WHAT IS A FETAL PIG ?
Fetal pigs are collected from the packing house as a by-product of the meat
industry. These pigs are removed from the uterus of pregnant sows, taken to our
facility where they are preserved. These pigs would otherwise be discarded.
REASONS
FOR USING FETAL PIGS
IN
THE CLASSROOM DISSECTION
Ų Anatomy of the fetal pig closely
resembles that of man. Unlike a frog (an amphibian), the fetal pig is a mammal.
Ų Economical - fetal pigs can cost less
than using the same size frog, rat or any other vertebrate.
Ų
By-product
of the food industry. These fetal pigs are considered waste products of packing houses.
Ų
Abundant
- as long as pork is consumed, fetal pigs will continue to be available.
Ų
The
fetal pig was never born; it did not "die" for dissection purposes. For those
concerned about the use of live animals in scientific study, these fetal pigs
are a viable alternative.
Ų Soft fetal tissue is
easy to dissect.
WHERE
DO FETAL PIGS COME FROM?
Ų
Sows
are sent to market to be butchered. As part of the butchering process, we
remove many organs including the uterus. Fetal pigs in various stages of
development are often found within the uterus.
Ų
These
fetal pigs are removed from the uterus and are then transported to our
laboratory for proper preservation and injections.
Ų
Sows
ARE NOT bred for the purpose of producing fetal
pigs for dissection. Fetal pigs are a by-product of the food industry.
Ų Pig embryos that are not used for
education will be used in the production of fertilizer or will be discarded.
WHY WOULD
FARMERS SEND PREGNANT SOWS TO MARKET?
Ų
During
extreme cold and extreme heat the mortality rate for sows increase. Rather than
risk having the sow die from uncontrollable weather conditions, farmers will
often send the sow to market to recover some of their investment.
Ų
Farmers
will often raise a larger number of sows than they expect to keep. This way the
farmer can sell off any extra sows once the optimum number of baby pigs are
born. Since no one can predict the number of piglets to be born per sow, raising
extra sows is one way to insure getting the desired number of baby pigs.
Ų Market prices will often encourage the
farmer to sell livestock prematurely. Occasionally, the farmer may sell pigs
just because he/she needs the money.
ESTIMATED
GESTATION OF THE PIG
Length Appx. age
10 - 15 mm 20
- 30 days
15 - 20 mm 30
- 40 days
20 - 40 mm 40
- 55 days
50 - 75 mm 60
- 70 days
7 - 9" 80
- 90 days
9 - 11" 90
- 100 days
11 - 13" 100
- 110 days
13
- 15" 110 - 115
days
Fetal
Pigs
The Speciality of NebraskaScientific
Nebraska Scientific, through its parent company, Cyrgus Company, Inc.,
is the world's largest processor of fetal pigs. With over 50 years of
experience, we process thousands of fetal pigs per year. Our preserving process insures adequate
penetration into the tissue. Fetal pigs that have preservative injected into
the body cavity are described as "plain preserved". "Plain embalmed" pigs have
preservative injected through the arterial system. Many customers request an
embalmed fetal pig with the circulatory system injected, which we offer in
single and double form. "Single injections" are done with a red latex that
fills the arterial system. The "double injection" adds a blue latex into the
veins, injected through the jugular vein. After injections, the specimen is
placed in Nebanol, our no smell solution that rids the specimen of any formalin
odors, insuring it to be safe and pleasant for student use.
We offer several sizes of fetal pigs for classroom dissection. The
most popular sizes include 7-9", 9-11", 11-13", and our jumbo 13-15". All four
of these sizes are available as plain, single or double injected.
Nebraska
Scientific /
Cyrgus is able to apply efficient mass production techniques due to the
volume of fetal pigs processed daily. The result is a low cost specimen, with
choice of sizes and injections.
Check
out the fetal pigs available from Nebraska Scientific - CLICK HERE.
