Breeds of bacon pigs • Estonian, Canadian, etc.

Every farmer knows that pigs are used in production in three ways: to produce lard, meat and bacon.

The first ones are grown in order to obtain lard for production. The fact is that animals of this species begin to accumulate fat from a young age.

To produce meat, farms keep pigs of meat breeds. As a result, about one hundred and twenty kilograms of clean meat are obtained from one carcass.

Until 1961, she was called the Estonian Fold because of her large floppy ears. The breed was the result of mixing the genes of a large white pig, a German white short-eared pig, and a Danish Landrace, and therefore includes the best qualities of the listed breeds. It has the following characteristics:

Large size. Boars reach a length of 185 cm, sows 160 cm. The animals have massive chests with a girth of 150-165 cm.
Fast growth. Small piglets rapidly gain weight up to 750 g per day and reach 240,330 kg in adulthood. When they reach 6 months of age, Estonians are ready for slaughter.
Multiple births. One sow brings up to 12 piglets per 1 farrow. The high milk production of females allows them to fully feed their offspring before switching to special feed.
High quality meat. Estonians give excellent bacon; the yield of meat products is 60%.
Ease of content. Suitable for keeping on pastures, content with voluminous feed.

Estonian baconies are often used for crossing with other breeds. The result is accelerated growth of young animals, increased endurance and vitality.

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The breed is common in the Baltic countries and Russia.

What is bacon pork

Pork bacon - what is it? This is what they call young, juicy meat with thin layers of grease. The pork is cut and salted in a special way, removing the backbone, shoulder blades, head and legs. To obtain high-grade meat, pigs are fattened according to a special schedule.

You can get into the group of bacon pigs only if there is a uniform distribution of fat throughout the carcass with a thickness in the ridge area of up to 4 cm. If there is more fat, the high category of bacon pigs is sharply reduced.

Vietnamese pot-bellied

The Vietnamese pot-bellied pig stands apart, which, due to a misunderstanding, is indicated as a bacon pig. This breed is prone to greasiness, and it is better to get fatty bacon from a 4-month-old pig. At 6 months you can get more fat from it than meat.

But the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig has a serious advantage, thanks to which it is profitable to breed these pigs in private farming: super early maturity and prolific pregnancy. The pig is able to mate at 3-4 months. No large meat breed is capable of this. An adult sow gives birth to 10-16 piglets.

What breed of pigs do you raise? Write in the comments .

Author: Olga Zadorozhnaya

Bacon pig breeds

To achieve results in bacon pig farming, special fattening of pigs is carried out. For this purpose, 2-3 month old meat pigs weighing up to 30 kg are selected from the herd.

Piglets from a meat-fat breed of sow crossed with a meat breed are also suitable. The most successful pigs will be fast-growing pigs, which are ready for slaughter at 6-7 months.

Bacon piglets from birth have external signs of the bacon trend:

small head;
short legs;
elastic wide legs;
elongated smooth ridge.

This design will allow you to get high-quality bacon in sufficient quantity.

Fattening of young animals is divided into two stages:

Stage 1. Creating conditions for active growth of piglets.

It is better to start fattening in the spring, when there is warmth, a lot of light and vitamin-rich, easily digestible feed. The average daily weight gain of a pig is no less than 460 g.

For fattening, a mixture of crushed oats, barley, legumes, corn, and cake is used. To balance the diet, small piglets are supplemented with dairy products (skim milk, sour milk, whey).

Do not forget about mineral and vitamin supplements: calcium, phosphorus, table salt, carotene.

Stage 2. Getting quality bacon. For this purpose, changes are made to the diet that will allow obtaining high-quality bacon at the output at rational feed costs. Reduce feeding of pigs with oil cake, bran, oats, soybeans, meat and bone meal and fish meal. It is considered suitable to introduce into the diet 70% barley, 20% legumes, 10% bran. Vitamin and mineral substances are left, increasing the amount of calcium and phosphorus by 1/3. It is enough to walk animals in the second fattening period in a special walking compartment. The average growth of young animals at the second stage is 700-800 g per day.

Fattening bacon pigs requires special food preparation recipes:

Ground grains are poured with boiling water and mixed with other ingredients after cooling;
Juicy root vegetables are washed, grated and added to feed;
Potato peels and food waste must be boiled, pounded and cooled;
Silage or fresh grass is given in crushed form;
The return must be fresh;
Vitamin supplements are added in dry form to the moistened food and mixed thoroughly.

It is necessary to ensure that the food of bacon piglets does not become monotonous. This leads to a slowdown in growth and deteriorates the quality of the resulting meat products.

Features of caring for bacon pigs

The quality of animal care affects the growth and taste characteristics of meat.

The room in which the individual lives must be insulated. There is always a fresh layer of sawdust or hay on the floor. The area of personal space per boar must be at least 2 square meters. For a female with piglets, at least 6 meters.

Three zones need to be created in the animal’s habitat:

feeding place,
island for swimming and walking,
a bed with good lighting and ventilation.

Pig Ox

The combination of two different concepts looks quite unusual. Although scientists and breeders have done everything possible to ensure that the bred pig-ox breed raises livestock farming to a new level.

There are representatives of pig-oxen for meat, greasy and meat purposes. The breed is truly amazing in appearance and productivity:

long elongated body with large muscles;
narrow chest and large head;
elongated thin legs;
large meaty hams;
the color is white with a gray tint;
weight reaches several tons if heredity is maintained.

This is what a meat hog looks like. Slaughter yield of meat is up to 80%.

Breeding in Russia

In Russia, meat pigs are highly valued for their ease of care and rapid increase in live weight. The main thing is to choose the right breed. Main criteria to consider:

Selection - it is best to choose animals of domestic selection, since they are maximally adapted to the conditions of a particular country and region.
Direction of fattening and demands on the quality of feed. What to feed pigs - types of feed - are presented in this material.
Piglet age – for raising for slaughter, it is optimal to take piglets at the age of two months, since very young ones need mother’s milk, and there is a lot of hassle with them.
Appearance – the animal must be active and mobile, that is, healthy. The mucous membranes of the mouth and nose normally have a pink tint.
Early maturity - the higher it is, the earlier the pigs will become sexually mature and can be sent for slaughter.
Disease Resistance – Some breeds are very “weak”, and raising them involves a lot of hassle.

A healthy animal grabs food rather than sucking it. Please take this into account when purchasing.

Estonian pig breed

Breeders developed the Estonian breed of pigs by crossing the local breed with representatives of the German Short-Eared White, English Large White, and Danish Landrace.

External features of the Estonian bacon breed of pigs:

white color with short stubble;
lop-eared;
long body (160-185 cm) with a wide chest;
concave profile of a small head;
elongated neck;
strong muscular legs;
round elastic hams.

Pedigree pigs are distinguished by multiple births - 10-11 pigs per farrowing. The maximum weight of a hog reaches 330 kg, a sow – 240 kg. Young animals gain 100 kilograms of weight by 6 months.

The death of the Estonian breed of piglets is practically excluded, thanks to the immunity to disease and the high milk production of the sow. The output is up to 60% meat.

Breeding and maintenance

Bacon pig farming is a profitable business due to the high productivity, fertility and precocity of animals. It is also considered beneficial in terms of rational use of the food supply. The most popular is raising bacon pigs at home.

Animals must be provided with comfortable living conditions, in particular, a spacious pigsty with good ventilation and lighting.

It must have 3 zones:

a place with machines (wooden or metal);
walking;
place for swimming.

The walls of the room are constructed from heat-retaining materials. Partitions can be damaged by animals, so they must be durable. It is recommended to make the floor wooden, with grooves and a slight slope to drain liquid waste. The barn must be whitewashed at least once a month for disinfection purposes.

To keep young animals, 3 m2 of usable area should be provided. A pregnant sow needs 4 m2 of free space, and a lactating pig needs about 6 m2.

Sexual maturity in bacon pigs occurs at 6-7 months, but mating should be delayed. At this age, the female body is not yet ready for pregnancy, which can lead to the appearance of weak, sickly piglets. You should also not count on numerous offspring. In general, young sows do not have more than 6-8 cubs in one farrow.

It is recommended to let a boar near a pig at 10-12 months, when its weight reaches 120-130 kg. A good offspring can be obtained from moderately well-fed females, with an average daily weight gain not exceeding 500 g. Pregnancy in bacon breeds of pigs lasts 112-115 days.

Canadian pig breed

Raising Canadian pigs involves creating special conditions for keeping animals. This is the only way that Canadian breeders have achieved success in bacon pig breeding.

The bacon diet of a pig gives high and rapid weight gain with proper fattening (600-750 grams per day). Cold storage technology has distinctive features:

A spacious unheated hangar is being built to keep pigs;
The supply of warm water has been established;
Daylight if the roof is made of transparent material;
The floor is covered with a thick layer of straw, which, mixed with manure, provides heating for the animals during the cold season. To maintain one pig, 1 kg of straw is required every day.

The technology for raising pigs in this way is suitable in regions with a minimum temperature of up to -100 C, as well as in dry climates. Rotting of straw at high humidity leads to disease in animals.

In just six months, the bacon breed of pigs reaches slaughter weight, so fattening should be carried out from April to October. Saving energy resources will pay for the cost of keeping pigs even if meat prices fall.

Features of feeding meat

Bacon breeds demonstrate maximum productive performance only if the pigs are fed with high quality. Thus, the growth of muscle tissue depends on the protein content, including in animal feed. On a carbohydrate diet, a rapid increase in fat begins; an excess of plant foods leads to a decrease in weight gain.

The main indicator that needs to be taken into account when feeding bacon pigs is the ratio of carbohydrates and proteins. If you don't need lard, carbohydrates should be as low as possible. A table of pig feeding rates is presented in this article.

Boars are usually castrated to ensure maximum weight gain. If you carry out the procedure when the animal is about 2.5 months old, the meat will be tender and tasty. During puberty, an animal does not waste energy and grows faster.

Since the fat content in the carcass of meat breeds is relatively small, animals must be kept in dry, warm conditions. In general, the profitability indicators for growing the variety are high, and feed conversion is also high. The main thing is to choose the right breed and care for it properly. How to make a pig barn with your own hands is described at this link.

Approximate diet for pigs for fattening