Ryan Harrell BS, BS, CNMT

As a judge, I am finding myself doing moreteaching in 2012 about nutrition, balance,and keeping things in perspective.

With every trend hitting the middle of the road isthe desired goal.

Going too fat or too lean is not where you need tobe when fitting your show pigs.

The goal of this presentation is to help train youreye on what is acceptable and what isn’t.

Common problems observed in 2012:

Over conditioned pigs

Unbalanced pigs

Too much belly fill

Blow outs behind the barrow sheath (flank)

Using fat in the diet will help your pig gain weight ifyou need this.

If you need to hold your pig, reduce the fat contentin the diet and use more filler products. That fillsthe belly and doesn’t allow excess weight gain.

If holding, use higher levels of protein and feed lessamounts of feed.

Always keep held pigs on full water.

You can get pigs too fat when using fatsupplemental products. Understand yourproduct and talk with your feed supplier.

Training your eye to what is acceptable is thekey to being successful in the show ring.

Too lean is not a good thing. Too fat is also not a good thing.

Depending on what fat products you usedetermines when you need to feed it and howmuch you need to feed.

Liquid Fat (Use with caution as you can easily overdo it)

Dried or Solid Fat

Mixed fat products. (The easiest products to useas they are more than just fat)

If over conditioned allyou can do it try to getrid of the excess fat.

Some people usePaylean to burn it off.

Some people put themon a high holdingformula of proteinlevels of 30% and allowthe fat to be burnt off.

Too Fat

It is best not to get your pigover conditioned

When pushing thecondition limits, youwill start to see a jowland no longer have adefined groove top.

The shoulder bladeswill no longer be seenand the neck /shoulders will be thick.

Too much fat orcondition can makeyour pig look jiggly.

Excess condition cancreate an unappealingjowl on your pig.

Jowl burner productsdo work to reducedown the excess fattyjowl.

This gilt is moreoptimal in condition /fat content.

She still have somedefined top shape anda clean throat and jowl.

She still has eye appealand balance.

This gilt has adefined groove topand is ideal for bellyfill.

Keeping the propertop shape will helpyou in the long run.

Train your eye to have the proper condition onthe top of your pig. In 2012, the ideal conditionis 0.60 to 0.90 inches.

In a carcass show leannessis the key to doing well.

As most of these showsuse ultrasound or carcassresults.

The percent leancalculation is determinedby:

1) Weight / Carcass Wt.

2) Leanness

3) Loin Eye Size

If feeding belly filler products such as:

Full Tank

Power Fill

Moor Body

(the list goes on) …..

Follow the directions and do not over feed whatthey recommend.

Maintains “gut fill” and keeps the fresh, expanded look.FULL Tank is a nutritional product designed to increase the capacity of thestomach or rumen.

FULL Tank is useful when intake is restricted to limit weight gain. When limit feeding, adding FULL Tank maintains "gut fill" and keeps the fresh,

expanded look. FULL Tank reduces stress level and hard look associated with a low feed intake. FULL Tank contains a probiotic to aid digestive function. FULL Tank is pelleted (1/8") and works best when fed dry. FULL Tank expands more than beet pulp and will retain more water than beet

pulp. Feeding Directions:

1-2 lb. per head per day. Works best when fed dry. Mix with complete show feeds for animals that are being held or need additional

“gut fill”.

Full tank will drop the back portion of the pigsflank, so it can be balanced and level from aside view.

But if over down it does the opposite makingyour pig unbalanced.

Dropping theflank of your pigwill make thembalanced from aside view.

The white pig hasbeen fed to dropthe flank. Whilethe black pig hasnot.

Over feeding certain belly filler products candestroy your pig.

How is this possible?

▪ Barrows and even gilts have blow out the back of theirflank or behind the sheath on a barrow.

▪ When this happens it cannot be fix. You basically haveruined your pig and usually it will never win in the showring.

A line should be drawn fromthe bottom of the chestfloor to the top of the rearhock. This keeps your pigbalanced for optimal bellyfill.

If the sheath sags lower, itmakes it less balanced fromthe side profile.

So what do you do if you want more belly andyou are already at the max feeding per day onthe belly filler products.

Recommendations:

▪ Add more steam rolled oats to the diet.

▪ Add more dried beet pulp to the diet.

The trend for more bone will continue as pigsare moderate frame, thicker, have more bellyand are conditioned differently from the past.

As you make a more massive pig you mustalso have enough bone on the legs to makethem balanced from a side view and rearview.

Notice this pig is bigboned and hiscircumference ofbone is proportionwith his body mass.

The white pig is anexample of a fineboned pig.

The pig blue buttbarrow is an example:as you make pigsthicker, moderateframed, and biggerbellied. We must havebig bone to balance itout.

Make sure to select pigs that are biggerboned.

As you feed bigger boned pigs, in the endthey will be better balanced on a moderateframed pigs who is conditioned well.

Straight legged pigscan be fed to appearbetter on their rearlegs.

Putting additional bellyfill and dropping theflank will make the pigappear more correcton their rear legs inmotion.

Only a good judge cansee the leg angles areincorrect.

Gilts should be big andbold in their rib.

Excess belly fill isneeded to make a giltlook broody andpowerful.

These pigs need morebelly fill.

The red line indicatesthe proper belly fillneeded on these pigs.

The proper BarrowBelly Fill is shown onthis slide.

Keep your barrowbalanced.

The people who win shows:

Have a trained eye.

Keep their pigs balanced.

Understand how much belly fill is needed.

Understand how much fat to have on your pig.

Have enough bone to match the pig.