In most of our eyes, pigs are stupid and dirty. Parents prefer to choose high-quality cow milk to make their children grow taller and smarter. Some people choose goat milk, but few people seem to think about drinking pig milk.
In fact, the nutritional value of pig milk is high. In terms of protein content and fat content, the normal milk secreted by the most widely promoted pig breeds 14 days after giving birth is higher than that of cow milk.
Pig’s milk is so nutritious, but why is no one drinking it?
Some people say that pig’s milk has a taste of light almond, which is acceptable. However, there are also pig farms that say that pig’s milk is thinner than cow’s milk and tastes fishier than goat’s milk.
We don’t drink pig’s milk, is it just a matter of taste?
1. Low Production of Pig’s Milk
Pigs are naturally inferior to cows in terms of milk production.
Pigs only produce milk during the lactation period, and the duration of the lactation period is particularly short, only 2 months. In contrast, cows have a lactation period of up to 10 months, stop milking only two months before calving, and start milking again when they are ready to give birth. It can be said that the short milk production time made the pigs not appropriate to produce enough milk and therefore not suitable for commercial production.
Pigs produce milk not only for a short period of time, but also for small yields. Sow milking, from the beginning to the end, usually only takes about half a minute, and the total milk production during the whole lactation period is 300-400 kg.
In contrast, for cows with a lactation period of nearly a year, the annual milk production can reach 6000-7000 kg, and some excellent cows can produce tens of thousands of milk.
Therefore, in real life, sows often run out of milk, and the milk produced is not enough for piglets to drink, let alone to feed humans like cows.
2. Tough to Milk a Pig
Milking a pig is not easy.
From a physiological point of view, pigs have short mammary ducts, and the milk pools used to store milk are underdeveloped and cannot store milk, which means that pigs cannot store milk in their own milk pools in advance like cattle and sheep. That is to say, we can only drink pig’s milk at the same time of production.
Stimulated by the hungry cry of the piglets and the action of milking, the sow will slowly start to produce milk.
Pigs have a large number of teats, with an average of 6 or 7 pairs. This means that milk is expressed through multiple nipples. In contrast, the number of teats in cows and sheep is relatively less, and the milk can be easily squeezed out.
Even if you don’t mind the hassle of milking a pig, it doesn’t mean the pig will just wait for you to finish the milking process.
Compared with docile cows, sows tend to be irritable after giving birth. If they are forced to milk, it is very likely that the milk will not be milked, and they will be chased and bitten by pigs. Some breeders are even bitten by pigs who are depressed after giving birth.
Compared with cow’s milk, the cost of pig’s milk is high. Because pigs are expensive to feed and produce less.
Pigs are omnivores, and they eat concentrated feed every day. The price per ton reaches more than 500 USD. In particular, pigs in lactation need high-quality feed. In contrast, although the feed for dairy cows is also not cheap, the cost can be controlled by increasing the unit yield, and it is difficult for pigs with too low milk production.
3. Cow Milk is Affordable
In terms of nutritional value, the protein content in pig milk, goat milk, or camel milk is not less than cow’s milk, but the most common milk we drink now is cow’s milk. This is the best choice after comprehensive consideration.
Although cow’s milk is not the highest in protein content, other animal milk has more or fewer disadvantages.
The output of pig milk is small, goat milk is too mutated, camel milk is a bit salty, horses have too high requirements on the growing environment, and even donkey milk, which used to be very windy, has only half the protein and calcium content of cow’s milk.
In contrast, cow’s milk has more than 3,000 organic components, essential amino acids, and calcium elements, etc. Its nutritional content may not be the highest, but it is rich enough for our human beings.
In addition, cows have a gentle temper. After human breeding and cultivation, dairy cows not only produce large amounts of milk, but also have low feeding costs. They are more suitable for large-scale, standardized, and intensive modern breeding models, and the price can also be accepted by consumers.
