H05 Judging Swine Some of the pictures and text contained in this material have copyright restrictions limiting their use. Use of this information is for example only and should not be reproduced without the permission of the owner.

Lesson Outline  Steps to Judging Swine  Evaluating Degree of Muscling  Evaluating Growth  Evaluating Capacity or Volume  Evaluating Degree of Leanness  Evaluating Structure and Soundness  Evaluating Underline Quality  Example Market Hogs

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 3 Steps to Judging Swine  Evaluate animals from the ground up and from the butt (rear) forward  Rank the traits for their importance  Evaluate the most important traits first  Eliminate any easy placings in the class  Place the class based on the volume of the important traits

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 4 Ranking of Traits for Market Hogs  Degree of muscling  Growth  Capacity or volume  Degree of leanness  Structure and soundness

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 5 Ranking of Traits for Maternal Gilts  Structure and soundness  Growth  Underline quality  Capacity or volume  Degree of muscling  Degree of leanness

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 6 Evaluating Degree of Muscling  Thickness through the center of the hams (stifle area)  Width between the rear feet when the pig walks and stands  Shape over the loin (top) - butterfly shape is desired

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 7 Evaluating Degree of Muscling - Center Width of Hams Too narrowGood width

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 8 Evaluating Degree of Muscling - Width Between Rear Feet Too narrowGood width

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 9 Evaluating Degree of Muscling - Shape of Top Fat top alert Great top shape Pork chop

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 10 Evaluating Growth  Unless instructed otherwise, assume all animals in the class are the same age  Evaluate growth based on weight (pounds)  Rank animals from heaviest to lightest (heaviest pig = fastest growth)

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 11 Evaluating Capacity or Volume  Capacity (volume) is determined by four factors:  Width through rib and chest  Depth of body  Length of body  Balance - how well does the animal=s width, depth, and length fit together)

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 12 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Width  Pigs with good width will be wide based  Walk wide in front and rear  Good width through the chest  The top-1/3 and bottom-1/3 should be the same width, and the middle-1/3 should be wider  Good spring of rib

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 13 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Width Too narrowNice width

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 14 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Width Wide chested

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 15 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Depth of Body  Depth of body is important for:  Capacity for feeding (market hogs)  Good ability to eat and grow  Capacity for reproduction (breeding hogs)  Ability to carry large litters

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 16 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Depth of Body Shallow rear flank Too deep rear flank

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 17 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Depth of Body Uniform depth

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 18 Evaluating Capacity or Volume - Depth of Body Length is evaluated as the distance from flank to flank Too shortLong bodied

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 19 Evaluating Degree of Leanness  Degree of leanness is influenced by  Degree of muscling  Frame size of the pig  Sex of the pig  Age and weight of the pig  Fat is deposited from the front to the rear  Checks/Jowls > Behind Shoulders > Flanks > Tailhead

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 20 Evaluating Degree of Leanness  Leanness can be determined by indentations in the following areas:  Over and behind the shoulders  Ham-loin junction  Dimple just in front of tailhead  Key points to remember:  Muscle is hard, fat is soft  Muscle is firm, fat is loose

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 21 Evaluating Degree of Leanness Fat Alerts Smooth over back Loose in crotch Smooth over shoulder Wasty jowl and cheeks Loose in flanks Smooth at ham- loin junction Wasty tailhead

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 22 Evaluating Degree of Leanness Lean Machine Clean over shoulder Clean over loin Well defined ham- loin junction Clean and firm in crotch Clean and firm in flanks

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 23 Evaluating Structure and Soundness  When evaluating structure and soundness, attention should be given to the following areas:  Feet and pasterns  Hocks  Knees  Rump  Shoulder

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 24 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Feet and Pasterns Too much set to pasterns Feet turned out

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 25 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Feet and Pasterns Good set to pasterns and good feet

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 26 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Hocks Too straight in hocks Swollen hocks

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 27 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Hocks Good set and curvature to hocks

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 28 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Knees Extreme set to knees Bucked-over at knees

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 29 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Knees Good set to knees

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 30 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Rump Too steep in rump Nasty Rump

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 31 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Rump Good level rump

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 32 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Shoulders Too straight in shoulder Crash

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 33 Evaluating Structure and Soundness - Shoulders Excellent slope and set to shoulder

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 34 Evaluating Underline Quality  A good underline will consist of the following:  Both rows of teats easily accessible  Six to seven teats per side  Teats evenly spaced  Pencil eraser sized teats  Free from pin, blind, and inverted nipples

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 35 Example Market Hog Class I

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 36 Example Market Hog Class I  Official Placing:   Cuts:

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 37 Example Market Hog Class II

Infovets Educational Resources – – Slide 38 Example Market Hog Class II  Official Placing:   Cuts: