Appendix - Alberta Pork

AppendixPig Science Centre ScriptPassport Answer Key

People’s Activities in Prairie Communities | GRADE 2Pig Science Centre ScriptMeet the HoggsHi, we’re the Hogg family: Jim, Shelley, Jessica and Kyle.Our whole family gets involved in raising pigs. This barnis home for 225 sows (mother pigs) and their piglets.These pigs weigh between 1 kilogram at birth and 300kilograms when fully grown. We can’t wait to tell youmore. So, come on in!Pigtionary-Pig Basics1. Sow: adult female pig (“sow” rhymes with “cow”)2. Farrow: when a sow gives birth after being pregnantfor 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days3. Gilt: a young, female pig that has not given birth(farrowed)4. Piglet: a small pig that is still nursing and weighsapproximately 1-5 kilograms6. Runt: smallest piglet in the litter7. Boar: adult male pig that fathers the piglets8. Barrow: male pig that has been neutered or castrated9. Market hog: barrow or gilt raised for meat10. Pork or Hog Producer: the people that raise pigsfor food5. Litter: a group of piglets that belong to the same sowand are still nursingBiosecurityBiosecurity is an important word in the pork productionindustry. It means that whenever a person goes into ahog barn, they must be free of dirt and germs.ARE YOU CLEAN ENOUGH TO VISIT OUR PIGS?You could make a pig sick! People can carry germs ontheir shoes, hair, skin or under their fingernails.WASH THOSE GERMS AWAY!Everyone must shower and change into clean clothes andboots each time they enter or leave a modern hog barn.Help keep our pigs healthy! Go take a virtual shower!CAN I GET SICK?No, and if you have a cold or cough it will not infect thepigs either. Although some diseases can be transmittedbetween species, this is very uncommon between pigsand people. However, you should always wash yourhands after handling any animals and before eating.BIOSECURITY SHOWER INTERACTIVE DISPLAYWhat’s that on the floor?What’s that on the floor? Germs can get to the pigs fromthe dirt on your shoes, your skin and under yourfingernails. Our virtual biosecurity shower will clean youup so you do not bring germs into the pig barn.Stamp of approval signYou are now Squealy Clean! Get your stamp of approvaland enter the pig barn.SCRIPT | 41

GRADE 2 | People’s Activities in Prairie CommunitiesThe Farrowing Room and the PigletTo ensure a good, healthy start in life, a newly bornpiglet must begin nursing within a few hours. Itsmother’s milk (colostrum) is full of nutrients andantibodies, which gives the piglet strength, the ability toproduce body heat and helps it grow.Newborn piglets can get cold quickly, so the producerputs a heat lamp or a heating pad in the pen to keep thetemperature between 30°C-32°C. Watch how the pigletscluster around the heat pads!Since producers began raising pigs in modern barns,piglet health has improved dramatically. Better shelter,cleaner pens, new feeding systems and more hands-oncare helps prevent disease and piglet deaths.Caption: Piglets on a heat pad and a picture of a piglaying down.Kyle Hogg says… “Piglets are able to walk at birth.My little sister didn’t walk until she was one year old.”The Farrowing Room & the SowTo farrow means “to give birth.” About a week beforeshe is expected to give birth, the sow is moved into thefarrowing pen. The farrowing pen makes it easier for theproducer or farrowing technician to examine and carefor the pregnant sow. It allows the sow to give birth in aplace where other pigs will not bother her.Her pregnancy (gestation period) lasts for about 114days. That works out to three months, three weeks andthree days. Sows give birth approximately two times ayear and average 9-14 piglets each time.THE CYCLE OF LIFEAfter she gives birth, the sow and her piglets stay in thefarrowing pen for 10 to 28 days. The pen helps keep herpiglets safe. It prevents the sow from laying or“flopping” down too quickly and crushing her piglets bymistake.Shelley Hogg admits… “Last year, one of our sows gavebirth to a litter of 22 piglets at one time. I’m sure gladpeople don’t have litters!”See PigsIt is easy to recognize a pig. They all have long snouts,big ears, a long body and a tail. Different breeds or crossbreds have distinctive characteristics such as a highlymuscled body and sows with good mothering abilitiesthat produce large litter sizes.Factoid: Look at the pigs in this barn. They are crossbreds,part Yorkshire and part Landrace.Unlike humans, pigs have eyes on the sides of theirheads. That gives a pig a wide field of vision (310degrees). Pigs are able to see in front, to the side andbehind them. This was an advantage to the wild pighundreds of years ago, because it could spot a predatorcoming from any direction.However, having eyes on the side of the head can also bea disadvantage for a pig. It gives pigs monocular vision,so their eyes don’t see the same thing at the same time.That makes it difficult to know how far away an object is.42 | SCRIPT

People’s Activities in Prairie Communities | GRADE 2Hear PigsPigs use a variety of grunts and squeals to communicatewith one another.1. Feeding time for pigletsListen to how the sow makes low grunting noises inthe back of her throat as she calls her piglets to nurse.2. Piglets at playDoes it sound like they are enjoying themselves?3. A startled pigListen as a group of pigs squeal with excitement asthey hear the barn door open. Can you hear howother pigs respond?4. Sows at feeding timeCover you ears! Sows get very loud when they arehungry!Feel PigsWhen pigs are born, they barely have any hair on theirbodies and their skin is soft and smooth. As they getolder, their skin gets rougher and coarse hair starts togrow all over.Although pigs are covered with hair, it isn’t enough toprotect them from the elements. If they live outside, pigsmust have shelter to help protect them from sunburn orfrostbite and straw to keep them comfortable and warm.Factoid: Scientists believe that the wild pig wasdomesticated 2000 years ago in China. Early Europeansettlers brought pigs to Canada in the 1600s.Caption: After processing, a pig’s hide is tanned and usedto make leather products such as shoes.Smell PigsPigs have a keen sense of smell. Long before pigs weredomesticated, their super snouts helped them find foodand warned them of danger.Just like people, pigs go to the bathroom. The onlydifference is that they don’t use toilets. Pig urine and poopfalls through slats (spaces) in the floor and into a pit.Water used for cleaning the barns also falls into the pitand turns the manure into a liquid. Water droplets in theair bond to the smelly compounds and carry thoseodours through the atmosphere. That is why pig manureseems smellier than the manure from other farm animals.Manure is what is leftover after digestion. It is made upof about 200 different compounds. Some of thesecompounds are smelly or become smelly when mixed.Ammonia and hydrogen sulphide are two smellycompounds that are found in pig manure and themanure of all mammals, even humans.SCRIPT | 43

GRADE 2 | People’s Activities in Prairie CommunitiesThe First Week of LifePigs can be aggressive animals. Sometimes they often biteand bully other weaker pigs because they want the bestplace at their mother’s udder. Each piglet takesownership of a specific teat and always returns to suckleon that teat. Producers try to prevent injuries with taildocking and teeth clipping:• The tip of a piglet’s tail has very few nerve endings. Ifanother pig chews on it, it doesn’t hurt very much.However, the tip will bleed and can become infected.That infection can travel to the rest of the piglet’s bodyand make it very sick. So, producers eliminate thechance for infection by removing a portion of thepiglets’ tails.• Producers also clip the tips of a piglet’s eight needleteeth. Piglets use these teeth for fighting andestablishing a position within a group. These teeth areso sharp, they can cut the sow’s teats while a pigletnurses.IRONPiglets grow quickly and require a large amount of ironin their diets. The sow’s milk however is very low in ironcontent. Therefore, the piglets are given an injection ofthis important mineral when they are between three andsix days old.CASTRATIONMale piglets are castrated within the first week of theirlife. If not castrated, male pigs produce compounds thataffect the smell and taste of their meat. Castrated malepigs, called barrows, are also less aggressive towardother pigs.EAR NOTCHING & TATTOOINGSome pork producers use ear notching and tattooing toidentify the litter that the piglets came from as well astheir age. In addition, some older pigs are given ear tagsfor identification.Jessica Hogg: “To keep bigger pigs from bullying smallerpigs, I sort piglets of the same size into pens together.”Weanling PenWeanling rooms are filled with piglets of the same sizeand often from different litters. Piglets are weaned orremoved from their mother’s milk between two to fourweeks of age. Newly weaned piglets are called“weaners” and weigh between 5-10 kilograms.It is important to group weaners with pigs the same sizeand age because larger pigs will bully and injure smallerpigs. A group of “weaners” will live together until theyweigh about 25 kilograms.After these weaners move on to the Grower/Finisherroom, the Weanling room will be cleaned anddisinfected. It will dry for a full day before anothergroup of weaners move in.DO THE MATH!If you were a 20 kilogram weaner pig, and you gained300 grams per day for the first four weeks and 500grams per day for the next three weeks. . . A. Howmuch would you weigh after those seven weeks? B. Ifyou continued to gain 500 grams per day for anotherseven weeks, how much would you weigh? C. If youcontinued to gain 500 grams per day, how many moreweeks would it take for you to get to market weight?Answers:A. 38.9 kilogramsB. 63.4 kilogramsC. 13-15 weeksFIGHTING OR PLAYING?When piglets move into the weaner pens, they begin tofight immediately. They are figuring out their dominanceor “pecking order.”To learn more about growth and development of the pig,see the weigh scale down the hall.Kyle Hogg knows that… Pigs play-fight or “scrap” byfacing head to head and swinging their head sideways.44 | SCRIPT

People’s Activities in Prairie Communities | GRADE 2Five FreedomsOnly pigs in storybooks or cartoons live in houses. InCanada most real pigs live in barns and a small numberoutdoors. Barns keep pigs cool in the summer and warmin the winter. There are “Five Freedoms” that guideproducers’ decisions as they raise pigs:• Freedom from hunger and thirst• Freedom from discomfort• Freedom from pain, injury and disease• Freedom to express normal behaviour• Freedom from fear and distressCaption: The Life Cycle of a PigWeanerGilt/BarrowYoung PigTo MarketPIgletSow/BoarMature PigPig GrowthThe majority of a pig’s growth takes place during thegrower/finisher stage. It will gain 75 kilograms in about10 weeks. To take advantage of the pig’s ability toconvert feed into high quality meat, a pork producermust provide a complete diet, with over 70 nutrients.Grower/finisher pigs are treated to an “all you can eatbuffet!” until they reach 110-115 kg or “marketweight.” Some producers schedule feeding timesthroughout the day or provide feed in self-feeders.During the grower/finisher stage, it takes about 3 kg offeed to produce 1kg of weight gain in a pig.Based on the information above, how many kilograms offeed would a 45-kilogram grower/finisher pig need to eatbefore it reached market weigh? Hint: A market weightpig weighs 110-115 kilograms.Answer: 195-210 kilogramsSCRIPT | 45

GRADE 2 | People’s Activities in Prairie CommunitiesPig Growth continuedFactoid: A grower/finisher gains 3% of its body weighteach day. Imagine if your body grew like that! If youweighed 45 kilograms on Monday, you would weigh 55kilograms by the following Sunday.• A computer controls the barn temperature and keepsfresh air flowing with a system of fans and heaters.• A pig drinks fresh water by biting this nipple.• Feeders are filled on a continuous basis to keep pigswell-fed.• Manure and urine fall through the slats (spaces) in thefloor. This keeps the area dry and gives pigs a cleanplace to sleep.Pig Poop CycleTHE ORIGINAL RECYCLING PROGRAMCenturies before the Blue Box program began, farmerswere already recycling. Farmers recycle by applyingmanure to their fields. Manure is just as important assunshine and rainfall to a grain plant, such as barley.Just like commercial fertilizer, manure contains the samenutrients like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potash(K). These key plant nutrients help barley grow. Barleymakes pigs grow.Manure becomes fertilizer, fertilizer nourishes barley,barley feeds pigs and some of it is recycled as manure.Do pig barns use a lot of water?The amount of water a pig drinks is three times theamount of feed it eats. A 50 kilogram pig will eat 1.25to 1.5 kilograms of feed per day. That same pig willdrink 3.75 to 4.5 litres of water per day.Compared to humans, pigs use very little water. Theaverage Canadian uses 36 times more water than theaverage pig.• The average person uses 256 litres (includes drinking& household use) of water each day.THE 3RS OF MANUREProducers reduce, re-use and recycle. When they use pigmanure, producers cut down on the demand forchemical fertilizer and the fossil fuels required toproduce it.Manure is reused by spreading it on fields or by injectingit directly into soil. Plants can use the nutrients inmanure whether it is in liquid or composted form.Factoid: Compost is organic waste (such as grassclippings, old leaves or livestock manure) that has beenbroken down by microorganisms into a form of soil thatcontains many plant nutrients.• The average pig uses 7 litres (includes drinking & allother uses). Courtesy of EpcorIt is difficult to compare people and pigs, since pigs don’tbrush their teeth, take a shower, or water their lawn.However, it is important to remember the water isn’tlost. It is always recycled.Factoid: Flushing the toilet uses an average of 9 litres ofwater each time. Courtesy of Epcor46 | SCRIPT

People’s Activities in Prairie Communities | GRADE 2Where’s Agriculture?You would be surprised to know...Pork by-products are everywhere. Agriculture touchesyour life from the games you play to the house you live in.Look at this picture and see if you can find some of these28 products from hog farming. If you want to find more,there are over 90 agricultural by-products to find.Curling broom - pig hairLeather gloves - pig skinCosmetics - collagen and fatty acids (glycerine) frompig fatLipstick - beewax and glycerine from pigsToothpaste - cornstarch from corn, glycerine fromcanola and pigsBath products, lotions & creams - fatty acids from pigsHospital - heart valve from hogs used in surgery, antirejectiondrugs from blood of hogs, pig skin is used as areplacement for human skin in burn clinics, and pigscorneas are used for transplanting into human eyesDiabetic Clinic - test strips to measure blood sugar fromenzymes in horseradish, Insulin from hogsBriefcase - leather from cowhide and pigskinShoes & boots - leather from cowhide and pigskinPurse - leather from cowhide and pigskinFertilizer - manure from cattle, sheep and pigsChalk - glycerine from pigsFootball - pigskin in early daysBone China - bones from pigs make dishes durableMeat products - meat from cattle, sheep, chickensand pigsBaked or processed food products - grains, fruit andvegetable crops, processed dairy and meatCandy products - gelatin from pigsGum - pepsin from pig stomachsSoap & detergent - linseed oil from flax, fatty acidsfrom pigsDrywall - hog hairWallpaper - glue from collagen in skin, bones andhides of pigsTires on bikes & cars - tires are manufactured usingfatty acids from pigsCamera film - gelatin is used for coloured paper. X-rayproducts, graphic arts & instant films from bones of pigsCrayons - texture from glycerine of pigsPaint brushes - hair from hogsFishing line - adhesive from fatty acids in pigs help giveit the smooth textureBaseball glove - pigskin... and there’s more.Gestation StallsPigs can be aggressive. If left in groups, sows often fightwith one another over food and territory. Gestation stallswere specially designed to prevent injury and give timidor smaller sows equal access to feed and space. Keepinga sow’s environment stress-free helps ensure she willdeliver a healthy litter of piglets.A stall contains enough room for a sow to lie down,stand up or sit down. The stall also gives the producereasy access to the sow so he can examine and care forher. Stalls are widely used in Canada.Jim Hogg informs us…“A sow will ‘gestate’ or bepregnant for three months, three weeks, and three days.That works out to 114 days.”GESTATING IN FREE STALLSThe sows you are watching use free stalls. A free stall isjust like a gestation stall, except that a sow has thefreedom to come and go as she pleases. She will walkaround and exercise, as well as satisfy her curiosityabout the other sows and the environment. A sow willwillingly spend up to 80% of her time inside the stallwhere she can eat and rest without being bullied ordisturbed.SCRIPT | 47

GRADE 2 | People’s Activities in Prairie CommunitiesGestation Stalls continuedHOUSEKEEPING - “PIG STYLE”Pigs organise their pens into three different areas. 1. Thefar end of the pen is for sleeping. 2. The middle part ofpen is slatted (has spaces). The sows use this area forexercise, accessing water and for dunging (pooping andurinating). When they poop, it falls through the floorand into a pit. 3. The front part of the pen, under thewindow, is for eating.Shelley Hogg remarks… “Keeping sow pens clean isn’talways simple ... but it is easier than getting Junior tokeep his room clean.”Sleeping AreaGROUP HOUSING - GESTATING IN GROUPSCaption: Sows resting comfortably in a group.Although it doesn’t happen at this facility, someproducers house their gestating sows in groups. Thesesows usually sleep on straw and can exercise freely. Adisadvantage of this system is that when penned ingroups, larger sows tend to bully smaller sows and eattheir food.Modern technology has helped solve this problem forsome. Producers can use an electronic sow feedingsystem. Each sow is given an ear tag, which is monitoredby a computer that allows her to enter the feedingstation without being disturbed. The computer alsorecords how much each sow has eaten.Exercise, Water, Dunging AreaFeeding AreaBreeding & GeneticsDifferent types of pigs are called breeds. While a fewproducers specialize in one breed of pig, most fill theirbarns with a selection of cross-breds.The most common breeds used in Canada are theYorkshire, Landrace, Duroc, Hampshire and Lacombe.The Lacombe, the only true Canadian breed wasdeveloped in Lacombe, Alberta in the 1940’s and 1950’s.Good breeding stock is very important to the hogproducer. Most stock in Canada are cross-breds. Theyhave inherited good characteristics from two or moredifferent breeds. Specialized breeding companies havedeveloped specific cross-bred animals that exhibitvaluable traits. Many producers use artificialinsemination to bring these traits to their animals.Although there are many important geneticcharacteristics, a producer generally looks for gilts andboars with genes that produce the followingcharacteristics:Strong Legs & Feet - A pregnant sow puts on a lot ofweight as her litter of piglets grow inside of her.Large Number of Teats - If a sow has many teats, itincreases the chance that she will have enough teats thatproduce milk for piglets.Large Number of Piglets - When a sow and boarproduce a large number of piglets, the barn is operatingat its highest level of efficiency, offering a better returnto the producer.Good Mothering Abilities - A sow has good motheringabilities if she is quiet and gentle and produces enoughquality milk for all of her piglets.Meat Quality - Good meat quality is affected greatly bygenetics, breeding and feeding. Because people prefer lessfat in their food, pigs that are naturally leaner areselected to become breeding stock and pass that leannessonto their litters. Since 1990, the amount of fat in porkhas decreased by 47%.48 | SCRIPT

People’s Activities in Prairie Communities | GRADE 2Pork - The Most Popular Meat in the World!When a market pig is sold to a processing facility, it isturned into pork. Pork meat is sold as either freshproduct (pork chops & ribs) or as processed product(bacon & ham). More people eat pork than any othermeat in the world.PORK IS A HEALTHY CHOICEToday’s lean pork is a tasty, compact source of essentialnutrients, high quality protein and energy. Just oneserving of pork contains the following essential vitaminsand important minerals:• Thiamin (Vitamin B 1 ) - plays a role in digestion,builds and maintains healthy nerves and muscles.Pork is the best dietary source of thiamin!• Niacin (Vitamin B 3 ) - helps release energy from foods,maintains healthy skin and digestion.• Riboflavin (Vitamin B 2 ) - is important for healthyskin and eyes.• Vitamin B 6 - helps keep the brain working so you canconcentrate and learn.• Vitamin B 12 - is only found in foods from animals. Ithelps form red blood cells and genetic material.• Phosphorus - strengthens bones and teeth, and helpskeep skin healthy.• Magnesium - helps forms strong bones and teeth, andis needed for healthy muscles.• Zinc - helps keep your bones strong and fights offinfections.• Iron - getting enough iron from a variety of foods isimportant especially to females. Not all iron is equal -there are two kinds:1. Heme iron found in meat, poultry and fish is EASILYabsorbed by the body.2. Non-heme iron found in vegetables, fruits, grains,eggs and nuts is NOT easily absorbed by the body.Factoid: Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eatingrecommends Canadians eat two to three servings ofleaner meat every day.WORLD MEAT CONSUMPTION BY SPECIESSource: USDA’s FASOthers 4%Pork 43%Poultry27%Beef/Veal26%Pig FeedBARLEYBarley is the most common cereal grain used for pig feedin western Canada. Feed barley is a good source ofenergy and is very easy for pigs to digest. Alberta isBarley-growing country because of its excellent soils andclimate.WHEATWheat is also an important part of a growing pig’s diet,because of its high energy content. The whole wheatkernel is ground up and fed to pigs.CANOLA MEALCanola is easy to spot during the summer, when itsflowers paint producers’ fields bright yellow. The nameCanola comes from the words Canada and oil. Canolaseeds are crushed to remove the oil. Since the remainingmeal contains a large amount of protein (amino acids), itis used for pig feed.SOYBEAN MEALSoybean meal is a major part of pig feed because of itshigh protein content. Soybean meal is what’s left afterthe oil has been removed. Soybeans are mainly importedfrom the United States, as our climate is not warmenough to grow them. Trucks or train cars transport themeal to Alberta.SCRIPT | 49

GRADE 2 | People’s Activities in Prairie CommunitiesPig Feed continuedVITAMINS & MINERALS (PRE-MIX)To be sure the pigs have a balanced diet, vitamins andminerals are added to pig feed. Barley, wheat, canola andsoybeans all contain vitamins and minerals. However,they may not be available in proper amounts for the pigto fully digest. A swine nutritionist will create aformulation of vitamins and minerals, called “pre-mix.”The amount of vitamins and minerals that go into a premixare selected for a particular stage of a pig’s growth.PIG FEEDA swine nutritionist created this pig diet for hiscustomer, a hog producer. This recipe will make onetonne of pig feed for hogs weighing 50 kilograms at thegrower/finisher stage. A tonne of this pig feed wouldfeed 100 weaner pigs for about eight days.200 kg Barley + 570 kg Wheat + 50 kg Canola + 150 kgSoybean meal + 30 kg Vitamins and Minerals (pre-mix)= 1 tonne of pig feed = 1000 kgA 50 kilogram pig will eat 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 kilograms perday. This pig feed will provide all the nutrients a pigneeds to grow quickly and stay healthy.Pig ScaleFactoid: The biggest pig on record was Big Bill. He was2.7 metres long and weighed 1157 kilograms.Stage of growthPigletWeanerMarket hogMature sowWeight1-15 kg16-23 kg110-115 kg200 kgMarketingMarket weight means “ready for market,” or big enoughto sell to a meat processing facility. Market weight pigsweigh between 110-115 kilograms.TransportationPigs are loaded into trucks designed for transportinglivestock. The number of pigs that go onto a truck isbased on the size of the truck, the distance the pigs musttravel and the outside temperature. Livestock truckersuse straw or wood shavings as bedding for pigs.Truckers must make sure their trucks are properlyventilated, not over crowded, and that the pigs are keptwarm or cool depending on the season.Factoid: The Canadian Quality Assurance ® programmonitors how hog producers implement goodproduction practices to minimize food safety risks thatmay be introduced at the farm level.50 | SCRIPT

People’s Activities in Prairie Communities | GRADE 2ProcessingWhen pigs arrive at the meat processing plant, they areunloaded and moved into pens. They rest for three hoursbefore they are humanely processed.Each carcass is washed and then examined by a foodinspector according to government regulations. Stricttemperature and sanitation requirements are followed asthe pigs are turned into pork. The carcasses are cut up tomake pork chops, roasts, ribs, hams and bacon orfurther processed to make sausages, ground pork andsandwich meat.Canadian pork including Alberta pork and porkproducts are exported to over 90 countries.SCRIPT | 51