Five Additional Pig Breeds

(Page 3 of 3)

March/April 2009
Caleb Regan 
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The Saddleback and Hampshire breeds’ similarities begin with the appearance. Both are black with a white belt-like stripe – varying in width – that starts at about the front leg and runs down around the belly. The belt is seen as a mark of low heritability, but the size of it varies and has from the earliest existence of the breed. The white may extend almost the entire length of the body, or the opposite may be the case.

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Saddlebacks are meat pigs that have excellent maternal characteristics. They are a large breed and are excellent milkers. They have been used to produce sows that are cross-bred with white pigs for commercial production.

FUNCTIONALITY: Meat, sows used for commercial reproduction
APPEARANCE: Black with white stripe of varying size, droopy ears
SIZE: Large
CONSERVATION STATUS: Healthy population in the United Kingdom
PLACE OF ORIGIN: England
BEST KNOWN FOR: Appearance with the white belt; sows have large litters

Welsh

The history of the Welsh swine breed is somewhat unknown. These pigs have been present in Wales as early as records indicate. Special breed improvement began in the 1950s when it was realized they had desirable characteristics, such as the ability to thrive in farm setting, large litters, excellent mothering instincts and high-yielding carcasses. For breed improvement, Landrace blood was infused into the gene pool. Today, Welsh pigs are the third ranking breed in Britain, but there have only been a limited number of exports to other countries.

The Welsh pig has relatively short legs, and this makes the back and torso seem extremely long. Sows average around 10 pigs per farrow.

FUNCTIONALITY: Carcass yield, reproduction, cross-breeding with the Large White and British Landrace, two breeds not closely related
APPEARANCE: White, short legs making the back seem long, slightly dished face, muscular
SIZE: Short but medium body build
CONSERVATION STATUS: Healthy population
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Wales
BEST KNOWN FOR: High carcass yield, short legs

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  • Jan Hoadley 3/17/2009 1:39:06 PM

    Unfortunately the Saddleback is no longer of viable population in the US and if not already will be extinct. This official designation change by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy puts them at "watch" with not a sustainable breeding population to even recover. :-( Perhaps in the UK it's different but not in the USA. I'm not sure where your info comes from - it appears UK. Welsh pigs only come up on UK sites. But for an American audience this info is not accurate.

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