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no. 1.622
Market Hog Terminology
S.E. Myers 1 |
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Quick Facts...
- The terminology on this and the next page will help youth develop
their livestock vocabulary.
- Priorities for judging market hogs are: degree of muscling, degree
of leanness, growth (performance), design (structural correctness and
balance.
- If you are uncertain about a term, ask your coach, parent, 4-H leader,
volunteer or Colorado State University Extension county
agent.
The following terminology will help youth develop their livestock vocabulary.
As you look over the terms, try too picture an animal with the described
characteristics. When you have an understanding of these terms, you will
be able to completely describe all of the important points of a class
of market hogs. If you are uncertain about a term, ask your coach, parent,
4-H leader, volunteer or Colorado State University Extension
county agent.
Priorities for Judging Market Hogs
- Degree of Muscling
- Degree of Leanness
- Growth (Performance)
- Design (Structural Correctness and Balance)
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Muscling Terminology
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| Advantages |
Criticisms |
| Heavier muscled |
Light muscled |
| More muscular (forearm, top, ham) |
Narrow chested |
| Wider skeletoned |
Narrow tracking |
| Expressively muscled |
Flat rump |
| Wider based (tracking) |
Shallow ham |
| Bolder (wider) bladed |
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| Has more of a meat animal shape |
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| Has more top (more squareness of loin) |
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| Takes a squarer, more expressive turn from shoulder
to hip |
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| More expressive at his ham loin junction |
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| More flare and dimension to his rump |
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| Greater volume of muscle through all portions of his
ham |
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Leanness Terminology
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| Advantages |
Criticisms |
| Leaner design |
Fattest |
| Leaner (barer) bladed |
Heaviest conditioned |
| Revealed more blade action on the move |
More nondescript |
| Cleaner, squarer top |
Reads with more waste |
| Has a deep groove design |
Soft underneath |
| Freer of fat along his loin edge |
Wasty in the lower third |
| Has a more prominent mid-line groove and distinct dimple
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Heavy jowled |
| Reads leaner down a more correctly turned top |
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| Cleaner is his lower body and jowl region |
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| Freer of fat in his lower third |
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| Firmer at the base of his ham |
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Carcass Terminology
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| Advantages |
Criticisms |
| More carcass oriented |
Less packer acceptable |
| Higher percent muscle (lean, cutability) |
Less industry acceptable |
| Potentially go to the rail with less fat trim |
Lowest percent lean |
| Should yield a heavier muscled carcass |
Light muscled |
| Should hang a longer (meatier, more muscular) carcass
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Least pounds of product |
| Likely rail the carcass with the larger LEA |
Lower % of lean cuts |
| More pounds of lean product |
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| More pounds of ham and loin |
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Growth (Performance) Terminology
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| Advantages |
Criticisms |
| Larger scaled |
Small scaled |
| Bigger in his kind |
Small framed |
| Profiles bigger in his outline |
Short structured |
| Appears to be heavier weight |
Short necked (fronted) |
| Taller fronted |
Short bodied (rumped) |
| Appears to have a higher W.D.A. in class |
Short cannon |
| Longer sided (necked, bodied, hipped) |
Quickest in her kind |
| Wider sprung |
Early maturing |
| Deeper sided |
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| Longer cannon |
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| Later maturing |
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Structural Correctness Terminology
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| Advantages |
Criticisms |
| Looser structured |
Most off quality hog in the drive |
| More structurally correct |
Ill structured |
| Easier striding |
Straight front knees (pasterns) |
| Sounder moving |
Straight shouldered |
| More cushion off both ends |
Hard striding behind |
| More correct in his movement |
Short, choppier stride |
| More mobile |
More restricted in his movement |
| More desirable angle to his shoulder |
Narrow tracking |
| Stood down and traveled wider behind |
Short inside rear toes |
| More even in his toe size |
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Balance Terminology
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| Advantages |
Criticisms |
| Complete |
Poor balanced |
| Attractive profiling |
High topped |
| More correctly designed |
Steep rumped |
| More problem free |
Tight structured |
| Stronger behind his shoulders |
Frail |
| Deeper set spine |
Fine boned |
| Longer and leveler topped |
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| Leveler and looser hip |
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| Higher tail set |
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| Heavier boned (more durable) |
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| 1 S.E. Myers, Colorado State University Extension youth livestock specialist, animal sciences.
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