous food but fibrous food up to a limited extent is also necessary for their proper development.
A protein rich food helps the female in producing more and more milk and this effects the health of the body sow up to great extent. A healthy baby sow changes the food quickly and starts feeding on grains and fodder where as an ill fed baby sow continues on mother milk for a longer period.
The feed of a sow should have low fibre contents such as cereal grains and their byproducts. It should have proper proportion of minerals, vitamins, medicines, and antibiotics along with the protein. It is to be in a measured quantity, which can keep a pig fast growing, healthy and strong but at the same time should not be much high in fat contents because enough of fat in a sow makes the meat of low quality. There should be a limited ratio of fat and flesh.
The balanced diet of a swine comprises of the following ingredients:
If such a balanced diet is given to a male swine he can be ready and it for service after 8 months whereas a female gets matured in 9 months. It is not advised to use a male in early stage, for better and fruitful results he should be used after one year and that too not daily.
He must be given rest at least for 3 days before his use and in the same way the female should not be allowed to male just after her first cycle, she must be spared for 2-3 cycles, i.e., 2-3 months after her first cycle. This cause full development of the uterus and ova and gives better result in days to come. The maturation of male and female depends upon the quality and quantity of the food, they are fed with.
The food of a meat quality of sow varies much from the food of a pregnant or milking sow they require more protein diet as compared with any other normal sow.
Gestation Period:
The sow have a heat period of about 40-65 hrs and the best period of their mating and population is the second half period during the heat period. A pig can easily be recognised during this stage because of her actions. She may mount other swine in the herd and will remain rest less and will not eat.
Her appetite is lost. She can be recognized by examination her vulva which becomes enlarged and congested but this can be done by expert breeders only. The cycle repeats after every third week, otherwise they have gestation period of 114 days on an average which may range from 112-115 days.
Artificial Insemination:
Artificial insemination in swine plays a vital role in the development of piggery. In such a condition the boar of a good health and breed is allowed to mate a dummy female with pulsating vagina and the semen is collected in the glass vials. A boar is given at least three days’ rest after first ejaculation so he can serve only twice a week.
The amount of sperms produce varies from 200-250 ml per boar which is kept in freezed condition after diluting with 6% glucose soln. The viability of sperms is 100% for the first 24 hrs after that the viability declines and the chance of fertilizing an egg is reduced to only 50% if such a frozen semen is used after three days. For good litter production a sow is crossed twice after an interval of 8 hrs. This gives good result as the chance of fertilizing an egg is doubled.
In Indian artificial inseminations in swine is not done on large scale because the number of piggeries are not much and if some of them are interested in having a piggery farming they prefer to have a boar also. This ceases the scope of A1 in sows. Here are some practical problems associated with the artificial insemination of the swine such is the sperms have high mortality and poor ability of frozen sperms. The sow have small vagina which does not exhibit the visual symptoms of heat and they too show poor heat detections.
The sows in a herd have different days of heat so they can be managed by the boar.
The scientists in England have developed a new chemical which is fed to the female swine regularly and till the date it is fed to the sow she does not come into heat and the day the dose is checked the sow comes in heat. This has become a boon for piggery farming. The breeders check the heat period chemically and allow all the females of the herd to come in heat on same day. This helps in A and all the females give birth to the hogs on the calculated day.
This provides the breeder with a benefit of arranging and managing the females of same category. A particular type of bed. Feed, heat, water, mineral, vitamins and aids are given to the female during her pregnancy. This saves a breeder from arranging various types of beds, feeds, aids and at the same time large numbers of baby pigs are obtained which are marketed in a lot and the profit is obtained in a handsome amount. These things are still needed in India to improve the piggery farming.
The baby pig is given a good nutritive diet to develop fast and attain good size. Fatty diet is given only at certain intervals and after recommendation of the doctors. The well- developed hog is now send to slaughter house or market. The slaughter of a pig is done after starving the pig for 24 hrs. This gives a good and standard product.
Growth of Young:
For the good growth of young ones, supplementary feed should be given after 25 day by creep feeding. It should be kept in mind that sows fed on synthetic diet may not be allowed to become much fatty otherwise the size of the litter would be smaller.
The good growth in the early developmental stages plays very significant role for the development in length, muscle, weight of the pits, so up to the age of 25 days young pigs should be fed on highly nutritive and easily digestible diet. The young pigs, with the weight of 50 pounds feeding on less nutritive diet, have good ability of fast growth to attain the maximum weight provided a good nutritive diet is given to them.
Proportional Growth of the Body:
The proportional growth of the body of pigs varies with the age i.e., the head and the legs are larger in comparison to the body but the age, the body grows very fast as a result the muscles of thigh become concave. Such growth is found more in middle white pig in comparison to large white pig. It is very useful to have an idea about the change in the weight of the developing pigs and a proper control on that change.
The growth in pigs runs from the cranium towards backwards and from the tail forwards which meet in the lumber vertebrae as a result the loin region grows very fast followed by the pelvis and the thorax than the neck. The head grows very slowly, it is advisable that the pigs in early stages should be allowed to fed on poor diet due to which early developing parts, as head and legs would grow very slowly and if later given highly nutritive diet the parts which grow later i.e., loin would grow very fast and the carcass with high proportion of fat is produced. In the young pigs the fat is soft and in the older ones it becomes firmer when growth rate is very fast and fat is synthesized from the carbohydrates.
Slaughter of Pigs:
Prior to the killing, the pigs should be kept on starvation for 24 hours and given complete rest to get standard product. The slaughtering of pig is carried out by making it unconscious by a hard stroke given on the head, and piercing a double edged knife in the neck to shed the blood out of its jugular veins. Now carcass is washed, cleaned well in hot water and cut open to separate the various parts for different preparations.
Efficiency in Pig Production:
The profit in production of the pig depends upon the efficiency of the grower in production of the pig and its marketing. He must have a look over the rate of growth, amount of feed eaten and quality of grains used in the feed. The supplementation of vitamins, minerals, antibiotics and proteins in the feed helps in developing the swine faster and such as swine always fetch a good amount of money.
Since the hogs and swine are subjected to a large number of parasites and diseases proper case is to be taken against these diseases.
The swine used in the piggery should be of an improved quality and she must have a good breeding capacity. At the same time marketing of the pig also plays an important role in its economics.
Essay # 4. Advantages of Pig Production:
1. Pig forming requires less money, space and technology.
2. The pigs are developed in comparatively shorter period and with minimum expenditure. They pay the return in the shortest possible time as compared with any other form animals.
3. The housing and equipment are not costly
4. They do not require much labour and attention as compared with any other form animal.
5. The return of money is always in a handsome amount as compared with dairy and poultry.
6. The pigs grow faster than any other animal.
Essay # 5. Products of Piggery:
i. Pork:
The flesh of pig is known as pork in general and the fleshes obtained from different parts of the body have been given different name e.g., Bacon obtained from the back and sides and Ham from the back of the thigh. According to the data produced by the Directorate of Marketing and inspection, Government of India the production of pork is 5 percent of total production of meat in India.
ii. Bristles:
The wiry and stiff hairs of the pigs, hogs and wild boars are known as bristles and they are obtained from the back and neck. Short bristles are obtained from the flanks and belly of the animal. The bristles obtained from the living pigs are superior in quality than those of slaughtered ones. The rough and coarse bristles are generally used for varnish work and painting brushes.
The main bristle producing areas are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab. The principal trading centres are Kanpur and Jabalpur but 70 percent of the total bristle export is being made from Kanpur.
Two types of bristles viz., Desi bristles obtained from pigs of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and Darjeeling bristles, obtained from Himalayan foot hill and Darjeeling district. The bristles of three colours are usually found viz., white, grey and black.
The important bristle markets in the country are at Agra, Allahabad, Azamgarh, Faizabad, Jaunpur, Amaraoti, Nagpur, Santhal Parganas, Calcutta and Kakinada.
Mumbai is the biggest port to export the bristles worth millions of dollars to U.S. A., U.K., Germany and japan. Indian Standard Institute, New Delhi standardizes the bristles and provides agmark. Only the properly graded bristles under ‘Bristle Grading and marketing (amendment) Rules-1962’ are permitted for export purposes.
iii. Sausages:
Sausages are prepared by fresh minced pork, free from bone and skin. For the preparation of sausages usually shoulder piece, ham and bacon are preferred. The sausages are prepared by washing, cooking and mixing the pork with spices such as white pepper and paprika to make it delicious.
iv. Lard:
The fat of pig, squeezed from the body tissue is termed as lard. For the preparation of lard, carcasses are cut into pieces, minced, boiled over a furnace and the fat is removed-carefully when it is boiling hot.
Lard is used as a fine cooking medium and in the manufacture of soaps, lubricants, greases, candles and water proof materials.
Other Uses:
The most important pharmaceuticals derived from thyroid, pituitary and pancreas of pigs are pepsin, thyroxin, pitutrin, insulin, liver extract, testosterone etc. The pig toe-nails are used for making tobacco fertilizer, plaster and other plastic materials. The blood is used as food for livestock and poultry and also as a manure.
Essay # 6. Diseases of Pigs and their Control:
The swine production suffers heavy loss due to diseases and parasites. These parasite kill the baby pigs and check proper growth and development of the pig as adult. They damage about 60-65% of the total pigs produce, either directly or indirectly. Their control is a major factor in swine production.
Most of the diseases can be controlled by applying preventive measures and proper sanitation. Over-crowding, mismanagement, roaming of pigs in open places should be checked. Vaccination and medication at regular intervals helps in preventing the diseases.
In India swine are subjected to various diseases like, plague, flue, fever, pox, foot and mouth diseases, cholera, navel ill and dysentery and tuberculosis etc. These diseases are contagious diseases and can be checked by proper sanitation and care.
The infected pig becomes weak, loses its weight, the loss in appetite and vigor is well marked. He may sit or stand alone in an unusual manner. The colour of urine and faecal matter changes and sometimes it is supplemented with mucous and blood also. The colour may be red, green or black.
Coughing and eye and nasal discharge is well marked in cold and flu cases. They stop feeding and go for water quite often. Parasites also play a vital role in swine business. The common parasites are round worm, hook Worm, type worms, lungworm and mange. Ticks and mites, flea, mosquitoes, lice and bugs are common ectoparasites on pigs which may cause skin disease and itch.
These worms and ecto and endo parasites are reduced in number if proper care is taken in the management of a pig house, ventilation, sanitation and space have their role in minimising the parasites. These houses should be cleaned 2 sprayed with DDT, BHC or Gamexene.