Opinions on this Boar

[agmantoo]

A York capable of giving plenty of milk.

[myheaven]

That is who I wanted to breed piggy sue to the kids wanted red dragon. Piggy hasnt come into heat againg sence sammy jumped the fence and is now alone. Piggy is I believe full hampshire.
A strong long well producing girl.

[RedHogs]

This hog is a fix it boar for a show hog breeder, Unless you have registered durocs with a very good length and i mean very good length i think you would be disappointed in his babies, very stocky with little length. What are goals for these babies???

[tyusclan]

Of the Durocs that they have I like Jayhawk, Johnny Cash, or Now Or Never better. If you do breed to him, agmantoo probably nailed it. I would only add a long yorkshire capable of plenty of milk.

I like History Maker in the Berkshires.

[Up North]

Thanks for the advice. Based on what Y'all are thinking, I guess he's not the best choice for us. We wish to breed for* longer*, leaner hogs with good wide front ends and bigger hams as well. Sound and functional, don't have to be showpigs. Be able to select the best Gilts of litter and retain them for breeding, then route the rest of them to butcher hogs.
So which Durocs(LVS or PSSS) add length & strength?

[Ronney]

Without being able to tell you why, I looked at him and thought no. He's a handsome looking sod but not something I would want to breed from.

If I want longer, leaner pigs with good forequarters and hams, I cross the Duroc with the Large White. If I just want porker pigs with good muscle I put Duroc over Duroc. So although I've never thought much about it until now, the Large White (Yorkshire) is going to give the length and the Duroc the sturdy, solid meat and more rapid growth.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[chicamarun]

I liked history maker too for berks.... I tagged it for some other time.

I agree with everyone here - just from what I would personally look for, this hog was not it unless I had a super long hog.

[Up North]

Ok All - Now how the heck can you tell that this Boar's offspring would be short&stocky of body based on the information provided?
What specific info tells you that his offspring could not be long-bodied unless mated to an ultra-long sow?

With Dairy Cattle you have Linear Measurements and bar graphs to compare such things....These Boar descriptions use a lot of words which can be open to interpretation .

[RedHogs]

Read his ad and they are saying he will bone and structure, he is to be used on the top 1% of the hogs ( super long ). Read thru the other adds and they will say that some are good for adding length. In addition his breeding is out of cold blood known for short and stocky. It takes many generations to get super consistent length, don't try to blow one up till every pig in the litter has good length. If you are still getting a mixture your not ready for this boar.

[Up North]

Fair Enough. So if I am understanding this, the qualities that are NOT mentioned in a Boar's information would be the areas that Boar probably doesn't improve for you? Trying to say what is not in a Boar's info may tell you as much as what is in there?
And I suppose folks that are involved with buying, selling, showing, and seeing lots of hogs will pick up by observation what the different bloodlines produce for dominant traits or qualities.

Is anyone else learning about reading these Boar Descriptions from this thread?....What's your take?

[Tam319]

I think that the photos are a bit deceiving. While he does have an impressive (indeed, freakish) amount of bone, I don't find him to be well balanced and proportional. He doesn't appear to be as "meaty" as I would like (if that makes any sense). I prefer the smoother proportions and muscle of Jayhawk and Johnny Cash as well. That's just my humble opinion. Since animals also must lay down bone before muscle I would wonder if his offspring would be a bit slower to finish than a hog with more moderate bone??