INTRODUCTION Boars, swine and hogs are all different names for the animal commonly known as the pig. Pigs are profitable animals because they grow quickly and mature early. Pigs have been thought to be thick and stupid but in fact they are not. Actually pigs are intelligent and sensitive animals. They are smarter than dogs and most species of monkeys and they feel pain and frustration no less than them.  HISTORY Pigs have been part of civilisation for thousand of years. The earliest records of pigs are in paintings in caves in Europe that date back from more than 20 000 years ago. The very first pigs in Australia were brought with the First Fleet in 1788 and in that same year there were forty-nine pigs in the colony. There is no evidence that there were pigs in Australia before white men arrived. In the beginning of the industry, pigs roamed about in a muddy patch in one small paddock.

A mother pig feeds her piglets.

HOW PIGS ARE RAISED The production of lean meat in the shortest possible time at the least cost is the major objective of pig production. It costs about half a million dollars to set up a piggery with one hundred sows. Pigs are fed special food to supply the right amount of nutrients at the least cost. In order to produce 1 kg of meat, you have to feed it between 2 1/2 to 3 kg of feed grain. About half if Australia's pig farms buy their feed as prepared pellets from animal feed manufacturers. Young piglets feed on their mother's milk. Pigs need plenty of good cold drinking water, available on demand. A young pig can drink up to 15 litres a day and a lactating sow can take in about 45 litres a day. Farmers have to check for organisms in the water such as harmful algae and bacteria. Pigs need to be housed in good insulated sheds because n the winter, young pigs need to be kept warm and in summer, older pigs need to be kept cool. They need to be hygienic with efficient waste disposal. Modern pig producers must also be aware if their environmental responsibilities in managing such things as smell, noise and piggery wastes.

These piglets are keeping warm under the infra red light.

Here are some pigs we saw at the RNA Show.
A sow with her piglets. Did you know that a sow feeds her piglets once and hour, giving milk for just 10 seconds at a time!!	These pigs were being hosed down and they loved it!! Pigs usually drink between 2 and 3 times as much water as  the dry weight of feed eaten!!
As soon as the pig had dirtied the pen, the attendant cleaned up after it.	We got to pat this Babe look alike!!

Like other animals, pigs have a tendency to move towards a more brightly lit area. They have a wide angle of vision - 310 degrees - and are easily distracted by what they see. they are at first fearful of strange objects and new locations. Each characteristic represents a challenge to the skills of the stock attendant.

USES FOR THE PRODUCT
In Europe, because of their acute sense of smell, pigs have been trained to dig for truffles which they sell to restaurants fir as much as $7 000 a kilogram. Elsewhere, pigs have been trained to search for hidden drugs. Over the last forty years in  Australia, ther has been a lower number of farmers with pigs, During thsi time, the total number of pigs has grown fro approximately one million to about three million.

BY-PRODUCTS
Glands are used in the production of many important medicines, drugs and pharmaceuticals. Blood yields dyes, fertilizers and albumen. Bones are converted into buttons, buckles, combs, hairpins, gelatine, fertilizers, bone meal and livestock feed. The hair is used in mattresses, upholstery and brushes. Hides are made into leather and the fatty parts are made into nitro-glycerine, lard compounds, illuminating oils, soap, tanning compounds, leather dressing, Oleo margarine, candles, solvents, lubricating oils, chewing gum and candy.

EXPORTS
Australia exported 11 288 732 kg of pig meat  the value of which was $44 775 915. In Queensland, the estimated gross value of pork production in 1997 - 1998 was more than $155 million. A large part of this was exported to other states.

CONCLUSION
New knowledge, science and technology and a desire to meet the changing needs of customers have produced very different pig farms form previous decades, International competition and new markets for our products are challenging the way we do things in Australia.

An interesting fact: It is not generally known that pigs may have been the first animals in the world to discover the benefits of slip-slop-slap! Their practice of rolling in mud or dust was the equivalent of our attempts to protect our skin by applying sunscreen creams. Who would ever have thought that!!

The end of the "pig's tail"