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Thinking about breeding pigs in your private backyard, it is better to calculate in advance your strength in raising and caring for piglets. The area that you can afford to set aside for a pigsty also needs to be calculated in advance, taking into account the number of planned heads and breeds... It is possible that the decision of which breed of pigs to breed in a particular yard will directly depend on the area allocated for the pigsty. The profitability of a particular breed largely depends on the fashion and preferences of the population living in the district.
If lard is in great demand in the region, pigs of the lard direction are taken for cultivation. Under other conditions, you can choose a meat or bacon breed. If raising pigs is planned as a business, and not providing food for one's own family, then the demand for pork products is preliminarily monitored.
In addition to productive areas, the private trader will also have to choose the size of the pig. A 2-meter long Landrace needs significantly more space than a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.
After determining with a productive direction, feed base and area for a pigsty, you can choose a breed.
Due to periodic outbreaks of ASF in many regions of Russia, private owners are prohibited from keeping pigs. People take piglets, but in 1-2, and only for themselves. In this case, there can be no talk of any private business.
Meat group
It is believed that there are three types of productive direction in pig breeding: greasy, meat-greasy and meat. The meat-greasy direction can be confused with the bacon. But bacon pig breeds, in fact, do not exist. There are meat pigs, fattened using a special technology for the production of bacon - meat with layers of fat.
The meat-and-greasy direction is the prerogative of Russia. Abroad, there is only one meat-greasy breed: the Berkshire, which is often referred to as a greasy group.
In Russian conditions, it is better to breed domestic pigs, better adapted to the Russian climate and feed. There are quite a few Russian meat breeds, although outwardly they are not very similar to the most famous Western meat pigs: Landrace and Duroc.
In Russian, the percentage of fat is higher and the body looks smoother.
Urzhum pig
Urzhum pigs were bred in the Soviet Union in the middle of the 20th century in the Kirov region. For breeding, a long-term cross-crossing of local pigs with boars of the Great White breed was carried out. The purpose of the selection was to obtain a large meat pig, well adapted to the climate of the northern regions of the Union.
The Urzhum pig turned out to be a breed suitable for breeding in the Urals region, in the Republic of Mari-El, in the Perm Territory and other adjacent regions. Well adapted to pasture maintenance. Sows have a well-developed maternal instinct, which is a serious plus for breeding this breed.
Externally, Urzhum pigs are very similar to the great white, but somewhat smaller. Urzhum pigs have a dry head with a long snout and ears bent forward.The body is long, the chest is deep, the back is narrow. The backbone is massive, rough. White pigs. The bristles are thick.
At a year and a half, wild boars weigh 290 kg, sows 245. Young animals weigh 100 kg at the age of 200 days. In one flood, the Urzhum sow brings 11-12 piglets.
Advantages of the Urzhum pig: the ability to gain weight relatively quickly on voluminous juicy feed, instead of grain, and good survival of piglets. The disadvantages include a very small subcutaneous fat layer (28 mm).
Donskaya meat
Bred shortly before the collapse of the USSR by crossing North Caucasian pigs with pietrain - a French meat pig. The Don pig has a powerful body with strong legs and well-developed hams. The color is black and piebald. Sows are very productive, producing 10-11 piglets per farrowing. The maternal instinct is well developed in queens.
Weight of adult animals: boar 310 - 320 kg, sow 220 kg.
Pros of Don meat:
- good frost tolerance;
- the ability to gain weight well on any feed;
- high slaughter yield of meat;
- undemanding to the conditions of detention;
- good immunity.
Although the Don meat breed is an early ripening breed, due to the general medium-sized size, the piglets in six months will weigh significantly less than 100 kg, which is considered a common figure today, when breeding pigs. In fact, the minus of the Don meat animals is the small weight of the animals.
Kemerovo
A very interesting pig for breeding in the northern regions. Today, there are 2 types in the breed: the old Kemerovo meat-greasy direction and the new Kemerovo meat one, bred by complex reproductive crossing.
When breeding the Kemerovo pig of the meat direction, the following breeds were used:
- large black;
- berkshire;
- long-eared white;
- Siberian northern;
- large white.
Local sows were crossed with the producers of these breeds and the offspring were selected for early maturity and adaptability to local climatic conditions. The new Kemerovo region was approved in 1960.
Today the Kemerovo pig is bred in Western Siberia, the Far East, Sakhalin, in the Republic of Tyva, Krasnoyarsk Territory and in the north of Kazakhstan.
The Kemerovo pig is a strong large animal of the correct constitution. The back is wide. The length of boars reaches 180 cm with a chest girth of 160 cm. Sows are 170 and 150 cm, respectively. Boar weight 330 - 350 kg, sows 230 - 250 kg. The main color is black with small white markings. But there may also be motley animals.
This is one of the largest domestic breeds. At 30 days, the piglet weighs just under 8 kg. But since the Kemerovo piglets are fast-growing, then by six months the weight of young animals reaches 100 kg. Slaughter meat yield in this breed is 55 - 60%.
Kemerovo sows are distinguished by their prolificacy, bringing in 10 piglets per farrowing. Piglets have a high survival rate.
The advantages of the Kemerovo pig are its adaptability to cold climates, high reproductive ability and docile calm disposition.
The disadvantages include the high exactingness of the breed to feed. With low-quality feed, Kemerovo pigs show very low meat productivity.
In the southern regions it is much more profitable to breed European meat pigs: Landrace or Duroc. But it must be remembered that high quality feed is required to obtain high quality meat. These pigs are demanding on feed and keeping conditions.
For a private trader, the main problem with keeping these breeds is the length of the pigs.
Landrace and Duroc can easily reach 2 m in length. They are advantageous in that, with an elegant bone structure, they have a rather large muscle mass.Slaughter meat yield from pigs of these breeds is about 60%.
The main disadvantage of Duroc is the infertility of sows. Because of this, durocs are more often used to produce hybrids that can already be grown for meat.
Universal direction
General purpose or meat-lard pigs are preferred in northern regions, as lard provides more energy than meat. Or in areas traditionally consuming fatty pork. One of these northern breeds that provide their owners with a sufficient amount of calories in winter is the Siberian Northern breed.
Siberian northern
The breed is well suited for growing beyond the Urals. They began to create it even before the Second World War, by crossing local short-eared pigs with boars of a large white. The new breed was registered in 1942.
The pigs are of a strong constitution, medium size. The back is wide. The legs are short, the hams are well developed. The length of boars is up to 185 cm, of sows - up to 165 cm. The main color of the northern Siberian is white. A red tint is possible.
Siberian northern sows gain weight up to 250 kg, boars up to 350. Sows bring on average 11 piglets per farrowing. By the age of 6 months, piglets reach a weight of 95 - 100 kg.
The Siberian northern pig is ideally adapted to the conditions of southern Siberia. It is bred in the Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk regions, in the Tomsk, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk regions, in the Amur region.
The advantages of the breed include good adaptability to the harsh conditions of Siberia. Thick protective hair with an undercoat helps Siberian northern pigs to endure severe frosts in winter, and saves from midges in summer. The character is calm.
Cons of the breed refer to exterior faults. The northern Siberian is in need of further selection to improve the constitution, meat qualities and early maturity.
Mirgorodskaya
Bred in Ukraine by crossing local short-eared pigs with large white, Berkshire and Tamworth. The piebald color, characteristic of the Mirgorod breed, was inherited by it from Ukrainian ancestors. There are also black and black-red pigs. Mirgorod pigs give lard of high taste characteristics, but the quality of meat leaves much to be desired. The length of boars is up to 180 cm, of sows up to 170 cm. The weight of adult pigs is 220 - 330 kg.
The weight of piglets reaches 100 kg by six months. At the same time, the slaughter yield of meat is 55%. A small amount of meat is offset by a significant amount of lard - 38%.
The advantages of the breed include the multiplicity of sows, unpretentiousness to feed, the ability to feed well on the pasture and good adaptation to the conditions of the forest-steppe.
Cons: small slaughter yield of meat, low taste and poor adaptability to cold climates.
Pigs suffer greatly from the cold and need an insulated pigsty.
Mirgorod pig. 3 months
Vietnamese pot bellies
Vislobryukhov are sometimes referred to as meat, then to meat-greasy, or even to greasy in general. This is due to the fact that in Southeast Asia, more than one pot-bellied pig is bred. There, too, there are different directions, and what breed was in the ancestors of a particular pig is unknown. Moreover, they are actively interfered with with large breeds.
Even purebred Vietnamese have intra-breed lines. In general, we can say that the Vietnamese pot bellies are a meat breed, while they are on a diet of voluminous green fodder; and meat and lard - as soon as it switches to grain concentrates. Even in 4-month-old piglets grown on grain feed, a layer of fat on the sides and back of 2 cm.
For individuals, pot-bellied pigs are convenient for their small size. They need a much smaller area to live than a large pig.
Greasy group
There are relatively many pigs of the greasy direction, but for some reason all of them were not bred in Russia.The most common: large black and Berkshire - of English origin. Sometimes referred to as greasy Hungarian mangalitsa and some Ukrainian pig breeds. But there is no strict distinction between meat-greasy and greasy and the "productive direction" of a particular pig, as well as in Vietnamese pot-bellies, often depends on the diet, and not on the breed.
Large black
Large black was imported into the USSR in the middle of the twentieth century from Germany, although its homeland is England. Suitable for breeding in Central Russia. Large black easily tolerates heat, so it can be bred in more southern regions: in the Stavropol Territory and in the Krasnodar Territory. This pig is not suitable for breeding in cold climates.
The body length of a boar is 173, and of a pig is 160 cm. The weight is 350 and 250 kg, respectively. Slaughter yield 60-65%, of which on average 50% meat and 40% lard. Sows deliver 10 piglets per farrow. By the age of 6 months, the piglets weigh 100 kg.
The disadvantages of a large black include the effeminacy of the constitution.
On the other hand, an animal with a delicate constitution is more painful and requires more attention.
Big white
Separately, there is a large white pig - the main breed of pig farms. And here the key word is "pig farms". The Great White could replace all other pig breeds in any of the productive areas. Within the breed, there are all three lines: meat, greasy and meat-greasy. But it is difficult to recommend this pig to a private trader. The breed is demanding for feed and keeping conditions. To obtain the best result, she needs to create living conditions similar to those of a pig farm. For private traders, this is unrealistic. If the conditions of keeping and feeding are not observed, the results will be approximately the same with domestic breeds of the corresponding directions.
Conclusion
The question "which breed of pigs is more profitable to breed" in practice for a private trader is solved simply: which one is closer. It often makes no sense to buy highly productive piglets of specialized breeds, since the cost of raising a piglet will need to include not only the cost of feed, but also the cost of transportation. On the market, pork from a purebred pig and from a thoroughbred pig will cost the same. The purchase of pedigree piglets with long-distance transportation can only be afforded by large enterprises. Or enthusiasts who are interested in the breed, not the benefits.
