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Large white pigs - AKA Yorkshire (https://www.roysfarm.com/large-white-pig/) we tried other breeds and they didn't do as well as the Yorkshires. Gentle fellas, easy to handle and good meat quality. This is all we will raise on our farm, we raise 3 a year for the freezers and as many others as family wants us to raise for them up to 8 maximum.
 
Large white pigs - AKA Yorkshire (https://www.roysfarm.com/large-white-pig/) we tried other breeds and they didn't do as well as the Yorkshires. Gentle fellas, easy to handle and good meat quality. This is all we will raise on our farm, we raise 3 a year for the freezers and as many others as family wants us to raise for them up to 8 maximum.

What breeds & why didn't they do well?
I am looking to pasture 5-10 pigs on eight padocks, which 1/8 acre each for a one year rotation.
For this to work I will have to harvest 2-4 pigs & sale 3-6 pigs, only keeping the sow & boar for more pigs next Spring.
This is a year to two years out, as I have not retired & animals unlike plants need daily care.
But I can put up the padocks & shade trees in place, with automatic feeders & water supply.
I am not sure which of the 12 bacon type hogs, but the Tamworth looks good to me .
I have time to think & reseach the breeds, before I buy.
I may just run two or three breeds the first year to see what does best as pigs & keep the best of the group & havest the rest.
 
JOel,'
That may be your best bet. Try several types, maybe even fist 1-3 years. At least until you see which one's obviously work best for you and your area.
Nice planning ahead to BTW. That'll pay off for you and lessen the amount of stuff you have to do right away when you do retire.
 
I'd build shelters instead of relying on trees. Pigs will dig up tree roots and kill the trees. Especially if they decide that they like that tree or something growing over the roots.
 
I will need a moble shed, because I have only a few ( no more then 12) hogs/pigs & I will move them every seven days.
Trees are for nuts & fruit wind fall, 4 of the padocks share a 75 year old hedge row with 40-70 foot trees,
but I was thinking I could plant tree in the other four padocks.
Oaks,persimmons, crabapple, yes I know that they will eat or destroy roots of small trees.
I am working on a way to keep them off the trees, til they are bigger & can stand the pigs.
If not then I will learn/know better next time, we had trees in the pins when I was a kid & they are still standing.
 
They killed the trees we had in our pasture. I'd try using hot wires around the trees and a portable solar fence charger that you move from pen to pen with the pigs.
 
I've never heard of them but they are a very old breed. http://cpsswine.com/poland-china/
That site says "The Poland China hog today is recognized as a big framed, long bodied, lean, muscular individual that leads the U.S. pork production in pounds of hog per sow per year."
That reads like lots of lean bacon. I do savor lean bacon. :woo hoo:
 
Basic rule of thumb, white pigs have more bacon where brown or black pigs have more ham.
 
If you really look at them, the white hogs are very long. Like Yorkshire and landrace where durocks and others are not as long but have bigger shoulders and hips. The Hampshire's are black and white fall kinda in the middle... lol

The China is just a freak of nature. Never been around them.

One thing that I learned is that if you are raising them to breed, after weaning you do not want a fat sow. You want her lean so she breeds back faster and easier. A 250 pound hog will breed easier than a 400 pound hog. You can get a little over 2 litters a year from one sow. Worked a hog farm for a short while.
 

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