Pig
Sus scrofa domesticus

Pigs, hogs, swine: all of these are names for wild or tame members of the scientific family Suidae. They are hoofed mammals with 4 toes on each foot. Humans have been raising pigs for more than 9,000 years. Domestic pigs are descended mainly from Eurasian wild boars.

What They Eat
Pigs are omnivores, eating plants and animals. Their snouts are well suited to rooting for food scraps, roots, nuts, and insects. Domestic pigs on farms eat feed rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. All pigs like water, drinking up to 8-10 gallons daily.

Where They Live
Domestic pigs live on every continent on Earth except Antarctica. Pigs do best in environments where they have ample shade, dirt, mud, and water.

What They Do
Pigs spend a great deal of time digging with their snouts, turning over soil to find roots, insects, and garbage to eat. Along with rooting for food, pigs wallow in mud. This helps them cool down and avoid sunburn.

How They’re Doing
Several hundred different breeds of pig exist around the world today. Because they are valued for meat and other products, domestic pigs are thriving. However, some wild relatives, including the Visayan Warty Pig, are endangered.

Pig

During its 6,000-year history, China is believed to have produced more than 500 breeds of domestic pig. Nowadays, Chinese farmers raise about 50 breeds.

Pig’s Eye is the original name of St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, located north of the Minnesota Zoo. Other pig-related city and town names in America include: Bacon, GA; Barrow, AK; and Frankfurt, IL.

Pigs are intelligent but cannot speak. However, many people speak “Pig Latin,” a funny form of English. The Pig Latin “Eway eakspay Igpay Atinlay!” for example, means “We speak Pig Latin!”

 

Helpful hints for viewing the animals

The Farm is open from April through October. During those months, visitors can look in on sows and piglets in the farrowing crate or see newly weaned pigs plunge their snouts into piles of feed.

A schedule for special events at the Swine Barn is available at the Zoo’s Guest Services desk.

Piglets are born year round, but there are usually a few more births in springtime than in other seasons. Guest Services can tell you when large numbers of new baby pigs are in the Swine Barn.

Allow plenty of travel time to get to the Swine Barn from the Zoo entrance. Access to the Wells Fargo Family Farm is about halfway around the 1.4 mile Northern Trail Loop.

 

  

Pig

A herd of domestic pigs lives at the Minnesota Zoo’s Swine Barn. When the farm is open, visitors to the Swine Barn can watch sows nursing litters of newborn piglets and look for older weaned piglets enjoying their feed.

Meet the Animals

The Zoo’s herd consists of crossbred pigs—a mix of more than one breed.

Domestic pigs are smaller than the Eurasian boar, a wild ancestor on exhibit at the Northern Trail. They are larger than some other wild relatives, including the endangered Visayan Warty Pig, at the Tropics Trail.

Home on the Farm

Domestic pigs at the Minnesota Zoo live in the Swine Barn. One half of the barn building houses a farrowing crate. This is a warm and safe place for a sow to care for piglets. On the other side of the building, shoats, or recently weaned piglets, eat and rapidly gain weight. Runways leading from the Swine Barn allow pigs to go outside to exercise.

At the Swine Barn, Zoo staff and volunteers often hold piglets, giving visitors a chance to pet them.

Care at the Zoo

Zoo staff care for piglets from birth, making sure that they are safely housed in a farrowing crate. This modern device protects newborns from being crushed accidentally by their mother when she gets up to eat and drink. Heat lamps may be used on either side of the farrowing crate to keep piglets warm in cold weather.

Sows care for their piglets for 3-5 weeks, nursing them frequently. Although a piglet may only weigh 2.5 pounds at birth, it will generally double its weight by the time it is 1 week old.

After baby pigs stop nursing, these shoats are transferred to the other side of the Swine Barn. There, they continue to feed and gain weight.

During a visit, you may notice flies in the Swine Barn. This is not a sign of poor care or hygiene. Flies are naturally attracted to pigs because of their feed and also because of the skin particles pigs shed.

 

Pig

What’s a Breed?
A breed is a group of animals or plants sharing common ancestors and many of the same traits. There are several hundred different breeds of domestic pigs worldwide.

The Zoo’s herd is made up of crossbred pigs—a mix of different breeds. Some breeds commonly used for crossbreeding include Durocs, Hampshires, Landraces, and Yorkshires.

The Minnesota Zoo is also home to the domestic pig’s major wild ancestor, the Eurasian boar (on exhibit at the Zoo’s Northern Trail) and another wild pig breed, the Visayan Warty Pig (at the Tropics Trail).

So Many Kinds
People have created different breeds for different purposes. They may want pigs that produce more and better bacon, pigs that do well in particular climates, or even pigs that can be kept as pets, such as the miniature Vietnamese Potbellied Pig.

Initially, domestic pigs looked very much like their wild boar ancestors. Some domestic pigs who were allowed to forage freely even mated with wild boars.

Eventually, a wide range of domestic pig breeds developed—some that made better bacon and some that adapted best to a particular climate. By selecting individual pigs and breeding them, people have developed many beautiful and unusual breeds.

Commercial hog farmers today generally raise crossbred pigs. This crossing or mixing of breeds tends to create especially vigorous swine.

Breeds at the Zoo

The Zoo’s pigs are crossbred. You’ll find more information here on four breeds typically used in crossbreeding today.
Duroc
Hampshire
Landrace
Yorkshire

Duroc

The Duroc is a medium to large red pig with droopy ears. Lighter at the head and neck, the Duroc’s characteristic coloring ranges from dark golden yellow to mahogany red.

Durocs were the first American red hogs. They originated in part in New York state in the 1820s, where a farmer started breeding red pigs he called Durocs. Other red hogs, called Jersey Reds, were developed in New Jersey in the 1850s. A few decades later, in the American Midwest, these two types of Eastern pigs were combined, forming the Duroc breed.

Durocs are extremely popular today and are raised worldwide for their meat. They are the second-most popular breed of pig (after the Yorkshire) in the United States.

Hampshire

The Hampshire is a medium-sized black pig with a white belt. The size of the belt ranges from narrow to wide, but usually includes both front legs and front hooves. Some Hampshires also show white around the lips or snout. All sport upright ears.

Hampshires are raised for their meat, for their ability to forage, or find food outdoors, and for their hardiness.

The breed originated in England. It takes its name from Hampshire County, home to the major port of Southampton, from which many hogs of this breed were shipped.

Hampshires are believed to have been brought to the United States between 1825 and 1830. Many went to farms in Kentucky, and that is where the American breed developed.

These early hogs went by many names. Some were known as Mackays, because a man by that name imported many of them. Another common name was the Thin Rind, from the breed’s thin skin. Today, the breed is sometimes unofficially called the Oreo pig.

Landrace

The Landrace is a breed of medium to large white hogs, with big, floppy ears. Having more than the usual number of ribs (for 17 pairs in total), the Landrace is long-bodied. Mature Landraces stand around 3 feet. tall and weigh about 600 pounds.

Different Landrace varieties found around the world have different names—from the South African Landrace to the Polish White Lop-Eared. Landrace means “the race from the land,” or “the native race.” All Landrace varieties are descended from northern European pigs, particularly those from Denmark.

In 1895, native Danish hogs were crossed with English Large White hogs. Over the years, Danish breeders practiced selective breeding to develop the Landrace. The breed was brought to the United States in the 1930s, where it was called the American Landrace.

The Landrace is valued as a good pork producer. Sows are known for giving birth to large litters.

Yorkshire

The most common breed in America, Yorkshires are large white, deep-bodied pigs with upright ears. Adults can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. Other common names for the Yorkshire—including Large White, Large White English, and Large White Yorkshire—speak to its size and color.

Yorkshires originated in Northern England, in the county of York. Farmers in this area wanted a good source of bacon and a pig that could survive mainly on foraging—rooting around in the woods for acorns, grubs, and other food.

Yorkshires are believed to have been brought to the United States, to Ohio, in 1830. Ohio is still one of the top American states for Yorkshire production, along with Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Today, Yorkshires lead all domestic hog breeds in the rate at which they can convert the food they eat into weight gain. Yorkshires can gain as much as 3 pounds per day. At 21 days of age, a typical Yorkshire weighs more than 120 pounds.

Perhaps the most famous Yorkshire pig is the sheep-herding swine from in the 1995 movie “Babe,” based on the book by Dick King-Smith.

 

Pig

If you want to know more about domestic pigs, look no farther. This Pig Handbook contains general information on domestic pigs and specifics about the swine herd at the Minnesota Zoo’s Wells Fargo Family Farm.

To help you navigate through the wealth of information, here’s a quick topic finder:
What Is a Pig?
Pig Products
Pigs at the Zoo

What Is a Pig?

Pigs are mammals, or warm-blooded animals, belonging to the scientific order Artiodactyla. Members of this order have hooves and an even number of toes. Pigs, along with other members of the suborder Suiformes, have 4 toes on each foot. (Hippos, much larger Suiformes, also have 4 toes on each foot.)

Pigs are members of the family Suidae, or the swine family, and the genus Sus. The full scientific name of the domestic pig is Sus scrofa domesticus.

Domestic pigs have been traced back to the wild boars of Europe and Southeast Asia. At the Minnesota Zoo, the Eurasian boar, a wild ancestor of the domestic pig, is on view on the Northern Trail. Another wild swine, the Visayan Warty pig, is on exhibit on the Tropics Trail.

Wild pigs were probably first drawn to human settlements because of garbage. With snouts well suited to rooting around on the ground for nuts, grubs, and other foods, pigs were attracted to human garbage dumps.

Pigs were attractive to people for several reasons. First, they removed  unwanted waste. While rooting, pigs also turn over dirt and enrich the soil, making it better for farming. Lastly, the earliest domesticated pigs required little care—foraging in garbage heaps or in the woods—but yielded good meat and leather.

Archaeological evidence indicates that pigs were probably first domesticated in the Middle East as early as 9,000 years ago. They spread quickly. Even though there are cultural and religious prohibitions against eating pork among Muslims, Hindus, and Jews, pigs are the largest animal source of meat around the globe. They are vital to the economy in many parts of the world.

Pigs are not native to North America. They were bought to the West Indies by Europeans in the 1400s, later spreading throughout the Americas.

As agriculture developed in North America, farmers turned to corn as a way of fattening pigs and producing high-quality pork. Thus, in the United States, the bulk of pork production today takes place in “Corn Belt” states such as Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska.

Pig Products

What can you get from a pig? Some farmers say that everything is used “except the squeal.”

Pigs are valued by people for their intelligence and independence. But even more importantly, domestic pigs are valuable to people for meat and other products.

Along with pork—including ham, pork chops, and bacon—hogs are a source of drugs, leather, glue, brush bristles, heart valves, and other items.

Insulin from the hog’s pancreas is used to help treat humans with diabetes. Hog heart valves have successfully been transplanted into humans suffering from heart disease.

Pigskin is used to make gloves, footballs (often called by their nickname “pigskins”), and shoes. Pigskin also contains collagen, which can be boiled to make glue.

Stiff pig bristles are used for making brushes. Softer hog hairs go into carpet pads, felting, and upholstery padding.

Pigs at the Zoo

Domestic pigs at the Minnesota Zoo live in the Swine Barn, sponsored by Phyllis Poehler. This building includes a farrowing crate or pen for sows and newborn piglets and a feeding area for recently weaned baby pigs. Outside the Swine Barn, runways allow pigs to enjoy the fresh air, exercise, and take care of toileting needs.

The farrowing pen is a large, straw-lined metal crate designed for sows and newborn piglets. Along with side-mounted heaters, the crate has special feeding devices.

Sows sometimes accidentally crush piglets when getting food and water. To avoid this, the farrowing crate has an easily accessible bowl-type feeder for grain. It also has a gate-mounted nipple drinker for water.

Sows are hungry and thirsty. Lactating (nursing) sows drink as much as 8-10 gallons of water in a day. They eat approximately 20 pounds. of dry feed daily.

A sow typically spends much of her time drinking, feeding, and nursing. At the Minnesota Zoo, sows may also leave the farrowing crate several times each day for outdoor exercise.

At the age of 3-5 weeks, piglets are weaned and sows rejoin the herd. Newly weaned piglets, called shoats, are fed on the other side of the Swine Barn. Depending upon their breed, they may gain as much as 3 pounds per day on a diet of carefully formulated feed, rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals.

A very few young females, or gilts, will remain with the Zoo’s herd. Those that do remain are bred at 6 months.

Pigs are polygamous, and a single boar will breed with several females. Piglets generally are born about 114 days (or 4 months) after breeding. A typical sow may produce 2-3 litters, averaging about 8-12 piglets, in a year.

Most pigs born at the Swine Barn are sold to market. When they weigh 30-60 pounds, they are sent to the Central Livestock Auction. There, they are purchased as feeder pigs and are fattened or finished for market.

Summer visitors to the Swine Barn may notice an abundance of flies. This is not a sign of poor hygiene or maintenance. Pigs naturally attract flies.

The Minnesota Zoo uses a nontoxic fly repellant on most of its swine. For safety reasons, this product cannot be used on sows who are nursing their young.

Flies are more of an annoyance to humans than to pigs. Zoo staff members work to manage the problem as needed, making pigs and visitors as comfortable as possible.