Do you know there are more than 60 popular breeds of domesticated pigs worldwide?
I know it’s cliche to reiterate the importance of various breeds in meat production, breeding, and gardening.
Hogs provide marbled, lean, and flavorful pork, often used for making bacon and ham based on the cut.
So, here is a list of the 15 best meat pigs that can offer various flavor, texture, and fat content options.
1. Berkshire Pig
Berkshire is native to the county of Berkshire, England, and dates back to the 19th century.
It is medium-sized, weighing 600 pounds for boars and 500 pounds for sows. They are black in color except for white on their face, legs, and tip of the tails.
This breed contains black, long, fine, and generous hair.
Besides, Berkshire pigs are well-muscled and rapid growers. They can get 30-145 pounds in 3-4 months.
These heritage pigs also have short, dished faces and upright ears.
In addition to England, countries including Japan, North and South America, and overseas raised pork worldwide.
2. Duroc Pig
Duroc are in solid reddish color, ranging from gold to profound brick-red.
They have forequarters, especially the head and neck, and are light with lop ears. Also, the pigs boast a medium length and a slightly dished face.
As a heritage breed, Duroc pigs are traced back to the 1800s in the United States, including New York and New Jersey.
These pigs are excellent for heavy carcass production.
Duroc is a large-framed pig that weighs 500—750 pounds. Though it is called a late-maturing type, it matures in under five months.
3. Hampshire Pig
These meat pigs are the oldest early American breed that originated in southern Scotland and Northern England.
They were introduced to American settings between 1825 and 1835 from Hampshire County in England, and hence the name.
Hampshire pigs are black with a white belt across the shoulders that wraps the front legs.
This traditional breed is also called the “oldest English breed” and is tagged as the fourth most recorded breed in the US.
Hampshires weigh around 550—650 pounds and produce lean muscle, high carcasses, and minimal backfat for meat.
4. Yorkshire Pig
The breed originated in the County of York,, hence its name. It is a crossbreed between a white pig from North England and a smaller, fatter white Chinese pig.
Originally a bacon breed, Yorkshire is now known for lean meat.
They weigh around 550—750 pounds in boar, and sow weigh between 450 and 650 pounds.
This breed has a slow growth rate. Pigs are adolescents at the age of 6 months and reach their full size only after 12 months.
Yorkshires are in solid white color and are available in almost every state in the US, with the highest populations in places including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, and Ohio.
5. Landrace Pig
In Landrace pigs, boars grow about 500—700 pounds, and sows weigh around 450—600 pounds.
They are descendants of Danish Landrace hogs, which originated in Denmark in the late 19th century. These swine are the crossbreed of native hog and Large White hog from England.
Like Yorkshire, Landrace also has white skin without any black spots.
They have droopy ears and a long middle, light forequarters. With the good length of the body, Landrace possesses heavy carcass weight in the ham and loin with the ideal amount of finish.
Do you know Landrace grows faster than the Jinhua breed?
Norwegian Landrace can gain 220 pounds within 142 days after birth.
6. Tamworth Pig
Tamworth are long, lean, and athletic with deep and uniformed sides. Unlike thinner breeds, they have a strong and uniform arch of the back with a muscular top and a long rump.
They were developed in Ireland and imported to the US in 1882.
Due to their foraging ability and long mouths, Tamworth are also called “Irish Grazers.” The breed has a red coat that ranges from a golden red to a dark red.
On average, they reach 500—600 pounds.
Traditionally tagged as bacon pig, Tamworth survived on low-energy foods and matured slowly.
They take 2 years to get their full size.
7. Gloucestershire Old Spot
Gloucestershire Old Spot (GOS) originated in the Berkley Vale of Gloucestershire, England, in the 1800s.
They are large pig breed in white color with one or more distinct black spots.
Their lop ear almost covers the pig’s face and droops towards the nose. GOS is also known as obedient, smart, intelligent, and prolific.
They weigh around 600 pounds and mature within 6 to 8 months.
GOS also makes good grazing pigs. So, if raised on pasture well, they can produce tender and darker meat.
8. Large Black Pig
The only giant whole black hog originated in the 16th and 17th centuries in the United Kingdom.
Large Blacks have long heads, straight faces, and loping ears. These pigs are known for their docility and hardiness and ideal for simple outdoor systems.
They are slightly smaller than Yorkshires and have entirely black skin.
Black pigs also have deep bodies, fair lengths, and strong backs. They can grow around 700 pounds, with males weighing 700—800 pounds and females 600—700 pounds.
They take approximately 6 months to gain 140—155 pounds and for slaughter.
9. Mangalitsa Pig
Mangalica are medium-sized pigs with thick, curly hair that resembles a sheep.
The skin hair often ranges from black to red and blond. The pork breed produces lots of lard.
Mangalica is a Hungarian breed of heritage pig that originated in the mid-1800s. It was crossbred between Szalonta and Bakony and the Serbian Šumadija breed.
They are slow growers and mature between 12 and 24 months. Depending on the feeding, they become ready for slaughter between 12 and 18 months.
These meat pigs gain 280–300 pounds in 15 months.
10. Chester White Pig
Chester White is an American breed developed in Chester County, Pennsylvania, around 1815–1818.
They are solid white without any spots. Also, they are medium-framed pigs with well-muscled bodies and droopy ears.
The mature pigs gain 300 to 500 pounds.
Chester White. are a fast grower and can be slaughtered within 5–6 months of age. Their pork contains a high fat content and a savory taste.
11. Pietrain Pig
Pietrain is a late-maturing breed and gets its full size at seven to nine months.
The adult pigs can gain anywhere between 615 and 660 pounds. But you can slaughter them for tender meat when they are 250–280 pounds in 5 to 6 months.
Pietrain pigs are stocky skins with short legs.
They have broad and cylinder chests with short and medium-weight heads and forward-pointing semi-lop ears.
The breed has greyish-white skin with dark spots or pale grey-blue.
It originated in the village of Piètrain, Belgium, hence the name. Pietrain was first noticed in about 1920 and tagged as a breed in 1950.
12. Kunekune Pig
Kunekune are smaller breeds that have short legs and short snouts.
They are hairy and rotund, with or without pigmentation. Their skin colors include white, black, brown, ginger, cream, and gold.
These pigs are docile and friendly, which makes them easy to handle.
Due to their high-fat content, Kunekunes have a round body. They can grow 30 inches in length and weigh 120–300 pounds.
While adult boars gain between 200 and 300 pounds, sows get 120—200. Also, they mature around five to eight months of age.
13. Red Wattle Pig
Red Wattles have been in North America since the mid-1800s.
They have lean heads and jowls and slim noses with upright ears with droopy tips. The pigs have various colors, including red, a few with black patches, and black and red coats.
The breed is famous for its hardiness, foraging ability, and rapid growth rate.
Red Wattle pigs mature and are ready to be slaughtered within 6–7 months. They reach full size in three years and weigh 600–800 pounds.
Their meat is well-marbled, flavorful, similar to the taste of beef.
14. Meishan Pig
Meishan is one of the oldest domestic pigs in the world, having roots in China for 5000 years.
They are a small—to medium-sized breed known for their wrinkled black skin and face. They also have large, drooping ears.
While the Chinese breed comes in black shade, American Meishan pigs are in light gray to dark gray color.
Meishans weigh between 275 and 400 pounds.
To all surprise, these pigs become breedable at a young age, around 2.5–3 months.
15. Iberian Pig
Iberians are medium-sized pigs with long, slender, long, and muscular legs.
They come in dark shades with short hair, long snouts, and extended floppy ears. Besides, the pigs have dark hair and black hooves.
As a semi-wild breed, Iberian pigs are closely related to wild boars. They are mostly found in the Iberian Peninsula, with regions in Spain and Portugal only.
If you are raising Iberian pigs, wait until at least 11 months old before harvesting.
They weigh anywhere between 350 and 420 pounds. The meat of this traditional breed has a unique, intense, and succulent taste.
Besides the list above, there are some other meat pigs, including Poland, China, Spotted swine, and Hereford.
Final Thoughts
If you are choosing meat pigs for the first time, I recommend considering the climate and market demand in the local area.
Besides, pick a fittable breed for your farm or homestead based on space.
You need to be careful when feeding swine, which can decide the meat quality. Grain-fed pigs and pasture pigs produce different meat textures and tastes.
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