How much does a pig weigh and how to calculate growth using the table

For livestock farmers involved in fattening pigs, the main criterion for the success of their actions is the average daily weight gain. To control them, many owners do without special weighing equipment, but use a simpler method - a pig weight table, which allows them to find out the approximate live weight by measuring certain parameters of the body. They are carried out using an ordinary tailor's centimeter or tape measure.

The growth rate of pigs depends on various factors: the chosen breed, housing conditions, feeding ration, age and individual characteristics of the animals.

Weight gain of piglets by age

Breeders believe that the weight of a piglet at birth predicts the fattening and meat qualities of the animal. That is, the larger the piglet is born, the larger it will grow in the future.

The standard weight of piglets at birth is 1-1.5 kg. During the first two days, the weight of piglets may decrease. But this is a natural process. And already from the 10th day, when the farmer begins to introduce prestarter feed into the diet, the initial weight of the piglet begins to increase

During the first month from birth, the piglet's weight increases to 9 kg. To achieve this indicator, in addition to the sow’s milk, prestarter feed should be introduced into the diet of young animals. Modern complete ready-made feed mixtures contain acidifiers and sorbents. These substances are necessary for the prevention of gastrointestinal digestive disorders and poisoning. Additionally, take care of probiotics and prebiotics. They regulate the functioning of intestinal microflora.

At the age of 2-3 months, according to the standard, a piglet on normal feeding should weigh 25 kg. The animal is already actively consuming complete feed and is quickly gaining weight.

Meat is increased until maturity

With proper feeding, a Vietnamese pig gains a weight of 10 kg by the age of two months. Afterwards, the period of puberty and rapid gain of muscle mass begins. When fed with grain mixtures and mixed feed, a pig can gain up to 350-500 g per day.

At 3 months, a pig approaching reproductive age can weigh 20-25 kg. A fattening boar that has undergone the castration procedure and been sick for a week will not have much less weight - 18-20 kg.

A special feature of Asian pigs imported from Vietnam is their ability to produce offspring at an early age. Pigs reach it by 3-4 months, and boars by 4-5 months. When mating, it plays an important role how much the future sow weighs.

During this period, the livestock breeder should decide whether he is going to prepare animals for slaughter, or whether he will raise them to adulthood and leave them for breeding piglets.

In both cases, he must transfer the pigs to two meals a day in the summer and three meals a day in the winter, adding more barley, wheat and rye to the complementary food.

Corn, peas and oats, which are best absorbed by the pot-bellied pig's body, provide an increase in fat, which is considered inappropriate at this age.

Conditional assumptions

Of all the described methods for determining how much a pig or an adult pig weighs, the last one is, of course, the most approximate. It does not take into account, for example, factors such as:

• living conditions for animals;
• composition and nutritional value of feed;
• time of year - summer or winter.

According to experts, on balanced feed, the weight of an adult pig can reach 120 kilos in just six months, but if you feed it waste from the kitchen and garden, i.e. boil potatoes for it, grate grain, etc., then the animal will reach this weight only by the year.

Advice. Let's add to the last method a few more facts that are well known to experienced livestock breeders. In summer and spring, pigs gain weight much better than in the cold months, so it is most profitable to buy piglets in the spring. If you have a choice, give preference to two-month-old babies who are able to digest solid food on their own. If you have suckling piglets on your hands, you will have to supplement them with milk for the first month.

How to determine the weight of a pig without scales using a table

A completely reliable way to calculate the weight of a pig based on measurements. Pigs are measured using a centimeter, calculating the length of the body and girth of the chest.

The body is measured from the middle of the back of the head, extending a straight line along the spine to the root of the tail. Its length is not taken into account. The head should be parallel to the floor, neither lowered nor raised. To interest the animal and raise its muzzle, have someone hold a treat in front of it.

The girth is measured behind the shoulder blades with an accuracy of plus or minus 1 cm. The tape does not cut into the skin, but does not hang either. The highest point is the angles of the shoulder blades. Next, use the table. Select the value of length, girth and at the intersection you will get the approximate weight of the animal.

The table helps to find out the weight of a pig without scales quickly, but not accurately. It does not include extra indicators that are found in very meat breeds. Giants weighing more than 300 kg are raised on home farms.

Therefore there are other ways. For example, a formula for measuring the weight of a pig with a fatness coefficient.

Visually determine fatness:

• thinness K=152;
• moderate K=165;
• normal and good K=142.

In thin people you can see the spine, the ribs stick out. Moderately well-fed, dense, with a slight layer of fat. Good fat content - a thick layer of fat, prominent sides.

Formula for how to measure the weight of a pig without scales: body length (cm) x girth behind the shoulder blades (cm): K.

If the length is 102 cm, the girth is 108 cm, visually the fatness is normal, then the calculations are: 102x108/142 = 77 kg. To find out the yield of meat from live weight, subtract 30% from the number. A 77kg pig produces approximately 54kg.

Determination methods

To determine the weight of a pig, it is not necessary to purchase expensive devices. You can calculate the weight of an animal using a table, formula, or using the values ​​of the fatness category.

According to the table

For the convenience of farmers, a table was created in which the number of kilograms is determined by measurements.

To carry out the calculation you need to measure:

• body length from tail to nape;
• chest circumference behind the shoulder blades.

During measurements, it is advisable for the animal to eat while bending over the trough.
It is most convenient to use a measuring tape, since it does not squeeze the skin when taking measurements. You can refer to the table with the test results. The value of the torso length is selected vertically, and the chest girth is selected horizontally. Important! The error in calculations may be 5-10%.

According to the formula

There are 2 types of formulas for calculating the mass of an animal:

1. The above definition of weight from the table is compiled using a formula that can also be used to determine live weight without scales . It is necessary to measure the length of the torso and chest circumference. Next, use the formula: chest girth, cm * 1.54 + torso length, cm * 0.99 - 150.
2. For tallow pigs, you can use a different formula: chest girth, cm * body length, cm: 142 . The mass of meat-fat individuals of average fatness is calculated according to the following calculations: chest girth, cm * body length, cm: 156. If the animal can be classified as thin, then the formula should be changed as follows: chest girth, cm * body length, cm: 162.

By fatness category

Depending on fatness, there are 5 categories of this type of animal.

1. Age up to 8 months, body length 1 m, 80-150 kg, fat thickness 1.5-3.5 cm.
2. Young animals, 60-130 kg, fat thickness 1.5-4 cm; gilts, 20-60 kg, lard thickness 1 cm.
3. Boars, sows, well-fed individuals, fat thickness from 4 cm.
4. Boars, sows from 130 kg, lard thickness 1.5-4 cm.
5. Dairy piglets.

You might be interested in reading about the pot-bellied Vietnamese pig.

How to find out how much a piglet weighs

The weight of piglets at birth, as well as in the first weeks of life, is determined on portable scales. Further determination is carried out in an evaluative way according to growth change tables. However, upon reaching a weight of 25-30 kg, it is necessary to separate individuals for herd repair and fattening. The feeding schedule for gilts will be different. This is where measurements come in handy.

Piglet weight table by week

The approximate weight of piglets by week of rearing is shown in the table:

Therefore, measurements should be carried out at the 9-10th week of the piglet’s life.

Weight of piglets by month: table

After placement for fattening or raising replacement young stock, selective monitoring of the live weight of gilts is recommended to be carried out monthly.

Visually select at least 5 medium-sized individuals from each cell, take measurements and compare with the approximate growth plan presented in the table:

Selling for meat is carried out upon reaching a live weight of 90-110 kg. Further fattening is impractical, since growth occurs due to lard, the market value of which is lower than meat.

Features of the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig breed

Russian farmers have long paid attention to a breed of pig called the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. She is originally from Southeast Asia. Its characteristics are black skin color, flattened muzzle, wide back and chest and saggy belly. In adult individuals, it often reaches the ground.

The pig breed under discussion has a number of features, which are also its advantages:

• early maturation - four-month-old animals are already able to reproduce;
• pigs have strong immunity;
• the meat has a pleasant taste and delicate texture;
• pot-bellied females bear numerous offspring and have excellent maternal qualities;
• Greens predominate in the diet of Asian pigs;
• animals are clean.

Average weight of a pig at slaughter

Before taking an animal to slaughter, farmers fatten it until it reaches the desired weight. Typically, individuals weighing from 100 to 150 kg are slaughtered for meat. The most effective yield after slaughter will be for a pig with a live weight of 180-200 kg.

Indicators after slaughter will differ from live weight.

So, depending on the initial data, the output will be:

• 100 kg 75%;
• 130-150 kg 80%;
• from 175 kg 85%.

Half carcasses, carcasses and quarter carcasses

A boar carcass is pure meat that remains after the remaining organs and parts have been removed. For example, after slaughter, a live weight of 100 kg will yield 73-75 kg of carcass.

There are different cutting methods: English, German, American, Moscow.

It is generally accepted to divide the carcass into half carcasses. They, in turn, are divided into halves, resulting in a quarter of the carcass. So, the hind quarter will include the hind leg, the front part consists of the fore limb.

Weight of other organs

To obtain a carcass, the remaining organs are removed from the body of a slaughtered animal.

Their approximate mass is indicated in the table:

Figuring out how to measure the mass of a pig is quite simple. To do this, you need to use special formulas or tables. It is important to consider that they are only suitable for live individuals, and the number of kilograms after slaughter will be slightly less.

Primary processing of slaughter animals

Weight gain table and description of broilers of the Ross 308 breed

The slaughter yield of horses of local breeds with the highest fatness reaches 60%, with average fatness – 48–52% and below average – 45–48%.

In young horses, the relative content of muscle tissue in the carcass is greater than in older horses, in which fat deposition increases during fattening.

The weight of skin at the slaughter of adult animals ranges from 5 to 6.5% of their live weight.

The highest daily gains (0.6 - 1 kg) in young animals are observed in spring and summer in the first and second years of life, after which they decrease. It is economically feasible to sell young animals for meat at the age of 1 ½ - 2 ½ years, when the best quality products are obtained. Crossing local horses with producers of heavy draft breeds makes it possible to obtain young animals that quickly reach slaughter conditions with good meat qualities.

Bird.

One of the critical operations in the technological process of meat production is poultry slaughter, carried out in the slaughterhouses of the relevant farms or in poultry and meat-and-poultry plants on mechanized production lines. At the same time, batches of similar-aged, well-fed birds of approximately the same weight are killed. Poultry of all species are kept without food for several hours before slaughter to allow the gastrointestinal tract to empty itself of its contents.

There are mainly two common methods of slaughtering poultry. With the internal method of slaughter, the junction of the jugular and pontine veins is cut with scissors through the oral cavity of the bird; an injection is made into the anterior lobe of the cerebellum; for external - cut the skin, jugular vein and carotid artery at a distance of 1 cm from the angle of the lower jaw. The quality of the product and the duration of its storage depend on the proper organization of poultry slaughter.

The yield of poultry meat is determined by the ratio of the weight of meat to the pre-slaughter weight of the bird as a percentage. The yield of meat in cooled form for semi-gutted chicken carcasses is 80.5%, broiler chickens - 81.8%, ducklings - 80.4%, ducks - 80.6%, turkeys - 81.7%, geese - 79.2 %. Poultry meat immediately after slaughter at a temperature in the muscle thickness above +25°C is called steamed, at a temperature from 0 to +4° - chilled, and at a temperature not higher than -8°C - ice cream.

Cattle.

Indicators of meat productivity of animals are: live weight, slaughter yield, the ratio of individual high-quality cuts in the carcass, the composition of meat and its nutritional value.

Live weight is the weight of the animal.

Slaughter weight is the weight of the carcass and internal raw fat. In the meat processing industry, this is the mass of a fresh meat carcass without raw fat.

Slaughter yield is the ratio of slaughter weight to pre-slaughter live weight, expressed as a percentage. In the meat processing industry, the ratio of fresh carcass weight to live weight with a discount for the contents of the gastrointestinal tract.

Meat (beef) is the carcass of a killed animal without skin, head, entrails, internal fat and limbs (front - up to the carpal joint, rear - along the hocks).

Table No. 3.

Dependence of meat productivity of young cattle on live weight.