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Karmals are not actually a breed of pigs, but a heterotic hybrid between Mangal and Vietnamese bellies. The offspring from crossing as a result of heterosis has better productive qualities than the original breeds. But the appearance of animals is obtained according to the principle “how the genes will fall.”
You can even compare photos of pigs of the Karmal breed:
On the first, the appearance of Karmal is closer to Mangal. In the second photo, Karmal has clear features of the Vietnamese bellies. But the wool is somewhat thicker.
If we recall that Mangal is also a hybrid between the Hungarian mangalitsa and the wild boar, then sometimes the result of such a “double hybridization” is impressive. And it’s good if the pig of the Karmal breed will impress with productive characteristics and tasty meat, and not with the character and habits of a wild boar.
Who is Karmal
First of all, it will be necessary to mention that sometimes Karmal is called a hybrid with a Korean pig. This opinion raises certain doubts, since although the Korean pigs are close relatives of the Vietnamese and also descend from the wild Chinese boar, the “Korean women” are little known in the world.
In Korea, these animals have long been kept as human waste disposal sites, and they are still poorly known in the world. Only since the 60s of the last century, the diet of Korean pigs began to be changed to a more civilized one, and for keeping, instead of a pit under a latrine, pigsties began to be built.
On the territory of the CIS, they do not distinguish between the Vietnamese and Korean breeds. And if you add here various Chinese breeds, also descended from the same wild Chinese boar, then you can get completely confused.
There are two types of Karmala pigs: F1 Mangala-Korean hybrid and backcross hybrid. The second option: F1 is again crossed with Mangal. For this reason, despite the effect of heterosis, Karmal’s weight can be very different. Vietnamese reach a maximum weight of 150 kg. Braziers can weigh 300 kg. An adult F1 hybrid weighs 220 kg. Where is the effect of heterosis? In improving the quality of meat. If you need to get a bigger animal, F1 is crossed again with Mangal. The weight of the resulting Karmala pig reaches 150 kg in six months. The taste characteristics of Karmal pig meat with 75% Mangal blood are better than those of the original breeds, but in appearance this mixture is already difficult to distinguish from Mangal.
The main difficulty with the hybrid is that from the photo and even live, the Karmal pig is easy to confuse with the Vietnamese or Mangal. Unscrupulous breeders take advantage of this, selling Vietnamese piglets that have fallen in price today under the guise of expensive Karmals.
The only guaranteed way to get exactly Karmal is to cross the Mangal sow with the Vietnamese boar yourself. To get the second version of Mangal, you will need to cross the Mangal sow with the F1 boar.
Benefits of Karmal
Karmal combines the positive qualities of the Vietnamese pig and Mangal. With full feeding, Karmal reaches sexual maturity at 4 months, like the Vietnamese bellies. By the year Karmal reaches 200 kg, like Mangal.
The big question is who this breed has the advertised low amount of fat. According to the reviews of the owners of piglets Karmalov after slaughter, no one has a layer of fat more than 3 fingers. It is Vietnamese pigs that are distinguished by a relatively small amount of fat gained.
None of the original breeds has this property. You can get lean meat from Vietnamese if you keep them “on a diet” without giving them grains. But the lard still fits snugly on the meat and must be cut off.
Braziers inherited from Mangalits the ability to accumulate fat between muscle fibers. With high-quality fattening, they also gain fat well and it also needs to be cut off.
Frost resistance in Karmal is clearly from the Mangal breed. Karmalov, like Mangals and Hungarian mangalits, can be kept outdoors in winter. They have a thick enough coat to endure the winter cold.
As an advertisement in the merits, an accommodating and good-natured character is often indicated. But this is how lucky and how tame the animal will turn out to be. The wild boar is the most dangerous inhabitant in the forest. Neither tigers, nor wolves, nor bears contact adults. If boar genes “jump” in Karmal, then he is unlikely to be complaisant and good-natured.
Another plus is called strong immunity, in which supposedly no vaccinations are required. A very dangerous misconception that contributes to the spread of epizootics.
Pigs, are there any differences
According to the external and productive characteristics of Karmalov piglets, the information is also quite contradictory. Some sources claim that all Karmalats are born striped like wild boars. Others argue that the color at birth in piglets of the Karmal breed can be almost anything:
- striped;
- “smooth” gray;
- red;
- black.
There are no only statements about the birth of white or piebald piglets. Which is rather strange, since there are photos of Karmal piglets of piebald or white color next to one-color striped counterparts.
It can be assumed that this is a photo of a mixed herd of piglets of various breeds. But a photo of a piebald sow of the Karmal breed with piglets refutes this assumption. Piebald is not only a sow, but also the piglets themselves.
With age, the stripes in piglets disappear, like in a wild boar.
According to reviews of Karmalakh pigs, they can be kept in an open pen in the winter from a month old. But if you need not just a piglet of an exotic breed, but a fattened pig, it is better not to keep young animals in such conditions. Even in the young of wild animals in winter, in cold weather, growth slows down or stops completely. Young growth begins to grow again only with the onset of heat.
Daily weight gain is not interesting for wild animals, but it is very important for a person. Keeping a piglet for up to a year instead of 6 months is unprofitable. Therefore, feeding and caring for Karmal piglets are the same as for young animals of other breeds.
Even the video shows that due to the fact that the piglets are hybrids, littermates have very strong differences. Productive characteristics will also be different.
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Adult Karmals can indeed be kept outdoors, providing them with shelter from the rain. Piglets during the period of intensive growth require a closed room where the temperature will not fall below 15 ° C. For both adults and young animals, straw is laid on the floor, in which pigs can burrow to keep warm.
Feeding
What to feed Karmala depends on the purpose of its maintenance. The diet of the animal for fattening is dominated by grain feed and grain feed.
No, Karmals are not herbivorous pigs as they are advertised on many sites. These are omnivorous animals. Like any omnivore, they need fiber for normal digestion, which they get from pasture grass in the summer. In winter, Karmals need to be given root crops and other vegetables.
Karmaly will be able to live on one pasture, but in this case there is no need to expect productivity from them. Their diet should also contain animal proteins that pigs can get from dairy products. You can also add meat and bone meal to the diet. Breeding stock not intended for slaughter is also given fish and fishmeal.
Reviews
Conclusion
Reviews about pigs Karmalakh are very different. This happens due to the fact that Karmal is a hybrid. And consequently, even in one litter there can be piglets with completely different characteristics. It is also impossible to say anything now about the real productive characteristics of the Karmals, since there are too few statistical data. It’s still exotic. It is not yet known whether the Karmal hybrid will take its place in private farmsteads or whether pig breeders will prefer another breed of pigs.