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Evaluating Degree of Muscling
When judging swine, the best indicator
of degree of muscling is thickness through the center
of the hams. The second look should be the width at
the ground between the feet when the animal is standing
and walking. Because heavy muscled pigs will also
be wide based, always compare width at the ground
to width down the pig's top to ensure they are equal.
Anytime top width exceeds base width it should register
as a red flag that the animal is getting fat. The
third look should be an evaluation of shape over the
top (or loin). It important to make sure the animal
is lean before evaluating the top so that you aren't
confused by width due to fat cover. A muscular top
will have a butterfly shape with the loins on both
sides of the backbone extending out higher than the
center.
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