Breed Opinions

[arcticow]

If anyone has experience w/ Poland China or Chesters, please give me the benefit of your most esteemed wisdom. Thanx!

[Up North]

I've never raised any of these myself but I was just talking to a fellow who wasn't too impressed with the Chester White feeders he has. He says they are very flighty and won't forage. He says when he enters their pen they immediately take off. They will come up to him after they figure out he has food but none of them have tamed down enough for him to touch. He said he planted a field of turnips for them and they wouldn't go out in the field to forage. He said he tried all sorts of stuff to lure them out in the field but nothing worked.

With the experiences he told me about I was just wondering about Chester's myself. Is this common for the breed to act or was it just the way these particular feeders were raised at their home farm.

Heather

[RedHogs]

The man who has had problems with chesters is the problem. Is has been widely known that white hogs can't eat rape, they will sunscald, now its is being shown in many chesters a inability to eat any of the baracass family of crops(turnips), it causes a lysine inversion....they feed out worse than with no added lysine. Most well bred chesters are a very commercialized breed and all the buzz in most gilt replacement circles. The are prolific mothers and have as good of carcass quaility of durocs... and they will hold the white for two crossed generations. I have invested to a super boar for 2007, he is chester, but he is management intensive... chesters would not be the best choice most homesteads.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by RedHogs

Is has been widely known that white hogs can't eat rape, they will sunscald, now its is being shown in many chesters a inability to eat any of the baracass family of crops(turnips), it causes a lysine inversion....they feed out worse than with no added lysine.

Wow! Thanks RedHogs, that's a good thing to know about Chesters not being able to eat Brassicas. I'll have to pass on that info.

Heather

[arcticow]

With what's been said, I'd like to take a different tack. Has anyone handled Spots enough to tell about? I can get real good Duroc gilts & a Hamp boar pig, but I"d kinda like a third cross.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by arcticow

With what's been said, I'd like to take a different tack. Has anyone handled Spots enough to tell about? I can get real good Duroc gilts & a Hamp boar pig, but I"d kinda like a third cross.

Arctic can't help you much with spots, but as a third breed I think the Herford would fit well. They have a good coat of thick red hair, are very vigorous, and good foragers. Easy going, docile, heck almost friendly, and do well in simple outdoor shelters. We had a Herford/White crossbred Boar who bred our Duroc Sow, and our Hamp Gilt. Large litters of very vigorous pigs that did well. Two of those Gilts, Pecan(Duroc-Herford Cross) and Strawberry(Hamp-Herford Cross) are retained for breeding Gilts. They will be bred by one of the two Purebred Herford Boars recently acquired.