When raising pigs, the main parameter for the health of a pet is considered to be body weight that corresponds to standard indicators. But "by eye" it cannot be determined. A table developed by scientists will help calculate the weight of piglets by month. For novice farmers, it will be a real help.
How to know the correct weight
If a couple of piglets are born on the farm, they can be periodically weighed on floor wagons. With a large livestock, not every farmer will be able to do this (and it takes a lot of time). Therefore, they resort to an easier method, taking as a basis the dimensions of the animal.
How to know the correct weight
To solve the problem of how to determine the weight by the size of the pig, you don't even have to resort to outside help. It is enough to pick up a tape measure and make the necessary measurements. In order for the animal to stand calmly at this time, it is lured into the process with food. Therefore, it is not recommended to feed the piglets on the day of measurement before the procedure.
To determine how much a piglet weighs, you need to take only 2 parameters:
- body length - it is measured from the back of the head to the base of the tail along the ridge line;
- chest volume - it is measured at the level of the heart.
Having found a suitable table on the Internet or in special literature on raising pigs, you can compare your performance with those available there and find out the average piglet weight.
This simple method is suitable for babies who should be measured every month (almost a whole year). In a small pig, weight gains slowly and is more related to the growth of the skeleton.
Then the pigs begin to overgrow with lard, here, for the calculation, they resort to formulas based on the same 2 parameters - length and volume. In addition to them, special coefficients are introduced into the equations, which are constant values.
Live Weight Formulas
Appointment | Formula | Note |
|---|---|---|
General | OG x 1.54 + DT x 0.99 - 150 * | The calculation allows you to find out the average weight of the pig |
For meat-bearing breeds | DT x OG: K | In this formula, the fatness coefficient "K" for fatty pigs is 142, for medium - 156, for thin - 162 |
* In the formula, the volume of the chest and the length of the trunk are taken in centimeters. The numbers given are the factors required for the calculation.
Other features are also taken into account:
- conditions for keeping pigs;
- diet;
- health status;
- sex of a pig.
The birth itself plays a role: did it go normally, without pathologies. It is important for suckling pigs to be fed by the sow. Artificial cubs gain weight more slowly.
It is necessary to take into account the age of the baby. Before puberty, the diet contains feeds that accelerate the growth of the pig. After six months, the pigs are transferred to the adult menu.
Piglet weight table
It will be easy for a farmer to determine how much a newborn piglet weighs with the help of vag: the cub is placed in a special bag and its weight is measured.A healthy baby, which the sow just managed to give birth, weighs on average 0.8-1 kg, Vietnamese piglets barely reach 0.5 kg. There are also breeds in which a calf weighing more than 1.5 kg can be born.
These indicators are considered starting. In the future, when the piglets begin to gain weight, it will be difficult to manage the scales. Therefore, the farmer picks up a tape measure (as described above) and a table with averages (see figure below).
Piglet weight determination table
Having found the corresponding length of the body in the left column, the volume of the animal's chest in the top line, the table looks for the intersection point of these 2 parameters. It is the desired result indicating the average weight of the piglet.
But this table alone is not enough to monitor the normal development of newborns. You also need to know the normative parameters based on age.
Average weight by month
Average weight by month
The weight chart shows how much the piglet weighs at the time of measuring its length and chest volume. The mass of small pigs in this way is checked monthly, but it does not make it possible to understand how correctly the piglet is developing.
Therefore, the tabular indicator must be compared with the average rates for each age. Knowing how much a piglet should weigh at 2 months, the breeder, having looked at his table, will be able to determine the degree of the baby's feeding (or, conversely, the underweight).
Piglet weight by age
Month from birth | Average weight, kg | Note |
|---|---|---|
1 | 8-9 | The farmer does not particularly care how much a month-old piglet weighs, feeding on mother's milk - there is always an increase in mass. While some keep weighing the suckers every week |
2 | 12-15 | Balanced, optimized complementary foods are introduced into the diet of small pigs |
3 | 25 | In the third month, there is a sharp increase in weight - almost twice, compared with the previous period |
4 | 45-60 | From this point on, they are already trying to compare the weight obtained from the table with the parameter specified here. If the measurement result is embedded in this interval, do not worry. This weight run may depend on the breed as well as the activity of the piglet. |
5-6 | 75-90 | Piglets are transferred to enhanced fattening by introducing high-energy feed into the pig diet |
6-7 | 100 | The indicator, in comparison with the previous period, increased slightly. But this is not evidence that the pig has stopped developing. From six months, the cub moves to the "league" of pigs, having entered the age of puberty. Therefore, the diet completely changes, this temporarily slows down the growth rate, which will quickly recover in the future. |
8-10 | 120-150 | From this period, the pig is considered an adult and capable of giving birth. At this stage, there is a division into pigs for brood and those that will be further fattened for slaughter. |
Having this information, knowing how much a dairy piglet and a six-month-old pig weigh on average, the farmer can count on the expected weight gain of his livestock. Tabular data based on measurements will allow you to monitor the entire feeding process in order to identify weak animals in time.
