Sow Families
We think we have an outstanding set of sows that we’ve been building around. Our students’ focus has always been on building better hogs from the ground up. Their commitment to making hogs that are correct in their feet and legs, clean and flexible in their joints, and comfortable in their skeleton, paired with a few of the extras, is paying dividends for us and our customers. Our sow herd is organized into families that we’ve built around. Each sow good enough to have a family built around her is named after a student who has made an extra special impact on our swine program. Some programs honor outstanding students with plaques, but around here the biggest honor is to have a sow family named after you! Welcome to our version of a Hall of Fame for both students and sows.
ClaireClaire Crocker was a Presidential Scholar and Pre-vet student here at Murray State who spearheaded the creation of our show pig herd. Without Claire’s leadership as a student, the program as we know it wouldn’t exist. It seemed appropriate to name our most influential crossbred sow after her. Pictured at 6 years old, 77-10 was one of four original Cobb sows here in Murray, and emerged early on as the no-brainer to build around. She was ahead of her time in terms of being taller fronted, cleaner headed, and a notch bigger outlined. She was a perfect mother in the crate and was one of the soundest 7-year old sows you’ll ever lay eyes on. She forms the foundation of our crossbred herd, appearing on both sides of many of our females. Keeping boars out of her has allowed us to intensify her influence in our herd even now. |
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Claire 77-10
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Claire 77-2
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Claire 5-9
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Claire 11-6
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SarahSarah Traylor was a 2016 graduate of Animal Science who co-chaired our Annual Spring Show Pig Sale in 2016. Sarah was an honors student who wrote her honors thesis on intra-uterine insemination in show pig sows. Sarah spent more than a few nights farrowing sows while collecting data for her thesis. 50-11 had that unique combination of being super stout in her bonework yet up on her pasterns and athletic in her build. Her pigs always got better as they matured and she stamped them with incredibly clean front ends, deep chest floors, and plenty of center body. We’ve recently retained some young boar prospects out of a prominent daughter of 50-11 in hopes of re-exerting her influence in our sow herd. |
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Sarah 50-11
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JaneJane Webster was a 2017 graduate in Animal Science. She was an ultra-reliable farm volunteer whose hard work and performance earned her a place as a student herdsman at the swine lab. In much the same way, Jane 13-6 has performed her way right into our sow program. We didn’t initially plan to build around her, but when they routinely produce incredibly deep consistent litters with bone, pastern strength, and tall trendy front ends; and they breed, farrow, and milk like she does, it’s hard to ignore. |
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Jane 13-6
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EllaElla Fourqurean was a 2017 graduate in Animal Science and is currently a graduate student focusing in Agricultural Communications. Ella was a student herdsman for 3 years and is now the Graduate Student Manager of the swine farm. She has shown tremendous loyalty and dedication to growing our swine program, and has been the go-to person for everything from guest lectures and farm tours to fitting pigs for shows and sales. 21-4 is as long and cool-fronted as you can make a York sow; she’s spooked more than a few students by turning her head and neck completely around to look behind her in the farrowing crate. What makes her really good is the way she combines this almost freaky head and neck with a massively open chest floor and great shape to her rib. Where she’s good, she’s really good; we’ll be building around Ella 21-4 for some time to come. No In Control, Untouchable, or Ricker influence in her pedigree! |
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