extra due claw?
extra due claw?
I have a 3 week old pig with an extra due claw on front foot. I was planning on cutting him and selling as a market pig but now am thinking about keeping him a boar and possibly showing him. Can I cut it off or should just let it go?
"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital" Joe Paterno
Re: extra due claw?
Castrate the pig, it is genetic.
Re: extra due claw?
Thanks! Anyone else have an opinion? What would it hurt to have it? Just wondering
"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital" Joe Paterno
Re: extra due claw?
Easiest to cut off as babies - may be getting a little big now but doable. You will have to have your vet surgically remove it if it is too big. If he is a purebred, he won't be eligible for registration with an extra dew claw. And it is genetic, so really best not to keep him a boar.
Re: extra due claw?
We have this from time to time. We cut them off usually at 10 days and sell them to be shown as a market hog.
Re: extra due claw?
Had a piglet 1 time with this issue. It was a gilt. It was kinda big for me to be brave enough to cut off so had our vet look at it. Even though it was a crossbred gilt, he would not remove the dew claw because he did not want someone to buy her for show and then resale her for breeding purposes later. In the meantime she got stepped on or something when we checked them out on day 3 so that took care of that problem.
"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."--I Am Second.
Re: extra due claw?
I have a very impressive sow with an extra due claw and she has never had a pig with an extra. Her name is 5 foot and you may or may not be familiar with her history but anyway I don't see it as being a problem at all in the crossbred show pig side of things. If they are good enough they are good enough.
Re: extra due claw?
It is genetic like has been mentioned before. I had a genetics project on this while in grad school. First, it is NOT a simple inheritance (ie dominant or simple recessive). It is recessive with reduced penetrance, ie not all the animals with the main allele will show the phenotype. Not only will some pigs have the extra dewclaw, but some will have extra feet. The other issue that came up in the project was the higher rate of stillborns. Remember that the genes involved here are for development and anything needed in development isn't a great thing to be missing.