Which Heritage breed??
 

I have been looking into heritage breeds and am just unsure which way to go...any information is helpful. I have been looking a year now. What I plan on doing is raising pork for ourselves and possible going to farm markets and selling some. What I have found out is it would be smart to possible eventually have 3 females and one boar if keeping a boar on the farm so he helps pay for himself? The pasture they would be on would be about 4 acres. Those of you who have guinea hogs, how does the pork taste...other breeds? Thanks so much!

oh also I come across registered and non...how important is this? My main goal is to get pigs back to as much as a natural diet as normal for best tasting pork and kids someday possibly showing at fair for fun.

Berkshires are nice pigs. My butcher says he kills the the durocs first for a reason. The berkshire/duroc crosses grow quickly. If you feed them well, it's tough to go wrong with almost anything that starts out healthy.

I've avoided getting into breeding because of the added complexity as well as what seems to be a cost structure that doesn't work well until you get several more than 3 sows. Run the numbers of breeding (year-round feeding, housing, a boar that only works 6 days a year, etc.) vs buying piglets (that you'll raise for only 4-5 months) and then selling.

I can tell you if one breed is better than another as I've just started raising pigs this year and have only raised one breed. However I would recomend Hereford's the two gilts I've been raising have grown very well reaching 250lbs at 6 months old just as your other more common hogs. At 8 1/2 months the last time I measured them they calculated out to 380lbs and ate 2,650lbs of feed between the two of them to that weight, which comes out to just under 3.5lbs of feed/lb. But they also wasted alot in their first 3 months as I was just feeding them in rubber pans and they where knocking alot on the ground and not eating it. I got them a better 2 hole self feeder and now they don't wast any as they can't knock the feed out. I've also found them to be quite personable and entertaining. Plus I like the way they look;) They're alittle harder to find, but not as bad as some of the heritage breeds. I've not yet raised one for a feeder as I'm breeding my 2 gilts. As for keeping a boar, I'm not sure yet which will be more economical, but at 2 gilts I'm looking at about $600/ year for siemen, supplies and papers to A.I. them, provided they take each time, it'll obviously go up if they don't get pregnent on the first attempt. I just bred my first gilt last week and the second is planned for this weekend, so I don't yet how it'll turn out. Anyways there's my 2 cents for Herefords.

lilfarm, we had our first AGH processed last summer. We were very pleased with the taste. They are great for a small farm as long as you don't try to grow them too fast. Our kids like them and it is nice not to have to worry so much about them hurting the kids. Check our pigs page on the website if you get a chance.

With most heritage breeds, there is better money selling breeding stock than meat. Most states have restrictions on selling meat at Farm Markets. Check that first.

I've sold pork in a legal way that has worked for me. I take orders and deposits when I buy feeder pigs. When raised I take them to slaughter. The owners of each pig pick up the boxes of pork, ham and bacon and they pay me a price that I set based on hanging weight. However, nost of these folks aren't going to stand for paying more because of the breed nor for the extra feed it took to get a heritage hog to market weight.

If you want to do a lot of promotion, selling breeding stock might be the best way to go.
Based on what it seems you want, I'd get three Large Blacks and a Landrace boar.

I can't tell you if one breed is better than another, but I've raised a couple Hereford gilts this last year and found them to reach market weight right on target at 6 months just as your more popular breeds such as a Duroc or York. Plus I like the way they look. ;)

Mulefoot hogs have won many taste tests and, I can tell you that the pork from a Mulefoot hog is much different than any other breed that I have tried. It is darker in color and has marbling. The meat does not dry out like the stuff from the store. They are also very good on pasture and very placid.

http://www.dostersheritagefarm.com

I love our Large Blacks. Over the years we have had several breeds, bought our first Large Blacks 5-6 years ago and fell in love with the breed. They are easy keepers, great foragers, great mothers, produce excellent pork and are extremely docile. Of course I am a "pig person" in general and don't think that you can go wrong with any of the breeds suggested... I think that the most important thing is to get good quality, healthy stock no matter the breed. You might check out the different breeds listed on the ALBC website if you haven't already.

http://www.largeblackhogs.com/
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/s...lack/index.htm
http://albc-usa.org/

Decide first exactly what your goals are. Any pig can be feed a more natural diet, and home raised on forage and natural feed tastes better than store bought, so breed isn't as important in some of those things.

If you might be showing them in 4-H or something, check into what they require for that. They have a specific weights they need to reach at specific times, and right there will eliminate some breeds that are slower growing. Lard type Guineas or other hogs with different body styles might not be welcome in the show pen.

If you want to fill your own freezer, figure out how much pork you eat (or want to eat) and when you want to be harvesting it. How long do you want to grow it out? Is 14 months to the freezer okay, or do you want to farrow in spring and butcher those same piglets by fall?

Registration is important if you want to sell registered breeding stock or compete at breed specific shows, but that porkchop on you plate doesn't need a pedigree. ;)

Once you know better what you want, then you can see which breeds might fit.

Sometimes people will mix up a single physical trait with a breed.
Picking a breed for a single trait may not be the best idea.
A good all around hog is a much better idea than picking one for a single trait.

Pancho's point is poignant. Not only that but within a 'breed' there can be considerable variation because one line gets split off for show pigs, another raised on pasture for meat and another in pens on commercial pig chow for meat. After generations of breeding these will result in distinctly different degrees of discrete distinctions.

Best bet is to get pigs from someone near you (similar climate) who is raising them in the style you wish to raise them. This matters more than breed.

Most of all, if you're just getting into pigs don't worry too much about breed. Instead just get some weaner feeder pigs for the summer, raise them up, learn and get your feet wet. Certainly don't start out with breeding. Too much to learn all at once. Take your time.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

This topic of "Which breed" should be stickied.

Thanks so much for the input...I have decided to go with guineas, someone within an hour has some. I plan on keeping one female and maybe eventually getting a male from a different line. Trial and error as there are so many different opinions. Didn't want to travel far and put thousands into show line quality hogs. Wish me luck!

Good luck! ;) Glad you have a close breeder you can visit and use as a resource.

Yep... and the tend to be much more docile than other breeds.

How cool! Let us know how you get on with them, they are one I am looking into right now :happy2:

I have Tamworths after raising a few batches of crosses. They are a great hog: grow as fast as a cross if pushed, fill out nicely with pasture and once a day feedings, and very friendly. My main gripe is that they will get out. Mine are tamer than most people's dogs, but it is a pain to come home from work and be greeted by 3 hogs weighing #400-500. I use combo panels secured every 8'. 4' will hold them. At 8' they will keep working it and eventually get out. In the summer, when they have plenty of pasture to eat, they do fine. Now that they're bored they want to see what's on the other side. Hay keeps they're attention for about 10 min. I have them in a lockdown pen now, but I'd like something that's not so curious. As long as it can give me bacon like my Tams. Blaine

i have a neighbour who is crossing tamworth boer and berkshire this year, i already have my name on two piglets, sounds like an awesome combo, any objections?

I will keep you updated, we get three of them tomorrow! :dance: Great information on this forum, thanks everyone...the knowledge is priceless.

I guess I like my AGHs well enough. I've never raised any hogs before this, so I do not have anything to compare to. I will be butchering one soon and that will tell me alot more about how much I may like them.
Being small, it does not cost a lot to feed them and they are good at foraging for a lot of their food. I have a lot of oak trees that made a lot of acorns this year. I also planted rye and wheat in a few small plots to help get they through the winter and until spring pasture starts growing.
Since they are small and do not cost a lot to feed, I like keeping my pork on the hoof until needed. That just seems to make sense to me.

SPIKE

We had some guinea hogs but didn't really care for them. They were small lard hogs. Not much call for lard hogs now. When we sold them they didn't bring as much as the other breeds. They were easy to keep, ate less than other breeds, but were smaller and had fewer babies.
For eating hogs they weren't near as good as the hamps.
That was before they became a fad breed.

I have tamworth and I love them. The boar is for the most part tame, and they are great outside pigs. They forage well, and stand up to the winter cold no problem. Our pigs are very lean when butchered, and our bacon is awesome.
I would agree with whoever said it, prone to getting out. They have been out many times. Our sow has no issue with putting her front feet on top of the gate when you are coming with the feed.