There’s a lot to being an Australian pig producer. We’ve put together a list of terms that will help you understand our industry a bit better.

Glossary
  • Adult pig – any pig that is nine months or older
  • Antimicrobials – medicines that target and kill micro-organisms (like bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc). They are used to treat illnesses in the Australian pork industry, not as growth promotants
  • Arks or hutches – portable hut containing straw used to house pigs in paddocks, including for farrowing
  • Artificial insemination – boar semen is placed into a sow’s reproductive tract using a catheter
  • Biosecurity – the plans and actions taken to prevent diseases from entering or spreading in an area. This could be at a country’s border, between states and territories, or at an individual piggery
  • Boar – an uncastrated male pig over nine months old
  • Castrated male – a male pig that has had boar taint removed physically or by vaccination
  • Colostrum – the nutrient rich milk a sow produces while and immediately after she is giving birth
  • Conventional system – also known as an indoor system, where all pigs are raised in sheds
  • Creep – an area of the farrowing crate which contains a heat lamp or heated mat to keep the piglets warm. Creep is also used to refer to the feed pellets given to older suckling piglets or weaners
  • Deep litter system – a type of group housing system in which pigs are kept on a deep layer of bedding material, usually straw
  • Dry sow – an adult female pig that is between litters and so is not currently producing any milk
  • Entire male – a male pig that is able to reproduce; it has not been castrated
  • Farrowing – giving birth
  • Farrowing crate – these are pens for an individual sow to give birth or ‘farrow’ in. They are designed to stop the sow from accidentally stepping on or crushing her piglets. A sow and her piglets will spend up to 4 weeks in a crate. These are sometimes called “piglet protection pens”
  • Feeder – equipment from which feed is dispensed
  • Finisher – grower pigs over 60-100 kg liveweight
  • Fostering – when piglets are moved to another sow early in life. This usually happens when a sow has given birth to more piglets than she has teats. This ensures all piglets have access to colostrum and milk
  • Free range – where all pigs (including boars, sows, piglets, and growing pigs) live outside, with access to shelter
  • Gestation – pregnancy
  • Gestation stall free – sows and gilts are kept in loose or ‘group’ housing during their pregnancy, not in a mating stall or sow stall. This occurs five days after their last mating until one week before farrowing
  • Gilt – a young female pig that has been chosen for breeding, but has not had her first litter
  • Grower – any pig between 30-60 kg liveweight
  • Health treatment – any medication given to pigs. This could be added to their feed or water, given to them through an oral drench, given by injection, or applied directly onto the skin
  • Heat – a female pig ready for mating is on heat. Another word for heat is ‘oestrus’
  • Herd – a group of pigs
  • Lactating sow – a sow that is producing milk for her piglets
  • Litter – all the piglets born to one sow from the same pregnancy
  • Liveweight – the weight of a pig when it is alive
  • Loose housing – sows and gilts are kept in larger pens that allow them to move around freely. Most loose housing is ‘group housing’, where each pen contains a group of pigs
  • Nurse sow – also known as a foster sow. Some or all the piglets she looks after are not her own, because they will have been fostered on
  • Nutritionist – pig nutritionists work to create diets for pigs. The diets are usually created to suit a particular age or stage of growth and production
  • Mating – can occur naturally (using boars) or with artificial insemination. It is the process of impregnating the sow
  • Mating stall – an individual pen that gilts and sows are kept in while they are being artificially inseminated
  • Outdoor Bred: Raised Indoors on Straw – where sows and boars live outside all their life, while their piglets are weaned and then brought inside into shelters and raised on straw
  • Piglet – a young pig
  • Reproductive cycle – days from the beginning of one pregnancy to the beginning of the next pregnancy
  • Rooting – a behaviour of pigs where they use their nose to dig in the ground or in any available material
  • Sow – any breeding female that has farrowed a litter
  • Sow/gestation stall – a stall to separate pregnant sows so they can receive individual feed, water and care. Used to prevent aggression and bullying during the critical stage of early pregnancy
  • Stockperson – a person who undertakes the day-to-day husbandry tasks associated with looking after pigs
  • Sucker – a pig between birth and weaning
  • Swill – food or food scraps that contain meat or meat product. Includes any foods contaminated by these products. It is illegal to feed swill to pigs. Also known as ‘Prohibited Pig Feed’
  • Wallow – a natural or artificial hole or hollow containing water or mud. Pigs wallow to cool off in hot weather, and coat themselves in mud to protect their skin from the sun
  • Weaner – a pig between weaning and up to approximately 30 kg
  • Weaning – the permanent separation of a sow and her piglets. Piglets are around 4 weeks old, but may vary depending on the pigs and type of production
  • Veterinarian – vets keep pigs healthy by preventing and treating disease. They work with piggery staff to recognise signs of injury or illness in the pigs