The Gould Hog Farm
raises 16,000 market piglets (the pork we buy at the supermarket) annually, or
about 300 piglets per week. Their farm operation is called “farrow to wean” and
that means they specialize in the breeding, gestation (pregnancy), and
farrowing (birthing) of the sows.
Even though the
piglets are sold, the most important animals on the Gould farm are the 650-700
sows that produce these piglets each day. The Goulds take the health of all the
animals very seriously. This was conveyed to us when they described how they
operate and it is also evident in the physical aspects of the barns.
All of the sows at
the Gould farm have the exact same genetics. The Gould family has chosen this
breed and genetic line for particular traits, such as body length, a stronger
skeletal frame, and leanness. The sows are specifically breeding animals.
A sow is purchased
by the Goulds as a “gilt,” the term for a young female pig who has not yet been
bred, and is transported to the Gould farm where she lives for two weeks in the
isolation barn while her health is monitored. They will ensure that she is not
ill before they introduce her to the sow barn where she will be among all the
other sows.
At the time she
moves into the sow barn, she will begin breeding. The Goulds own several boars and they also use semen from a neighboring hog farmer. The boar has
different genetic traits and genealogy than the sow. Traits they look for in
him are leanness and good musculature.
When bred together,
the genetics of this sow line and this boar line combine to make the
characteristic market pigs that the Goulds desire. Perhaps more importantly,
they produce the characteristics that their contracted processor, Hormel, demands.
Hormel’s demands are for consistency of product size, taste, and leanness;
because that is what we (the consumer) have come to expect at the supermarket.
View to our left as we entered the sow
barn, feed tubes
The Gould farm is
considered a “confined animal feeding operation,” which means the sows are
housed indoors in individual pens. There is another housing option called an
open pen that some farmers also use. One housing type is not considered better
than the other and each has advantages and disadvantages. (more on that in my
next post)
To start the
breeding process at the Gould farm, a boar is walked in front of the sow to
determine if she is in heat (estrous). The farmer will recognize signs that she
is ready; she will stand still when pressure is placed on her back and she will
hold her ears erect. When she shows the signs, there is a two-day window to
successfully breed her.
Chris Gould
demonstrated the “art” of artificial insemination to us Field Moms. We learned
it is an art because some people are more successful than others. A long clear
plastic tube, about 18” long and maybe 1/8” in diameter, is attached to a bag
of semen. The boar was brought in front of her, she reacted as expected, and
Chris gently inserted the rod. He caressed the sides of her belly and her back
a little to relax her and in a matter of about a minute she relaxed and the
semen drained from the bag. He gently removed the tube and it was done.
In about four
weeks, they will perform an ultrasound on her to check for pregnancy
(gestation). Gestation is 113 days or, easier to remember, 3 months, 3 weeks,
and 3 days. In that time, the sow’s health is closely monitored. At the front
of each sow stall, there is a card with all of her stats. Chris casually calls
it her “baseball card.” On that card is noted every aspect of her health, such
as any medications she may have received; and dates of important events, such
as the artificial insemination. It also notes who performed the artificial
insemination, so if a number of sows are not getting pregnant, they can look to
see if the same person has been doing the job and if that is the problem, they
can re-train him or her.
Feed trough and water nipple (lower right)
Each stall has a water
nipple with unlimited water 24/7 and a “feed tube” that comes down vertically from
a horizontal run of tubing at the ceiling. We didn’t get to see how it drops
the feed, which would have been interesting to me, but somehow (I think by
gravity) it drops her portion of feed into the trough at the floor in front of
her. She receives limited feed (as opposed to unlimited) that is specially
formulated with added vitamins and nutrients for a gestating sow for maximum
health benefits. Her feed rations at the Gould farm consist of corn, soybean
meal, dicalcium phosphorous, calcium, salt, sow vitamins and trace mineral pac,
and amino acids. The corn and soybeans are grown by the Goulds on their farm
and processed at the feed mill.
There is always a
farm-hand (the full time employee responsible for the animals) in the barns and
the sows are looked at, individually, at least twice a day. The farm
veterinarian, Dr. Noel as they call him, visits the farm a minimum of every
three weeks and sometimes more frequently.
Sow in farrowing crate prior to farrowing
A few days before
her due date, the sow will be moved to the farrowing barn into a farrowing crate. When she moves into the farrowing
crate, she will be very closely monitored and they will look for signs of the impending
birth.
The farm-hand is
present and will watch the birth (farrowing) to make sure all of the piglets
are healthy and viable. Sometimes they are not. The Goulds shared some of their
farrowing cards with us, which is where they record the stats of each birth.
They record how many piglets were live born, stillborn, and mummified (rare).
They track important dates, such as when the piglets are vaccinated.
Each litter contains 10-11 piglets. On the farrowing cards we looked at,
however, it was not uncommon to see several more than that. We saw several with
18 or 20. As long as the piglets are proper size, that sow would be considered
a very productive sow. On the farrowing card we also saw something called
“fostering.” If a litter is very large and another litter is very small, the
Goulds may transfer piglets between sows to even out the counts. They do this
within a day or two of birth and the sows don’t notice.
According to the EPA,
each sow raises an average of three to five litters in her lifetime. Each sow
has 2.3 litters each year. At the Gould farm they have a number of sows on the
far end of the spectrum that are very productive and are six or seven years
old.
It is clear to me,
after seeing this hog farm first-hand, why health is their number one concern. I’ve
learned that the healthier the sow, the more productive she will be.
There does come a
time when the sow’s productivity diminishes, usually as a result of age or
illness. Some things that change may be inability to become pregnant, litter
size decreases, or the size of the piglets diminishes. At that point, they are
culled from the herd.
The sow pork does
not meet the standards set by the retail processors, like Hormel. The meat is
from an older animal, so the meat would be a different flavor, not as tender,
and also less lean. The Goulds send the sows to a different processor where the
meat becomes ground pork or sausage products.
With that said, at
the end of our tour, the Goulds shared 3 pounds of ground pork, bratwurst, and
sausage with each Field Mom. The pork was from a recent sow that had been culled
and they sent it to a special processor to have the meat ready for us. My
husband and I like to make our own homemade Italian sausage, usually from a
butcher’s pork butt. We enjoyed the Gould’s sausage and it was tastier than any
sausage we’ve ever made or purchased.
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