Pork

Overview

A pork farm raises and breeds pigs for food, such as pork and bacon, and byproducts.

an illustration of a sow and her piglets standing next to her is shown.

These piglets are following their mother.

Year at a Glance

Farmers wake up early to feed the pigs and do any other tasks that need to be done on the farm. The farmers make sure the animals get the proper nutrition from the feed they are eating, provide them with a clean, safe environment, and give them plenty of water. These chores are done every day of the year.

Illustrated pigs stand in a pig pen where some pigs are eating out of grain feeders. A farmer dumps grain into feeders using a large pail.

Pig farmers have chores to do every day of the year.

There are different types of pig farms. ‘Farrow to finish’ farms raise the pigs through the entire process, from birth to processing.

A mother pig is laying on her side while piglets nurse milk. The sow is in a pen that protects piglets from getting rolled over on.

This crate helps protect the piglets from getting rolled on when the mother lays on her side to nurse her babies.

Some farms buy weanlings (3-4 weeks of age) and feed them until they are market weight.

Two piglets drink water from a valve that is on the side of their pen inside of a barn.

These pigs are drinking water provided for them.

Flip

An illustrated aerial shot of a modern-day pig barn with large barns next to silos.

In 2013, there were 7,000 pig farms in Canada, varying from large operations that sell several thousand pigs a year, to small mixed farms that sell a hundred pigs or less a year. Canada is among the top 10 pork producers in the world.

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Quiz

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