Tyson first purchased hogs in the late sixties as a way to use chicken feed left over on the farm after flocks went to the plant. But the company soon discovered their second protein was a profitable venture on its own. Now, Tyson feed mills formulate feed especially for live swine, and our geneticists are constantly improving the Tyson animal.

As with chicken, a superior hog comes from superior breeding stock. And Tyson has been using the latest in genetic research techniques for the past twenty years to continue to improve the Tyson hog. The result has been a much leaner, healthier animal, which converts into leaner finished products.

Researchers use ultrasound on the farm to take pictures of the important muscles of live breeder hogs. Measurements of those muscles are entered into computers (see photo) to track the progress of the breed and help shape it toward improved future generations.

The Tyson breeding stock is raised on nucleus farms that are protected from disease by very strict biosecurity methods. Every visitor and worker must shower before entering the farm and must not have had contact with any other swine for a period of time before the visit.

Nucleus farms produce animals that will go to other farms to produce the hogs that will go to market.

There are around 110,000 sows in the Tyson swine herd. More than 35 percent of those are on Tyson-owned farms in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The rest are overseen by independent contract growers.

About 114 days after a sow is bred, she will give birth, or farrow. You can think of it as 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. The baby pigs will stay with their mother for about 21 days before they are weaned. As the baby pigs begin their lives, they are protected against disease. They will stay in the nursery another 35 days before being sent to finishing farms.

About five days after the piglets are weaned, the sow is ready to be bred again. The sow is then bred by artificial insemination. This allows Tyson to use higher-indexing boars on more sows, speeds genetic progress, and gives us a more-consistent pig.

Tyson hogs weigh from 35 to 50 pounds when they come from the nursery to the finishing house. The finishing house is where they will spend the next 126 days, growing to their market weight of almost 250 pounds.

The feed that brings the animals to market weight comes from Tyson feed mills. The feed is specially formulated for hogs and contains no sulfur products. Tyson labs check the quality of the feed to make sure the nutritional content measures up to our specifications.

We also have very strict rules concerning chemical use on the farm. In fact, no herbicide can be used within 50 feet of a house where Tyson swine are being raised.

As with Tyson chicken houses, the temperature is monitored closely and controlled with fans and curtains.

All Tyson hogs are sold to the nation's major meat packers upon reaching market weight.