Gwyndolyn Holtmeyer

 

December 5^th, 2004

 

English 134-16

 

Dr. Marx

 

                                                            A Piece of Eden

 

            Cal Poly Swine Unit sits atop a hill at the end of Sports Complex road on fifteen

 

acres of Cal Poly land that stretches along the railroad tracks, past the baseball and

 

softball diamonds, the intramural soccer field for miles, and the rodeo arena where

 

cowboys and cowgirls on horseback lasso and barrel race. The grounds of the swine unit

 

looks like a piece of Eden. Fruit trees grow on a patch of cool green grass, and a pond

 

that attracts birds and vegetation and is used for irrigation and sanitation purposes. The

 

pond is there to recycle the runoff water and house the waste created by the pigs. Ducks

 

love the reservoir because of the manure, plants and bugs it attracts. The pig barns

 

surround this little oasis in a semicircle and house between twenty and thirty sows

 

(females) and three boars (males). The barns look ancient on the outside, but inside they

 

boast state of the art technology and equipment for feeding and caring for the swine. This

 

technology is used by students who are involved in the department of Animal Science to

 

take care of the pigs.

 

            The Cal Poly Swine Unit was created to provide a “hands on, learn by doing” way

 

of studying and raising pigs for the purposes of breeding, showing, and for meat sales.

 

Within this program, students are taught management skills in the healthcare,

 

reproduction, nutrition, and marketing of pigs. The students are trained to manage the

 

farm from start to finish so they can prepare for a

 

career in the livestock industry. Non-animal science students are welcomed to get

 

involved with the swine department by raising a pig for show and/or meat sales as an

 

extra source of income. Students in the swine department of animal science are required

 

to take two introductory courses. The first is ASCI 222: systems of swine production.

 

This class teaches students about the husbandry systems, management skills, feeding

 

methods, evaluation of brood stock and progeny (breeding), and health management. The

 

second is ASCI 350: applied nutrition. This course covers meat production, consumption

 

patterns of the pigs, and feeding management in the commercial raising of swine. These

 

specialized courses have given Cal Poly the reputation of having one of the best animal

 

science departments in the nation. From the outside looking in, it seems to be true.

 

            At the swine unit, I first stopped to look at the three boars. They were lounging in

 

the shade of the covered structure included in each of the pens for them to escape the

 

elements. The boars were as big as bears, but did not look as threatening. They

 

each grunted what I imagine was a “hello” and went back to their peaceful slumber. The

 

sow pens on the other hand were much livelier. I walked over to find two mothers also

 

lounging in the shade of their dwellings, but they were suddenly surrounded by dozens of

 

hungry cotton candy pink piglets squealing with delight at the sight of their mothers. I

 

had made it just in time to see the piglets nursing. The activity lasted for about five

 

minutes until they had had their fill. The piglets then went back inside to nap in the cool

 

shade of the structures. It was also time for me go. I began to head down the hill back to

 

the dorms.

 

            Doctor Lee Allen Pettey is head of the Swine Department and a professor here at

 

Cal Poly. I found out from him about the life cycle of the pigs at the swine unit. Newborn

 

piglets nurse from their mother’s milk for at least the first twenty one days of their lives.

 

The piglets must be kept in sanitary conditions because they are susceptible to bacteria

 

and viruses. On about the twenty fifth day after birth when they have been weaned, the

 

piglets are transferred to the nursery room. They live there in closely monitored in pens

 

that are temperature controlled and kept sanitary. The weaned piglets live in the

 

nursery rooms between four and five weeks. They are then moved to the “grower barn”

 

until their weight reaches 100 pounds. The piglets then move on to the “finisher barn”

 

where they stay until they reach the market weight which is 250 pounds. The female pigs,

 

called “Gilts” at this stage of their lives, are moved out to the dirt lot until they become

 

fertile and can be bred for the first time.

 

            For piglets born in the outdoor farrowing pens, life is a little different.

 

Since temperature and sanitation cannot be as closely controlled as in the barns, the

 

piglets raised outside are not as healthy as piglets born inside. Pigs in general are highly

 

susceptible to bacteria and viruses, and living outdoors where their surroundings are not

 

as closely controlled is not a good system for raising healthy swine as it is indoors.

 

Raising pigs outside is not mainly used here at Cal Poly, but they are still raised outdoors

 

to compare the health of pigs raised indoors versus pigs raised outdoors. The outdoor

 

piglets have to be given more antibiotics in order to prevent diseases. Because the piglets

 

are susceptible to diseases, they are never allowed outside their pens onto the grassy

 

pasture.

 

            On my way back to the main campus, I though about how lucky Cal Poly is to

 

have a swine unit and how it enriches our education. To be able to raise an animal and

 

see that process on our campus is not something that is a given at all college campuses.

 

Ours is rare in that we have an agriculture affiliation and take pride in that fact, and that

 

our animal science programs are some of the best in the nation. It is the “hands on, learn

 

by doing” motto that makes Cal Poly swine unit a good model for this campus because it

 

is accomplishing that goal every day.