Dry Matter Percentage of Sow Milk

Dry matter percentage of sow milk is:

Correct Answer: 10%

Sow (female pig) milk has a water content of approximately 89.6%, which means its dry matter (total solids) percentage is approximately 10.4% ≈ 10%.

Dry Matter of Different Animal Milks

• Sow milk: ~10% dry matter (water ~90%)
• Cow milk: ~13% dry matter (water ~87%)
• Buffalo milk: ~15.8% dry matter (water ~84%)
• Sheep milk: ~20.6% dry matter (water ~79%)

Sow Milk Special Feature

Sow milk has a unique characteristic — 100% of milk is stored in alveoli (0% in cisterns). This means piglets must continuously stimulate the teat for milk let-down; they cannot draw milk at will like goat kids. This is why sows nurse their piglets many times per day in short bursts.

Why Other Options Are Wrong

• 15% → dry matter of buffalo milk.
• 17% → not a standard value for any common species milk.
• 20% → approximately the dry matter of sheep milk.