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Pork is the type of meat that is best digested by humans. It is ideal even for people suffering from liver diseases. But only under one condition: the meat must be lean. Pork and lean meat seem to be incompatible concepts, but there is pig breed Pietrain, capable of satisfying this need. Lean pork is drier and less flavorful than pork that contains some fat. But we know that healthy things don’t taste good.
The promotion of a healthy lifestyle has done its job, and Pietrain pigs are very popular in European countries and Latin America. In Russia, due to climatic conditions, Pietrain has not received wide recognition and the breed is mainly used for crossing with meat and fat breeds to improve the productive characteristics of the offspring.
Origin story
The Pietrain breed has a very short and clear history of origin. There are no mysterious ancient ancestors of these pigs. Pietrain was developed in Belgium at the beginning of the 20th century by crossing Berkshire, Great White and Yorkshire pigs. We couldn't do without adding local Belgian breeds of pigs. During selection, inbreeding was often used to improve the meat qualities of the breed.Meat quality has improved, but overall survival and acclimatization of Pietrain pigs has deteriorated.
During a difficult period in the pork market in the early 50s of the last century, the Pietrain breed gained popularity and was brought to Germany in the early 60s. There Pietrain is still used today to improve the productive characteristics of other pigs.
The Pietrains were brought to the USSR back in 1964, but it was precisely those qualities that were deteriorated during the breeding process that prevented the wide distribution of these pigs in the country. The Union needed unpretentious animals capable of adapting to different climatic zones. The breed characteristics of Pietrain pigs did not meet the requirements set by Soviet livestock specialists for productive farm animals. But a certain amount of livestock remained, since representatives of the breed were able to improve the productivity of meat and fat pigs familiar to Russia.
Description
When looking at a photo of a representative of the Pietrain pig breed, there is no doubt about the direction of productivity. The Pietrain boar has a pronounced structure of an animal meat type:
- long cylindrical body with shallow chest;
- powerful hams;
- fleshy forearms
- small head with large but thin ears.
In the description of the Pietrain pig breed, the characteristic groove running along the ridge, the straight profile of the head and the wide rump are also indicated as characteristic features. But you can't see this in the top photo. And the straight profile is not visible on the bottom either.
A more characteristic feature of the breed is the black and piebald color - the only one possible in Pietrain pigs.
Productivity
The productive characteristics of the Pietrain pig breed are not impressive, although the slaughter yield per carcass is 80%. But the weight of the carcass itself is not great. The live weight of a boar is up to 240 kg, a pig – up to 150-170 kg. At the same time, representatives of the breed have a very high feed consumption during fattening. Pietrain piglets gain 500 g daily, but they require 2.5-3 kg of feed per day. By 7 months, Pietrain piglets grow up to 90 kg. Other breeds of pigs can gain up to 100 kg by the age of 6 months.
This is the main reason why this meat breed has conquered the European market. In addition, Pietrain feels good in the mild European climate.
Pros of the breed
The main advantage of the breed is its resistance to circovirus. The virus often leads to the death of animals. Young pigs of all breeds of pigs, except Pietrain, suffer from the disease.
The advantages also include:
- lack of tendency to obesity;
- the yield of clean meat from the carcass is up to 65%;
- improvement of meat characteristics of other breeds.
Minuses
Pietrain has much more disadvantages and this prevents the breed from spreading on private farmsteads:
- sensitivity to temperature changes;
- poor ability to acclimatize;
- sensitivity to stress;
- demands on feed;
- low weight gain;
- low milk production of sows;
- poor quality of meat.
Pietrain meat quickly oxidizes in air and loses moisture.
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Due to the very thin layer of lard, Pietrain pigs tolerate both cold and heat equally poorly.Already at +15°C they feel uncomfortable. And at +30°C they can get heatstroke. To breed this breed of pigs, a specially equipped pigsty with climate control is required. In Russia, heating systems are traditionally installed in animal premises; cooling is usually not required in summer. But not in this case. In order for the livestock of these pigs to feel good, air conditioning will have to be installed in the pigsty. In particular, in the photo there is a Pietrain breed pig in such a specially equipped pigsty.
Because of their thin skin, these pigs cannot be kept on a metal grid, as is done with Great Whites. Frequent cleaning of the litter is also required to prevent urine from corroding the skin. All this complicates and increases the cost of keeping Pietrain piglets. In general, only large complexes or breeding stations can breed this breed.
Feeding
Muscle fibers always require more food to maintain mass than fat of the same volume. But during a hunger strike, the muscles are the first to “deflate”. This feature of living organisms plays a bad role in the growing and fattening of Belgian meat pigs. Due to the rapid combustion of nutrients when ensuring the vital functions of “muscular musclemen”, Pietrain requires more feed per kilogram of weight than meat-greasy pigs.
When breeding, you will have to take into account that sows have low milk productivity. Milk from a sow alone is not enough for piglets. Complementary feeding for piglets will have to be introduced very early. And this despite the fact that usually on farms piglets begin to be fed on the 5th day of life. Accordingly, Pietrain will have to be given additional food almost from the first day.
In this case, the sow usually brings no more than 8 piglets per farrow.
Fattening young animals are given food rich in carbohydrates and proteins:
- meat production waste and meat and bone meal;
- fish and fishmeal;
- return;
- dairy waste;
- kitchen waste;
- boiled potatoes;
- roots;
- legumes
Pigs are actually very poor at digesting grain feeds, especially whole grains. Therefore, there is no need to be particularly zealous with corn, barley or oats.
The natural food of pigs is various types of nuts, acorns, roots, berries, and sometimes animal food. Wild boars rarely graze on cereals.
Breeding
Before breeding a breed in your own backyard, you need to carefully analyze your capabilities to create suitable conditions for these pigs. Experienced pig breeders do not advise trying to recruit a herd exclusively from representatives of the Belgian breed. The best option would be to cross a Pietrain boar with a Landrace or Duroc sow. When crossed with Landrace, young animals grow faster, and when crossed with Duroc, the meat characteristics of the offspring improve. Three-breed crossbreeding is often used: Great White, Landrace and Pietrain. But such crossing is only available for pig breeding complexes. A private owner does not have the opportunity to keep such a set of pigs.
Nuances of breeding
Puberty in boars occurs at 8 months. Pigs mature earlier, just like any other breed. But in order to obtain full-fledged offspring, it is not recommended to breed a Pietrain sow earlier than 10 months.
Sows have a significant drawback: not only are they infertile and produce little milk, but they also only have enough milk for 6 cubs.If there are more than 6 piglets in the litter, they must be fed from the very first day. Otherwise, the weakest will die of hunger.
When introducing fertilizing, it should be given to all piglets. The best feeding would be a whole milk substitute for piglets.
Such substitutes often cause severe diarrhea in piglets and it is better to buy a more expensive one, but of better quality.
The second feeding option: skim milk and whey after making cottage cheese. It is better if the milk is curdled with calcium chloride. The whey from such cottage cheese is not sour and contains an additional dose of calcium.
To increase milk production, the sow needs to be fed 4 times a day, giving high-calorie and succulent food. With properly organized complementary feeding, you can save even a dozen Pietrain piglets, as in the photo below.
Reviews
Conclusion
Reviews about the Pietrain pig breed from private owners are usually not laudatory. This is due to the characteristics of Belgian pigs. It is difficult for private owners to provide the necessary conditions. The best option: buy hybrids for fattening at the breeding station.
