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Pigs

Having experimented with a variety of rare breeds including Saddleback, Berkshire , Gloucester Old Spots and Tamworth , we fell in love with the docile Large Black for its character and taste.

The breed is Britain’s only all black pig and is on the watch list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and classed as ‘Vulnerable’ with less than 300 registered breeding sows (RBST).

 

Breeds we keep

Large Black Pigs ‘Vulnerable’ on the RBST Watch list

Pedigree Large Black Pigs

They are long and deep in body and have large lop ears which reach to their snout, covering their eyes and making them easy to handle as they cannot see too far ahead.

Their dark skin pigmentation helps them to resist sunburn, making them ideal for keeping outdoors. As they are a long pig they are very good for both bacon and pork and also produce excellent hams when crossed with breeds such as the Duroc.

Large black sows are excellent mothers and can rear large litters. We currently have four registered pedigree sows from the Princess, Fashion and Skylark bloodlines. Our young boar is from the rare Defender line. Because the pig gestation period is close to 4 months and piglets are with their mothers for 8 weeks before weaning, each pig has 2 litters a year. We have them in phase so there are litters every 2 months and consequently fresh pork and bacon etc every 2 months too.

Our pigs are reared outside for most of the year on grass, only being brought inside for closer monitoring at farrowing time or if the field becomes exceptionally muddy in the winter; they tend to be far happier outside. We move their run annually once the ground has been turned over and plant barley on the ground they have been on previously. The barley then provides us with our own straw for bedding and grain to mill to feed back to the pigs. It is important not to keep pigs on the same ground year after year as the ground can become ‘pig sick’ and lead to health issues; it is also good to take a crop off the ground before re-seeding back to a conservation grass mix as pig feed is high in copper which could be fatal to sheep if put straight back on the pig ground to graze. The old boys knew what they were doing with mixed farming after all!

Owing to their placid nature, they are not great escape artists unlike our earlier experiences with Tamworths (but that is another story); they are kept behind a simple 2 strand electric fence powered by an old car battery and recharged with a small solar panel. If they turn over their ground sooner than anticipated we simply enlarge their pen by moving the electric fence.

Demand for traditionally reared meat from known provenance has led us to develop a customer base. We have sold to friends and by word of mouth referrals for a number of years and have now expanded to sell directly to local customers and those further a field by chill pack couriered delivery. The taste of rare breed meat is nothing like what you find at the supermarket and really has to be tried for its succulent flavour – and the crackling is positively mouth-watering… if you would like to try some joints or even a ½ pig for the freezer (butchered of course), please contact us.

We like to raise our animals as naturally as possible and avoid using medications or growth promoters wherever possible by using good stockmanship and observation. Once the foundation stock was purchased we have not brought any more animals on to the farm, helping to prevent the potential for importation of pests or disease.

Large Black Pig Breeders Club:
A Large Black breed society was formed in 1889 to help promote the breed. Owing to prejudice against coloured skin in pork, pig numbers declined dramatically during the 1960’s. The breed is now experiencing resurgence in popularity with many small herds now throughout the British Isles . There are 257 registered keepers in Britain with 6 boar bloodlines and 24 sow bloodlines with a total of only 996 animals registered for breeding (203 boars and 793 sows: source BPA stats Jan 2007). For further information, see the Large Black Pig Breeders Club and British Pig Association websites.

Breed Standards:

HEAD - Well proportioned. Medium length, broad and clean between the ears.
EARS - Long, thin and well-inclined over the face.
JOWL AND CHEEK - Freedom from jowl. Strong under-jaw.
NECK - Long and clean.
CHEST - Wide and deep.
SHOULDERS - (Important) Fine and in line with ribs.
LENGTH - (Of the utmost importance)
BACK - Very long and strong.
LOIN - Broad and strong.
RIBS - Well sprung.
SIDES - Long and moderately deep.
BELLY - Full, straight underline, with at least twelve sound, evenly spaced, well placed teats and starting well forward.
HAMS - Very broad and full.
QUARTERS - Long, wide and not drooping.
TAIL - Set moderately high and thick-set.
LEGS - Well set, straight and fat. Fine bone.
PASTERNS - Strong.
SKIN - Blue-black. Fine and soft.
COAT - Fine and soft, with moderate quantity of straight black silky hair.
GENERAL MOVEMENT - Active
GENERAL QUALITY AND CONFORMATION - Good carriage on sound feet with length and well developed loin and hams.