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| The domestic '''pig''' (''Sus scrofa'') has been used as a food animal for approximately 5,000 to 7,000 years. Many different words in English identify different types of pig: | The domestic '''pig''' (''Sus scrofa'') has been used as a food animal for approximately 5,000 to 7,000 years. Many different words in English identify different types of pig: | ||
| * adult male pigs are called boars, | |||
| * adult |
* adult male pigs are called boars; | ||
| * |
* adult females are called sows; | ||
| * juvenile animals are called piglets and farrows; | |||
| * young pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats | * young pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats; | ||
| * A gilt is an immature female pig | |||
| * a |
* a gilt is an immature female pig; | ||
| * a |
* a barrow a castrated male pig; | ||
| * a hog is an adult pig; | |||
| * swine is a plural noun meaning pigs. | |||
| <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"> | <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"> | ||
Revision as of 21:51, 10 December 2002
The domestic pig (Sus scrofa) has been used as a food animal for approximately 5,000 to 7,000 years. Many different words in English identify different types of pig:
- adult male pigs are called boars;
- adult females are called sows;
- juvenile animals are called piglets and farrows;
- young pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats;
- a gilt is an immature female pig;
- a barrow a castrated male pig;
- a hog is an adult pig;
- swine is a plural noun meaning pigs.
Wild boars are large and sometimes dangerous, and are hunted either for food or because they are endangering a community; one of the Twelve Labors of Heracles was hunting a wild boar.
Pigs (or swine) that are allowed to forage may be watched by swineherds. A litter of piglets typically contains between 10 and 12 animals. Meat from pigs is called pork in general and ham or bacon in some cases. Both Islam and Orthodox Judaism forbid the eating of pork in any form. The American pig-raising industry calls pork a white meat, as opposed to beef; "white meat" (such as poultry) is often considered healthier than "red meat." While pigs are raised mostly for meat, their skin is used as a source of leather.
Pigs, like humans, are omnivores, making them easy to raise: on a small farm or in a large household they can be fed kitchen scraps as part or all of their diet.
The pig is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. Believers in Chinese astrology associate each animal with certain personality traits. Pigs are commonly associated with greed and with dirt; the latter probably comes from their habit of wallowing in mud.