Yucatan minipigs

UE3P has the only Yucatan minipigs breeding in France an is composed of 20 sows.

The minipig is an onteresting experimental model in biomedical research (Swindel et al., 2012*) :

• Anatomic and physiologic similarities with human (cardiovascular, neurological, urinary, digestive systems) ;
• Omnivorous diet enabeling nutrition studies;
• Small size allowing the use of human imagery tools.

In our unit, feeding can be individualized and the feeding pattern can be adapted in order to influence the minipigs growth curve and obtain a weight near human one at the beginning of the experimentation.

For your information, Yucatan mean weights are presented below :

(Mean weights measured in UE3P in 2020)

The unit has housing rooms for animals to all physiological stages (farrowing, post-weaning, growth rooms) but also for long term housing depending on the experimental needs.

Therefore, our unit produces minipigs especially suited to preclinical research and study on the impact of feeding on health and feeding behavior and metabolic disorders.

These animals are only used for experimental purposes either in our unit or sold to other research organisms either public or private.

*Swindle M.M., Makin A., Herron A.J., Clubb F.J., Frazier K.S., 2012. Swine as Models in Biomedical Research and Toxicology Testing. Vet Pathol, 49, 344‑356.