Daily Lesson Plan

Instructor: Mrs. Stokes

Course: Animal Science II
Unit: Swine Management Practices (S3 O3)
Lesson Title: Farrowing & Proper Care for Newborn Piglets (S3 O3-c)
Estimated Time: 55 minutes
Objective(s) of Lesson: What you want your students to KNOW and/or be able to DO
1. Students will be able to explain the practices to care and manage for a new litter of piglets.

2. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to properly notch the ears of piglets and be able to identify
individual pigs according to their ear notches.

Materials, Supplies, Equipment, References, and Other Resources:

Piglet Flash Cards
Job Sheet for Ear Notching Activity
Paper Plate Practice Pig
Ear notching worksheets
Scissors for everyone

Situation: (WHO are you teaching)

10-12 Grade Animal Science II Class

Instructional Modifications or Awareness: (What types of modifications will you need to make based on
your learners? Example: English Language Learners or those with IEPs may require modifications of
instruction)
Seating arrangements for students who need to see or hear better
Only lecture for 15 minutes before allowing students to participate in learning activities

Literacy Strategies: (What types of literacy strategies will you employ?)

Note taking strategies
Reading strategies
Vocabulary Building strategies

Interest Approach (Motivation):

Show Ear Notching Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78yAjI1JgTE
Communicate Objectives, Define Problem or Decision to be Made, or Identify Questions to Investigate:
Today we will be
Learning about how to manage piglets after a sow has farrowed. By the end of today you will be able to:
Explain the practices to care and manage for a new litter of piglets.

Properly notch the ears of piglets and be able to identify individual pigs according to their ear notches.

Instructor Directions / Content Outline, Instructional Procedures, and/or Key Questions

Materials WHAT you will teach
HOW you will teach

Ojectives:
White Board By the end of this lessons, students should be able to:
*Prior to the beginning of class Explain the practices to care and manage for a new litter of piglets.

Properly notch the ears of piglets and be able to identify individual

pigs according to their ear notches

BEFORE SLIDES
Short discussion Why is it important to know how to properly care for piglets when they are
born?
Because good management practices after farrowing has a major
influence on the number of piglets that live, are weaned, and go on to
perform well later in their lives.
What types of practices need to be performed within the first week of a
piglets life?
Dip umbilical cord in iodine
Cut needle teeth
Eat Notching
Iron Injection
Tail docking
 Instructor Directions / Content Outline, Instructional Procedures, and/or Key Questions
Materials WHAT you will teach
HOW you will teach
Awesome discussion! That is exactly what we are gong to be talking about
Vocabulary Book Work today.

Okay When I say SOW you are going to have 30 seconds to grab a
textbook off of the shelf by my desk and return to your seats. Any
Questions??? SOW

1. Write only the vocabulary words on the board while they are grabbing their
textbooks
Farrow, Colostrum, Cutting Needle Teeth, Tail Docking, Ear
Notching, and Iron Injection

2. Give students copies of the pig index cards and have

them cut out the pigs.

3. On one side of your pig flash cards, you will write the term and on the
backside you will write the definition. Look up all definitions in your
textbooks. You will have 10 minutes to do this. Are there any questions? Go!

4. Lets come back together and discuss these terms.

***Go through each term and make sure they understand.

Farrow
The process of sows giving birth
Colostrum
Sows first milk that contains antibodies
that help to protect against disease
for the first three weeks of life.
Cutting Needle Teeth
Completed with side-cutters, done to
prevent harm to other piglets when
fighting for milk, also done to prevent
possible infection in the sows nipple.
Tail Docking
Cut tail to half the original length, helps
to reduce tail-biting later in life.
Iron Injection
Given at 7 days of age to prevent anemia
Ear Notching
More permanent than ear tags for identification. Notches are cut into
the ear to identify specific animals.
***Keep your flashcards so you can use them later on the test we will be
taking next week.
 Instructor Directions / Content Outline, Instructional Procedures, and/or Key Questions
Materials WHAT you will teach
HOW you will teach
PowerPoint Now that we know the practices of managing a litter of piglets, we are going
to be practicing one of them.

When would ear notching be helpful?

On a large scale operation that has hundreds of sows

Put Up Ear Notching PowerPoint

Slide 1
Split the ear into 4 quadrants
Right ear= litter number, the numbers associated are 1, 3, 9, 27, 81
Left ear=Pig number, the numbers associated are 1, 3, 9

Why does the left ear have fewer values for notching?
Because a sow only averages 10 piglets per litter.

Slide 2
There can be 2 notches in each quadrant, EXCEPT FOR THE 81
NOTCH
Slide 3
Now lets practice finding the litter and pig numbers.
What is the litter and pig number for this pig?
121:13
Slide 4
What is the litter and pig number for this pig?
4:10
Slide 5
What is the litter and pig number for the last pig?
1:9

Demonstration **Get paper plate practice pig for demonstration

When you begin ear notching your litters, first make sure you know your litter
and pig numbers. Then you will add up numbers from the quadrants to get
what you want.

Can someone give me a litter number and a pig number?

Notch ears accordingly with a pair of scissors to show students a live
demonstration.
 Instructor Directions / Content Outline, Instructional Procedures, and/or Key Questions
Materials WHAT you will teach
HOW you will teach
Application: Since I have taught you about ear notching and shown you, you are going to
ear notch pigs of our own!
Hands On Activity
HAND OUT JOB SHEET WITH INSTRUCTIONS

When I say PIGLET, you are going to have 2 minutes to get into groups of
3-4 people. Then you will need to grab 3 piglets and a pair of scissors for each
person in your group. Once everyone has materials, we will begin our activity
on the sheet I have passed out. After all groups are done we will share with
the class. Are there any questions?? Okay. PIGLET!

Problem: You own and operate a pig breeding operation with 25 sows. You
need to ear notch each litter and individual to help identify each animal.

Materials Needed:
1. Piglet
2. V-ear notcher
*Use scissors for this activity

Instructions:
1. Get into groups of 3-4
2. Get 3 piglets for your group
3. Grab a pair of scissors
4. Notch your piglets ears according to litter number and piglet number

Group 1
Your Sow is the 4th to farrow this year, notch the three piglets as # 2, 7, & 11.

Group 2
Your sow is 22nd to farrow this year, notch the three piglets as # 3, 6, & 9.

Group 3
Your sow is the 7th to farrow this year, notch the three piglets as # 1, 8, & 13.

Group 4
Your sow farrowed 15th this year, notch the three piglets as # 4, 10, & 21.

Now lets have each group come to the front of the class and share
their results.

Put all of your materials back where you got them and sit in your seats.
 Instructor Directions / Content Outline, Instructional Procedures, and/or Key Questions
Materials WHAT you will teach
HOW you will teach
Closure/Summary: We have learned a lot today, so lets review the important topics.

Close by Reviewing:
What are the practices that need to be accomplished before piglets are a week
old?
Dip umbilical cord in iodine
Cut needle teeth
Eat Notching
Iron Injection
Tail docking
What makes these practices important to producers?
Because they help create healthy piglets that can later make a quality product
and the producer money. The healthier piglets we have, the more money and
better operation you will have.
Evaluation: Evaluate students work throughout the entire class period. Check their ear
notched pigs and flash cards to evaluate understanding.

Formative Assessment:
On a scale of 1-5, how well do you guys feel you understand ear notching,
especially, but the piglet management practices?

Summative Assessment:
As you leave today, turn in your pigs that you notched in your groups. You
will receive 10 points for notching correctly.