best breed of pig

darrcow

as the title says what is the best breed of pig for a smallholder and what would be the average price for a piglet of that breed

Davenjulie

We had Oxford sandy and blacks for our first forray into pig keeping this year. Great for beginners as they are very docile, great flavour and not meant to put on too much fat, no matter how heavy they get. Also meant to be a good all rounder, good for either pork or bacon

Askim

darrcow wrote: »

as the title says what is the best breed of pig for a smallholder and what would be the average price for a piglet of that breed

Hi, last year i had gloucester old spot - landrace cross, this year i have saddleback, my requirement is a traditional breed, don't have to be pure, as i only fatten & i don't want to breed at the moment.

I have paid €50 each for 10 weeks old, would pay about €60

A

ddogsbollix

any duroc cross are very good cause hey are very hardy( would get sunburned) and they also have lovely meat. in my opinion keep away from saddleback- to much fat on them wouldnt taste that nice.

you'll find the duroc on donedeal

CJhaughey

I have kept a lot of different breeds but for me Saddlebacks are the best, they are fairly docile, short legs which mean they aren't super fast and tall like pure Durocs. Hardy and produce fantastic meat.
Any traditional breed pig can run to fat if left too long or given the wrong diet.
I would also try and buy pigs that have been trained into recognising electric fences, if you intend on using one.
also try and get pigs that have been accustomed to humans, some pigs you get are semi-wild through being left with no human interaction.
Try and buy from a reputable breeder or someone who takes care in what they do it will pay dividends in the future.

tfox

landrace cross saddlebacks, very tasty and you dont end up with 2 inches of fat on them !!

lanod2407

What about rooting?
I've quite wet & peaty land so I'd want a breed that isn't a profilic rooter - i.e. won't completely plough the place?

cloudroost

From what I can tell, all pigs will root. To limit this, you would need to go for a breed that has a short snout and floppy ears (from what I have read..). Avoid tamworths, as they like rooting a lot.
I currently have a couple of GOS/Duroc crosses - They don't root half as much as tamworths (which I had over last winter) and are a lot more placid.

CJhaughey

The destructive capabilities of pigs increase in proportion to their size/age.
Young pigs don't root as much as older pigs in my experience.
TBH if you are worried about the land being rooted up don't put a pig on it.

blue5000

I think when I was a kid the pigs had a small ring in their noses to stop them rooting, anyone else seen this? Some sort of duroc cross would be my preference for outdoor pigs.

Askim

blue5000 wrote: »

I think when I was a kid the pigs had a small ring in their noses to stop them rooting, anyone else seen this? Some sort of duroc cross would be my preference for outdoor pigs.

i think that ringing pigs is illegal now, besides why stop a pig doing what pigs do, if you don't want them to root then just keep them inside.

Davenjulie

Askim wrote: »

i think that ringing pigs is illegal now, besides why stop a pig doing what pigs do, if you don't want them to root then just keep them inside.

But doesn't keeping pigs inside still stop them from what comes naturally

Askim

Davenjulie wrote: »

But doesn't keeping pigs inside still stop them from what comes naturally

yes but you don't have to ring them,

if someone is worried about them rooting they should just keep them in, me i like it when they plough & eat as much natural food as possible.

fodda

Askim wrote: »

yes but you don't have to ring them,

if someone is worried about them rooting they should just keep them in, me i like it when they plough & eat as much natural food as possible.

You cant keep most pig breeds inside sheds it is cruel.

GS11

Gonna Piggyback on this thread.

Reared 2 tamworth females last year, the meat was lovely but they were very slow to grow.

I'm in partnership with 2 others and we are going to rear 3 this time.

2 questions,

Should I be going for males or females (Heard you won't be allowed to castrate the males after next year) and what would be a good option to get as the third, looking for one that would grow faster than the Tamworths and kill it 1st.

Thanks for any help.

memorystick

Getting into a few breeding pigs. I have a dry square and loads of shed space. Whats's the best breed of sow for an indoor/outdoor setup. Was thinking of Durocxlandrace sows but what boar? Thanks

CJhaughey

I would be inclined to get lop eared pigs as opposed to prick eared ones they tend to be easier going.
Duroc are long legged and fast, can be hard to deal with.
Personally I prefer Saddlebacks as a docile slower moving animal that are hardier than landrace which can suffer in the winter.

JJayoo

Didnt want to start another thread.

Will pigs dig up/eat the roots of young trees? I have a few young orchards, trees are 3-4 years old, planted 1-2 years in the ground.

_Brian

JJayoo wrote: »

Didnt want to start another thread.

Will pigs dig up/eat the roots of young trees? I have a few young orchards, trees are 3-4 years old, planted 1-2 years in the ground.

Yes they will murder them, particularly as the pigs pass 50kg they root very deep holes.

We never ring the pigs, just let them root away whatever way they want. Big holes filled with mud and water, a danger for people on dark evenings but the pigs just love it, and considering their short life why not. We reuse the same runneach time for the pigs so uneven ground is no bother.

We’re reared a range of different breeds and they all tasted fantastic, they are free to roam and root and have an old shed to sleep in at night, they lie out in the sun during the summer, happy out.

If I didn’t have access to outside I wouldn’t bother as I feel this is what really makes them tasty, that’s just my opinion though.

Ours get a bit fatty as they are out and about all autumn and into December but again I don’t mind that at all.

They are ready for collecting Sat morning from the butcher

gozunda

GS11 wrote: »

Gonna Piggyback on this thread.

Reared 2 tamworth females last year, the meat was lovely but they were very slow to grow.

I'm in partnership with 2 others and we are going to rear 3 this time.

2 questions,

Should I be going for males or females (Heard you won't be allowed to castrate the males after next year) and what would be a good option to get as the third, looking for one that would grow faster than the Tamworths and kill it 1st.

Thanks for any help.

Pigs are generally killed out in the late Autumn / early winter. Imo no need to castrate the males as never had free range pigs with any hint of boar taint at that age.


Go for a Saddleback/ Tamworth cross - good to finish in my experience

JJayoo

Thanks for the info Brian.

Very good info in this thread.

_Brian

gozunda wrote: »

Pigs are generally killed out in the late Autum / early winter. Imo no need to castrate the males as never had free range pigs with any hint of boar taint at that age.


Go for a Saddleback/ Tamworth cross - good to finish in my experience

We killed three boars one year, not castrated, no problem at all, we have stuck to gilts as much as possible.

JJayoo

Would really like to get 2/3 pigs once my orchards are up and running, but wouldn't be keen on them destroying ground.

Will sheep fencing keep pigs contained or would they try to dig under it? I have a row of pine trees, planted initially as a wind break, that are going to get cut down. Area would be approx 5m x 40m.

I had initially thought of planting this area as an orchard and perhaps getting 2/3 pigs from June- September. My thought being have the pigs when I have an excess of apples/plums/pears and then sell them on, or eat if they had enough meat, before they plough the ground over winter

_Brian

JJayoo wrote: »

Would really like to get 2/3 pigs once my orchards are up and running, but wouldn't be keen on them destroying ground.

Will sheep fencing keep pigs contained or would they try to dig under it? I have a row of pine trees, planted initially as a wind break, that are going to get cut down. Area would be approx 5m x 40m.

I had initially thought of planting this area as an orchard and perhaps getting 2/3 pigs from June- September. My thought being have the pigs when I have an excess of apples/plums/pears and then sell them on, or eat if they had enough meat, before they plough the ground over winter

Electric fence is needed, they dig under anything else.

Trees would need to be quite mature before I’d turn rooting pigs under the.

270WIN

I had 2 pigs about 4 years ago...tamworth cross saddleback. They had access to an outdoor haggard that was fenced with electric wire. They were the happiest animals i ever kept. They spent the day rooting, rolling and having the time of their lives. They were fed on pig meal and rolled barley with apples. They were mad for beer as well..i used to give em out of date bottles of heineken and budweiser. Eventually when they would hear the bottles being opened they came flying in from the field tearing at the door of the shed!!! The young lads were mad about em and they were treated as pets. When the fatefull day came there were tears but i was in tears a week later cos the meat was all fat!! I was told they were fed wrong (too much barley) and the breed was wrong also. I was advised to get a landrace cross in future and feed them properly...but i never kept pigs since then. I might try a few this year again.

CJhaughey

If a pig can get their snout under something be it a gate or fence it will be lifted, they are very strong.
You can keep them in with only a few strands of electric wire if they are trained to the fence from a young age.
I only fed ours with organic pignuts and fruit/veg, never fed barley.
Some breeds will run to fat after a certain length of time. I think 3 mths is optimal if you get them at 2 mths.
Its not cheap meat but its a long way from supermarket meat.

JJayoo

Hmmmm

Maybe I will look into getting a few turkeys instead. I really like the idea of using the fruit that I will hopefully be growing. Kinda went a bit crazy with fruit trees, have approx 240 commercial apple trees, 50 pear trees, 60+ crab apple trees, 20 plum trees, 40 cherry trees and approx 120 apple/pear trees I have grown from seed.

The commercial trees are only getting established so hopefully in a few years I will have heaps of fruit for man and beast. One of my neighbors raises a few turkeys for Christmas so maybe I could team up with her, and my uncle has some bee hives so I'm hoping he will get a few move and put them on the farm, we have a large amount of heather which I know is good for bees.

memorystick

CJhaughey wrote: »

I would be inclined to get lop eared pigs as opposed to prick eared ones they tend to be easier going.
Duroc are long legged and fast, can be hard to deal with.
Personally I prefer Saddlebacks as a docile slower moving animal that are hardier than landrace which can suffer in the winter.

What would a saddleback sow crossed with a landrace be like?

gozunda

JJayoo wrote: »

Hmmmm

Maybe I will look into getting a few turkeys instead. I really like the idea of using the fruit that I will hopefully be growing. Kinda went a bit crazy with fruit trees, have approx 240 commercial apple trees, 50 pear trees, 60+ crab apple trees, 20 plum trees, 40 cherry trees and approx 120 apple/pear trees I have grown from seed.

The commercial trees are only getting established so hopefully in a few years I will have heaps of fruit for man and beast. One of my neighbors raises a few turkeys for Christmas so maybe I could team up with her, and my uncle has some bee hives so I'm hoping he will get a few move and put them on the farm, we have a large amount of heather which I know is good for bees.

Geese and orchards are a good mix. The geese graze and keep down weeds and will also eat the windfalls. But I would wait until the trees are properly established and producing fruit.

Bunnyslippers

Agree with the above your orchard needs to be very mature and even then pigs sometimes ring bark trees just for fun, not to mention the bum scratching that goes on!:D
If you go for turkeys then you need good fencing and I’d do them in summer personally as they are pretty hopeless especially the double breasted breeds and don’t like the wet. I’ve raised them most years if not hatching my own, by buying them in August as 8week old off heat birds and if you get a wet autumn they spend more time indoors as they hate rain, next time if I bother again I’ll be getting them in early summer so they are out grazing and eating bugs, then they’ll go in the freezer in the autumn. Also they are stupid so the fox will have a field day so they need penned into a shed at night.
Geese are great for keeping grass neat, i kept mine with a few sheep in our orchard but with the trees sucurely fenced, they also need kept in at night.

As for windfall apples you’re better off collecting a load and feeding to pigs in a pen rather than leaving them run eating as much as they want - they often get seriously drunk on rotten fruit not to mention an upset stomach, pigs with hangovers are rather hilarious though!! Beehives need to be fenced as sheep will scratch themselves on hives!