ShoulderThe front quarter behind the head, over the front legs.
BackThe top of the body behind the shoulders.
LoinThe top of the body between the back and the hips.
SideThe broad middle of the body, between shoulder and ham.
HamThe big, muscular hind quarter, the widest part of a well-muscled hog.
HockThe backward-pointing joint of the hind leg.
Feet (toes)A pig walks on two toes on each foot.
Head and front: 5 3
JowlThe fleshy part under the jaw and cheek.
ForearmThe muscular upper part of the front leg.
ChestThe front of the body, low between the front legs.
Along the top: 4 2
HipThe top of the hindquarters, in front of the rump.
RumpThe top of the hindquarters from the hips back to the tail.
Body: 5 3
TailThe short, curled tail.
Rear flankThe fold where the hind leg joins the belly.
UnderlineThe underside of the belly, where the teats run.
Legs: 5 3
KneeThe joint halfway down the front leg.
StifleThe joint at the top front of the hind leg.
PasternThe short, sloping part of the leg just above the foot.
How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-26. (1) University of Kentucky, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Swine Discovery: Parts, https://afs.mgcafe.uky.edu/swine/discovery/parts : snout, neck, chest, loin, fore flank, ham, pastern, tail, knee, cannon, face, shoulder, forerib, rump, belly, hock, dewclaw, side, twist, jowl, forearm, back, hip, rear flank, stifle, feet (toes), underline. (2) Fresno County 4-H Livestock Achievement Program, Swine study guide, Parts of the pig (UC Agriculture and Natural Resources), https://ucanr.edu/media/245903 : ham, rump, forearm, shoulders, loin, back, sides, snout, jowl, hips, knees, hocks, pasterns, stifle, feet and toes, tail, rear flank, chest, underline. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-05 by script. The head was laid out after a public domain plate: US Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 1455, Fitting, Showing, and Judging Hogs (1925), fig. 13, Points of swine designated on score card (Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fitting,_showing,_and_judging_hogs_(IA_CAT87205008).pdf, page 21; a work of the US government, public domain). Changed from the plate: a longer, less dished face and larger ears. The body and legs are own drawing with the build of a modern market hog; each hoof is shown as two toes with the cleft open, as seen from a little in front. Not to scale. Licence: own drawing; outline after a public domain plate
How it works
These are the parts of a pig, or hog, as 4-H swine projects name them, on a market pig standing side-on. Start with the 8 main parts, then the head and front, the top, the body and the legs.
Read the full guide
Front to back
The snout and jowl are at the front, with the shoulder behind them over the forearm and knee. The back and loin run along the top to the hip and rump. The side is the middle of the body, and the ham the big hindquarter.
Legs and underline
On the hind leg the stifle is high at the front and the hock points back. Each leg ends in a sloping pastern and a foot of two toes. The underline runs along the belly.
In a well-muscled hog the ham is the widest part of the body, and the shoulders are wider than the loin.
Questions and answers
What is the back leg of a pig called?
The upper hind leg and hindquarter is the ham. Lower down, the hind leg has the stifle at the front and the hock pointing back, then the pastern and the foot.
What is a pig's jowl?
The fleshy part under the jaw and cheek, below and behind the snout.
How many toes does a pig walk on?
Two on each foot, with two smaller dewclaws higher up at the back that do not usually touch the ground.