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pigs

Local pig breeds

Xisca Nicolas

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Posts: 1981

Location: La Palma (Canary island) Zone 11

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posted 5 years ago

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I was wondering if there are many different breeds of pig left... I thought that there was more or less the "big pink" one that had taken over... Mainly for size reasons. Other reasons?

So here in the canaries, we can find the "white pig" and the "black pig", the local one. It is smaller. I don't know why many people still choose to get this one, maybe just because they still want to keep something local... And no breed here has a name, at least commonly used.

What is your local breed? Does it have a name?

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thomas rubino

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Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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Hi Xisca;
Still many different breeds out there.
Normally I raise a mixed breed. Durok, Hereford, Yorkshire.
Last year we had straight Yorkshire. They are large white ones.
Normally my piggys are a mix of black and white and all white.
I have considered raising the red Tamworth "Bacon" piggys, but they take longer to mature.
Locally folks are now raising mangalica piggys … short hairy piggys known as the kobe beef of piggys, due to the high fat content. That breed of piggys live outdoors in the snow at below zero (F) … they even have pigglets out in the snow!

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Xisca Nicolas

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Posts: 1981

Location: La Palma (Canary island) Zone 11

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thomas rubino wrote:Hi Xisca;
Still many different breeds out there.
Normally I raise a mixed breed. Durok, Hereford, Yorkshire.
Last year we had straight Yorkshire.

Different yes... but I can guess at least "yorkshire" is not local from Montana! ;)

Do you know about a breed in your place that is known as "local" for ..."a long time"?

(as the aborigines here had goats but no pig, even our long time local pig is "recently local", but I am all for "invasion", as is the case for the prickly pear, almond and chestnut here! Who can eat only local!?! Goats maybe...)

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thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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Ahh very true Xisca; There is no local breed of pigs here in Montana. Way Way to many large predator's for any to survive in the wild. Winter can be mighty chilly as well.
I don't believe the U.S. has any local breeds at all. We are too young a nation. The majority of our swine came from Europe , with explorers and settlers.

Could be the havalina found in the desert S.W. may predate the settling of N. America by Europeans.

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Su Ba

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Posts: 2142

Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)

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Hawaii acquired their original pigs via the Polynesians who brought them along. These pigs either escaped into the wild or were released, or both. Their descendants live on today. But these pigs are no longer pure Polynesian. They have crossbreed with escaped European pigs, that were introduced later on.

My island has lots of feral pigs still. Locals use them as a regular food source. I keep a few for raising, and a pair for breeding. They aren't as easy to control as domestic breeds, but they are hardy and can survive on eating just about anything and everything.

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Andrew Mayflower

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Posts: 604

Location: Northern Puget Sound, Zone 8A

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thomas rubino wrote:Ahh very true Xisca; There is no local breed of pigs here in Montana. Way Way to many large predator's for any to survive in the wild. Winter can be mighty chilly as well.
I don't believe the U.S. has any local breeds at all. We are too young a nation. The majority of our swine came from Europe , with explorers and settlers.

Could be the havalina found in the desert S.W. may predate the settling of N. America by Europeans.

Javalina are not pigs. They are a peccary. They look a lot like pigs, but from a totally different family. They're part of the same sub-order as pigs, but that's as close as it gets. I think orcas are as closely related to pigs as javalina, technically.

That said, the feral hogs in Texas and surrounding states have probably developed into something of a "local" breed by now.

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