Content
Household separation pig breeds into groups of different directions began, probably, from the time of domestication of the wild boar. Lard, which provides a lot of energy with a small volume and minimal costs for its production, is necessary for residents of the northern regions. “Lard with vodka” appeared for a reason. Both products are very high in calories and have a warming effect after consumption.
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 has noticed that in winter you constantly want to eat something more substantial than cabbage salad. This happens because the body needs energy to heat itself. For this reason, in the northern countries, breeds of pigs were valued that could quickly gain not even meat, but lard.
Residents of southern countries do not need so much fat. The main cooking fats in the Mediterranean region are vegetable oils. Lard is not valued there and there is no desire to consume it either. In ancient Rome, lard was generally considered the food of slaves, because little of it is needed, but a slave can work a lot on it.Therefore, in southern countries, breeds of pigs for meat production turned out to be preferable.
Pigs do not live beyond the Arctic Circle; they are replaced there by walruses and seals. But lard can be consumed not only by Eskimos, but also by simply people who do not have money to buy meat. In addition, pork fat was used to make cheap candles. Therefore, tallow 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;
- large black;
- Hungarian mangalica.
A clear example of how one pig can feed the maximum number of people is the Chinese meishan. In China, fat is valued more than meat, so Meishan was bred to produce high-energy lard.
With the growth of prosperity and the development of technology, humanity's need for lard has decreased, but the need for high-quality meat has appeared. And they tried to reorient the fat breeds of pigs for meat production.
A striking example of such a reorientation is the large white breed of pigs, in which lines of all three directions are present: tallow, meat-greasy and meat. This breed was originally bred as a greasy breed.
Only Berkshire pigs belong to the European meat and fat breeds of pigs. All other breeds of this trend were bred in Russia, almost all of them already in Soviet times and not by popular selection methods. Of course, this has its explanation. The Soviet Union was a huge country with very different climatic zones. Pigs of any productivity direction were in demand. In addition, the post-revolutionary and post-war devastation made itself felt.The population needed to be fed, and pigs were the most precocious of all domesticated mammals.
Foreign European-American bacon pig breeds are:
- Duroc;
- Hampshire;
- pietrain;
- Tamworth;
- Landrace.
As for Russia, the situation here is interesting.
Since the large white breed of pigs includes lines of all three directions, today the largest number of all pigs bred in the Russian Federation is this breed.
This breed has excellent productive characteristics. Thanks to the work of Soviet breeders, the former English Great White (Yorkshire) can today be distinguished as a separate Russian breed.
The Russian version of the Great White has decent sizes: boar up to 360 kg, sow up to 260 kg. She is more adapted to Russian conditions, she has a stronger constitution and is very fertile. Fortunately for other Russian meat breeds, the Great White, due to its demanding diet and maintenance, is more suitable for breeding in factory pig farms than for private farmsteads.
Breeds of bacon pigs present in Russia
Bacon pigs are distinguished by a long body, shallow chest, poorly developed front part and powerful hams.
A 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 fat yield is from 21 to 32%, depending on the breed.
Landrace
One of the best representatives of meat type pigs. Therefore, although Landrace is a “foreign” breed, it is actively bred in private farmsteads. It is typical for a Landrace to have an exaggeratedly long body, in a boar reaching 2 m. A sort of bench on short legs.
With the overall impression of a graceful and light pig, the weight of the Russian Landrace is the same as the weight of the Russian Great White.
Duroc
Also “foreign” meat breed pigs. Bred in the USA and today they are the most common breed in the world. Initially, Durocs were one of the tallow breeds, but later the productive direction was changed due to intra-breed selection and a small amount of blood from Tamworth pigs.
Durocs are quite large animals, up to 180 cm long and weighing up to 250 kg.
They are distinguished by good fertility, producing an average of 8 piglets per litter. But piglets grow slowly and therefore purebred Durocs are practically not bred in Russia.
They are used to produce pedigree hybrids for sale. The possibility of breeding a hybrid to produce commercial milk is also being studied.
Russian meat pig breeds suitable for private pig farming
During the Soviet years, systematic work was carried out to breed meat pigs adapted to the Russian climate. As a result, it was possible to breed pigs capable of living, successfully reproducing and producing products even in Siberian conditions. True, the vast majority of these breeds belong to the meat and fat category.
Soviet meat breed pigs include: Urzhum, Don meat, Poltava meat, Estonian bacon and early meat.
Urzhumskaya
They bred the Urzhum pig in the Kirov region, improving the local fold-eared Great White pigs and then selecting the offspring.
The result was a large pig with a long body, strong legs and meaty shape. The weight of Urzhum boars is 320 kg, pigs - 250 kg. Urzhum pigs are white. Sows are very fertile, producing up to 12 piglets per farrow.Young animals reach a slaughter weight of 100 kg at 6 months. These pigs are bred in the Kirov region and the Mari-El Republic.
Early ripening 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 Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus took part in the breeding of early-ripening meat. The territory allocated for the project extended from the western borders of the USSR to Eastern Siberia and from the Baltic to the Volga steppes.
The project had no analogues. 19 research institutes and universities of the country took part in it. They created a precocious meat breed by 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 Russia, early ripening meat was registered (1993), in Ukraine - Ukrainian meat (1992), in Belarus - Belarusian meat (1998).
In this way, any pig can be sold under the SM-1 brand.
Only a description of the breed and its characteristics is available.
Early meat pig - a pig of 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 indicators of adaptability to various climatic conditions, early maturity and growth rate, as well as a good response to feed.
SM-1 piglets. Age 1 year:
Features of the breed are: high milk production, accelerated achievement by piglets of a weight of 100 kg, meat yield of 64%.
Donskaya meat (DM-1)
Intrabreed type of North Caucasian pigs. This line of pigs was developed in the 70s by crossing local Caucasian pigs with Pietrain boars.
From their North Caucasian ancestors, pigs took good adaptability to pasture conditions.
Donskaya meat is superior to its North Caucasian ancestors in the following indicators:
- ham increased by 15%;
- 10% higher meat content in the carcass;
- 15% less thickness of subcutaneous fat.
Important! Sows of this line should not be overfed. An obese sow does not tolerate pregnancy 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. If mated early, the offspring will be weak and few in number.
Estonian bacon
The direction of the breed is clear even from the name. The Estonian bacon pig was developed by crossing local Estonian stock with Landrace, Great White and German Short-Eared White pigs.
Externally, the Estonian bacon still looks like a meat-fat breed. She does not have the long body characteristic of meat breeds, her belly is lowered and her front is better developed. Estonian bacon is given out by powerful hams.
Pigs are large. Their weight is similar to that of other meat breeds. A boar weighs 330 kg, a sow 240. 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, most likely the Estonian Bacon actually has a higher percentage of fat than other breeds of this type.
An Estonian bacon sow gives birth to 12 piglets per farrow. 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 Russia, to whose climatic conditions the Estonian pig is well adapted. But breeding work with Estonian bacon is not carried out in Russia.
Conclusion
In fact, in addition to the ones discussed, there are many other bacon breeds of pigs. In order to choose a pig that suits your liking and one that is suitable for the climatic conditions of the region where you live, the issue of breeds needs to be studied more deeply.
