Contents
The division of domestic pig breeds into groups of various directions began, probably, from the time of domestication of the wild boar. Fat, which gives a lot of energy with a small volume and minimal cost to obtain it, is necessary for residents of the northern regions. “Lard for vodka” appeared for a reason. Both products are very high in calories and have a warming effect after consumption.
The peoples who have lived beyond the Arctic Circle since ancient times are forced to consume literally kilograms of fat to maintain their vital functions. Probably everyone noticed that in winter you constantly want to eat something more substantial than coleslaw. This happens because the body needs energy for heating. For this reason, in the northern countries, breeds of pigs were valued, capable of quickly gaining not even meat, but lard.
Residents of southern countries do not need so much fat. The main fats for cooking in the Mediterranean region are vegetable oil. Salo is not valued there and there is no desire to use it either. In ancient Rome, lard, in general, was considered the food of slaves, because you need a little of it, and a slave can work on it a lot. Therefore, in the southern countries, breeds of pigs for meat production turned out to be preferable.
Pigs do not live beyond the Arctic Circle, where they are replaced by walruses and seals. But after all, fat can be consumed not only by an Eskimo, but also by a simple person who does not have money to buy meat. In addition, pork fat was used to make cheap candles. Therefore, greasy breeds of pigs were in demand and were bred not only in the very northern regions, but also in Central Europe. These breeds today include:
- meishan;
- big black;
- Hungarian mangalica.
A good example of how to feed the maximum number of people with one pig is the Chinese meishan. In China, fat is valued more than meat, so meishan was bred in order to obtain high-energy fat from it.
With the growth of prosperity and the development of technology, the need for lard has decreased, but there is a need for high-quality meat. And they tried to reorient the greasy breeds of pigs to the production of meat.
A striking example of such a reorientation is the large white breed of pigs, in which there are lines of all three directions: lard, meat-lard and meat. Initially, this breed was bred as tallow.
Only the Berkshire belongs to the European meat and tallow breeds of pigs. All other breeds of this direction were bred in Our Country, and almost all of them were already in Soviet times and by no means by methods of folk selection. Of course, this has its own explanation. The Soviet Union was a huge country with very different climatic zones. It demanded pigs of any direction of productivity. In addition, the post-revolutionary and post-war devastation made itself felt. The population had to be fed, and pigs are the earliest of all domesticated mammals.
Foreign European-American bacon pig breeds are:
- duroc;
- Hampshire;
- pietrain;
- temvors;
- landrace.
As for Our Country, the situation here is interesting.
Since the large white breed of pigs has in its composition the lines of all three directions, today the largest number of all pigs bred in the territory of the Federation is this breed.
This breed has excellent productive characteristics. Thanks to the work of Soviet breeders, the former English Great White (Yorkshire) can now be distinguished as a separate breed.
The version of the big white has a decent size: a boar up to 360 kg, a sow up to 260 kg. She is more adapted to conditions, she has a stronger constitution and is very prolific. Fortunately for other meat breeds, the Great White, due to its demanding diet and maintenance, is more suitable for factory breeding of pig farms than for private farmsteads.
Bacon pig breeds present in Our Country
Pigs of the bacon direction are distinguished by a long body, a shallow chest, a poorly developed front part and powerful hams.
The meat pig grows quickly, gaining up to 100 kg of live weight by six months. The percentage of meat in the carcass of a slaughtered pig is from 58 to 67%, the yield of fat is from 21 to 32%, depending on the breed.
Landrace
One of the best representatives of meat type pigs. Therefore, although the Landrace is a “foreign” breed, it is actively bred in private backyards. It is typical for Landrace to have an exaggeratedly long body, reaching 2 m in a boar. A kind of bench on short legs.
With the general impression of a graceful and light pig, the weight of the Landrace is the same as the weight of the Great White.
Duroc
Also “foreign” pigs of meat breed. Bred in the USA and today are the most common breed in the world. Initially, the Durocs were one of the greasy breeds, but later the productive direction was changed due to intrabreed selection and a small amount of blood from Tamworth pigs.
Durocs are rather large animals up to 180 cm long and weighing up to 250 kg.
They are distinguished by good fertility, bringing an average of 8 piglets per brood. But piglets grow slowly and therefore purebred Durocs in Our Country are practically not bred.
They are used to obtain pedigree hybrids for sale. The possibility of breeding a hybrid to produce marketable milk is also being studied.
meat pig breeds suitable for private pig breeding
In the Soviet years, systematic work was carried out to breed meat-oriented pigs adapted to the climate. As a result, it was possible to breed pigs capable of living, successfully breeding and producing products even in Siberian conditions. True, the vast majority of these breeds belong to the meat and lard direction.
The Soviet pigs of the meat breed include: Urzhum, Don meat, Poltava meat, Estonian bacon and early meat.
Urzhumskaya
They bred the Urzhum in the Kirov region, improving the local lop-eared pigs of the Great White and then carrying out the selection of offspring.
The result was a large pig with a long body, strong legs and meat forms. The weight of Urzhum boars is 320 kg, pigs – 250 kg. Urzhum pigs of white color. The sows are very prolific, producing up to 12 piglets per farrow. Young growth at 6 months reaches a slaughter weight of 100 kg. These pigs are bred in the Kirov region and the Republic of Mari-El.
Early meat (SM-1)
Work on this breed began shortly before the collapse of the Union. The project was large-scale. More than 70 collective farms in Our Country, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus took part in breeding early-ripening meat. The territory allotted for the project stretched from the western borders of the USSR to Eastern Siberia and from the Baltic to the Volga steppes.
The project was unparalleled. It was attended by 19 research institutes and universities of the country. They created early maturing meat, crossing many of the best foreign and domestic breeds of pigs.
After the collapse of the Union, the entire livestock was divided into three parts, taking into account each type that arose on the territory of different republics. In Our Country, early-ripening meat (1993) was registered, in Ukraine – Ukrainian meat (1992), in Belarus – Belarusian meat (1998)
Under the brand name CM-1, any piglet can be sold in this way.
In the presence of only a description of the breed and its features.
Early maturing meat – a pig of a strong constitution with powerful hams. The weight of boars is up to 320 kg with a body length of 185 cm, sows – 240 kg / 168 cm. SM-1 has good adaptability to various climatic conditions, early maturity and growth rate, as well as a good response to feed.
Piglets SM-1. Age 1 year:
The peculiarities of the breed are: high milk yield, accelerated achievement by piglets of a mass of 100 kg, meat yield of 64%.
Don meat (DM-1)
Intrabreed type of North Caucasian pigs. This line of pigs was bred in the 70s by crossing local Caucasian pigs with Pietrain boars.
From the North Caucasian progenitors, pigs took good adaptability to pasture conditions.
Donskaya meat surpasses its North Caucasian ancestors in the following indicators:
- ham increased by 15%;
- 10% higher meat content in the carcass;
- 15% less sebum thickness.
Important! Sows of this line should not be overfed. An obese sow does not tolerate gestation and farrowing well.
Representatives of DM-1 are mated no earlier than 9 months, provided that they have already gained 120 kg of live weight. With early mating, the offspring will be weak and small.
Estonian bacon
The direction of the breed is clear even from the name. The Estonian bacon pig was bred by crossing the local Estonian stock with Landrace, a large white and a German short-eared white pig.
Outwardly, the Estonian bacon still looks like a meat-greasy breed. She lacks the long body characteristic of meat breeds, the belly is lowered and the front is better developed. They give out Estonian bacon powerful hams.
Pigs are big. Their weight is similar to that of pigs of other meat breeds. A boar weighs 330 kg, a sow 240. At the same time, their body length is also similar to other meat pigs: 185 cm for a boar and 165 cm for a sow. Since fat is lighter than muscle, the percentage of fat in Estonian bacon is likely to be higher than in other breeds of this direction.
An Estonian bacon sow produces 12 piglets per farrowing. Six months later, the piglet reaches a weight of 100 kg.
Estonian bacon is widespread in the Baltic countries and Moldova. There are livestock in the northwestern regions of Our Country, to the climatic conditions of which the Estonian pig is well adapted. But breeding work with Estonian bacon is not carried out in Our Country.
Conclusion
In fact, in addition to those considered, there are many other bacon pig breeds. In order to choose a pig to your liking and suitable for the climatic conditions of the region of residence, the issue with breeds needs to be studied more deeply.