🐖 Pig
Also known as: sow, Sus scrofa domesticus
A domestic animal that feeds piglets with milk but does not provide it to humans.
Pig is an omnivorous farm animal raised mainly for meat. A sow feeds her piglets with milk, but pigs are almost never milked. The reason is physiological: a sow has many teats (usually 12–16) and no cistern where milk could collect. Milk is released only during nursing, when the sow lies on her side and the piglets massage the udder.
The milk let-down itself is very short — only 8–40 seconds — and is repeated roughly every 40–60 minutes. It is preceded by a release of the hormone oxytocin; the sow grunts rhythmically to signal the piglets. Hand-milking a pig without giving it the hormone is almost impossible, so researchers collect milk samples in a special way.
Sow’s milk is richer in fat and protein than cow’s milk and supports very fast piglet growth. It is not used as a food for humans.
How it connects to milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Pig milk
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Piglet
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- Part of
- 🐾 Other mammals
Frequently asked questions
Why aren’t pigs milked?
Milk is let down for only 8–40 seconds and only while the piglets are nursing; the teats are small and numerous, and there is no storage cistern.
How often does a sow nurse her piglets?
Roughly every 40–60 minutes, around the clock.
Can you drink pig milk?
In theory it is mammal milk, but it is hard to collect and is not a food product.
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