Why I raise Heritage Breed Pigs

What is a Heritage Breed?

Heritage breed pigs have bloodlines that go back hundreds of years. They are likely raised on pasture or woodlands because they were bred for that kind of environment. Heritage breeds are know for the best tasting meat because they feed on pasture and forage eating nuts and other wholesome foods they find in nature.

Best Qualities of Heritage Breeds

Excellent Flavor

Professional chefs love heritage pork because of its moist, tender meat. Depending on what breed you are raising, the meat will vary in taste. We raise American Guinea Hogs on our homestead, and they have a sweet buttery taste. I have to say, it's the best pork I've ever eaten. American Guinea Hogs are known as a "lard hog" so you will get less meat than a leaner "bacon hog."

Adaptability To The Environment

Heritage breeds are well suited to the natural environments. They can be put on pasture, or in wooded areas.

A Healthy Choice 

Not only are heritage breeds more disease resistant, but they are also a healthy choice for your diet. Heritage breeds are pasture raised, so they have a higher amount of vitamins and also have a better ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids. Pigs such as American Guiena Hogs like we raise on the homestead produce a lot of lard, which is higher in Vitamin D, which non-heritage breeds do not.

Other important nutreints that hertiage breeds offer is Vitamin E and Seleium. These vitamins make it possible for you as a homesteader to raise antibotic free pork, and also cuts the need for giving them synethic vitamin supplements. Other benefits include healthier litters and easier labors.

 

Marketability

Heritage breed pigs can fetch top dollar on the market as they are well favored by chefs. People are willing to pay more money for ethically and humainly sourced meat, with exceptional flavor. You can raise 10 pigs for every acre of land, and when pigs are on pasture or clearing wooded acres, you already are making profit by saving on feed. 

Heritage breeds

American Guiena Hogs

My personal favorite because we raise them on our homestead. For my resources and needs, Guiena hogs are a perfect size producing 60 to 80 pounds of meat for the freezer.This may not sound like alot of meat, so if you have a larger family, you might want to consider a leaner hog such as a Berkshire, that will provide more meat, but for my little family the American Guiena is the perfect amount. The breed is also very economical to raise as they will pasture and forage. Another reason this breed is number 1 is their temperment. Guiena's are very docile, while many of the standard size hogs can be mean spirited.

KuneKune

My number 2 would be KuneKune pigs. I am partial to this breed because they are also raised on our homestead. Kunekune's are the perfect grazing pig with upturned snouts that keep them from rooting up the ground. This breed also has very sweet dispostion. They are small size pigs with females weighing 100 to 175 pounds and males weighing 200 to 250 pounds.

With today's raising grain prices this breed is a great choice because they can survive on grazing during the summer months, and if needed you can supplement with minimal organic grains or table scraps. As with American Guiena hogs, KuneKune meat is exceptional, and loved by top chefs. Although these pigs are small compared to market hogs.  Quality is better than quanitiy when it comes to taste.

Gloucestershire Old Spots

This breed is known to be very intellegent, docile, and hardy. This breed is one of the oldest breeds. Old spots are a large sized breed with boars weighing as much as 600 pounds, and sows at 500 pounds. This breed is a fast grower reaching it's full market weight in just 7 months. The Old spots are excellent foregers and grazers making them more affordable to raise than non hertiage breeds. This breed was traditionally used in England to clean up apple orchards.

As with all hertiage breeds the meat is second to none. This breed unlike American Guiena hogs has less fat content.The Old spots are a dual-purpose hog that is good for pork and bacon. Less fat makes for more meat, which means more profit, this breed has just enough fat to make if flavorable, this breed is a very sensible choice for a homestead pigs.

Mangalitsa

This hertiage breed are prized for their flavorable meat. Chef's will pay a lot more for the meat because it is known to be the best tasting pork in the world.This breed is a slow growing breed that takes up to a year to reach full market size. The name Mangalista means "hog with a lot of lard." you will find that many of the hertiage breeds have a high lard content, which gives the meat it's rich, buttery, highly flavorable meat. Commerical pigs are breed to be leaner in order to produce more meat and more profits and flavor is not in the equation.

Mangalitsa's like all hertiage breeds are great foragers and will eat from pasture or forest, eating acorns and chestnuts, garden scraps, and most all vegatation making them affordable for small farms with a great feed ratio conversion. Mangalitsa's have a wonderful temperment, and are easy to manage in a pasture setting. This breed however are rooters and if you are pasturing you will need to reseed where you have keep them.

Hampshire

This breed began in Kentucky in the early 1800's. It is known for it's good natured additude and it's hardiness. This breed is medium to large sized, and grows quickly. They are great at foraging, which saves the homestead money in feed cost.
The Hamshire unlike many hertiage breeds is not considered a "Lard pig" they are very lean which means more meat, and more money when the pig goes to slaughter, and the meat is sold at market, or more meat in the homesteads freezer. Hampshire meat is mild flovored and maybe the leanest pork available.

Duroc

This breed is a great homestead pig because of it's docile personality and it's ability to produce large litters. This breed is known to reach market weight quickly making them the second favorite breed in the United States with farmers. Duroc's are great foragers, which saves money on feeding costly grains. At maturity the weight of Duroc's can be 700 to 800 pounds. The meat is a marbled red and very high quality.

Tamsworth

This hertiage breed is a medium to large sized bacon hog. They are slow growers. At maturity they weight about 500 to 600 pounds, and are ready in 25 to 30 weeks for slaughter. Tamsworth's are a breed that was originally raised as pature hogs, so they don't do well in confined areas. This breed loves to forgage in the woodland and in pastures. The meat's flavor is impacted by what they eat, and because they forage, the meat has a nutty sweet flavor.

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