Different Types of Pig Breeds for Pig Farming Business

different types of pig breeds - pig farming business

You may be wondering how many different types of pig breeds are available for the pig farming business. Truly, you are not alone in this research.

Out of curiosity, I launched out to get details of as many pig breeds as I can find. This article is the outcome of the research.

Having knowledge of the different pig breeds available will position you to make a better decision on what pig breed to rear.

Some pig breeds are best for ham and bacon, while others are for medical experiments. There are some breeds that are very rare and there are others that are very rampant.

This article will expose you to the different types of domestic pig breeds with their pictures and their individual characteristics.

Just in case you are yet to do so, you should read “How to start a pig farming business” for more insight into pig farming.

What are pig breeds?

Benefits-of-commercial-pig-farming-business
Benefits-of-commercial-pig-farming-business

A pig breed refers to the grouping of domestic pigs according to specific features unique to them. 

The features include having a homogeneous appearance (phenotype), and homogeneous behavior.

Although, there may be other characteristics that distinguish them from other pigs.

How many types of pig breeds are there?

There are quite a large number of different domestic pig breeds (Sus scrofa domesticus) available around the world.

Interestingly, researchers are developing more breeds to meet pig farmers’ pork production needs.

These new pig breeds are known as hybrid, crossbreed, or improved breeds, having parents of two or more different pig breeds.

How to produce pig crossbreeds

A pig crossbreed is a type of pig breed that comes from mating two different pure breeds thereby introducing into the offspring a gene combination that is different from that existing in the breed of either parent.

Cross-breeding can involve two or more pure breeds, depending on the result you desire. 

The main purpose of cross-breeding domestic pig breeds is to take advantage of the improvement in the performance of the descendants of the pigs above that of either parent. 

Crossbred pigs have some advantages over purebred pigs because of a genetic phenomenon called heterosis (also known as hybrid vigor).

Because of heterosis, most commercial swine producers use crossbred pigs rather than purebreds as market animals. (source)

To produce a good quality crossbreed pig, the parents of the hybrid pig must come from two different pure breeds.

For example, you can cross a pure-breed female Hampshire and a pure-breed male Duroc to produce an improved breed.

Purebred pigs

A purebred pig is the type of pig that results from mating two purebreds of the same breed. 

The offsprings of purebreds have the same genetic makeup as their parents. 

A major objective of pure breeding is to identify and propagate superior genes for use in commercial production primarily in crossbreeding programs as well as to propagate and identify superior females for maintaining valuable genetic material. (source)

Furthermore crossbreeding will not be worthwhile unless superior you make use of purebred pigs.

36 types of pig breeds for the pig farming business

The pig farming business has become a very popular agribusiness throughout the world.

As a result, there are numerous domestic pig breeds available for different purposes. 

The table below contains some of the popular domestic pig breeds available for the pig farming business, with pictures. 

Name of pig breedsOriginPicture
Angeln SaddlebackGermanyAngeln Saddleback breed
American YorkshireUnited StatesAmerican Yorkshire breed
Arapawa Island pig New Zealand Arapawa Island pig breed
Berkshire United Kingdom Berkshire pig breed
British Saddleback United Kingdom British Saddleback type of pig breed
Chato Murciano Spain chato-murciano types of pig breeds
Choctaw United States choctaw hog breed
Danish ProtestGermany Danish protest types of pig breeds
DurocUnited States Pig of the Duroc breed
Dutch LandraceNetherlands Dutch Landrace Pig breed
Essex United Kingdom Essex hogs
Fengjing China Fengjing pig breed
Gloucestershire Old Spots United Kingdom Gloucestershire-Old-Spots-Pigs-agro4africa
Hampshire United Kingdom Hampshire-boar-pig-breed
Hereford United States Hereford-boar-pig-breed
Italian Landrace Italy italian landrace pig breeds agro4africa
Kunekune New Zealand kunekune pig breeds-agro4africa
Lacombe Canada Lacombe pig breeds - agro4africa
Large Black United Kingdom Large black pig breeds - agro4africa
Large White United Kingdom Large white pig breeds - agro4africa
Mangalica Hungary mangalica-pig-breeds-agro4africa
Meishan China Meishan pigs breeds agro4africa
Middle White United Kingdom middle white pigs breeds agro4africa
Mora Romagnola Italy mora romagnola pigs breeds agro4africa
Mulefoot Gulf Coast mulefoot pig breeds agro4africa
Nero Siciliano Italy nero siciliano pig breeds agro4africa
Ossabaw Island Ossabaw Island Ossabaw Island pig breeds agro4africa
Oxford Sandy and Black United Kingdom oxford-sandy-and-black-pig-breeds-agro4africa
Red Wattle United States  Red Wattle hog breeds agro4africa
Swedish Landrace Sweden  Swedish Landrace pig breed agro4africa
Swabian-Hall Germany  Swabian-Hall-pig-breeds-agro4africa
Tamworth United Kingdom  Tamworth pig breeds agro4africa
Turopolje Croatia  Turopolje pig breeds agro4africa
Pot-bellied Vietnam pot-bellied-pig-breeds-agro4africa
Welsh United Kingdom Welsh pig breeds agro4africa
Wessex Saddleback United Kingdom wessex-saddleback-pigs-breed-agro4africa

Credits for types of pig breeds pictures:
https://thepigsite.com, https://thisnzlife.co.nz, https://alchetron.com, https://www.mindenpictures.com, https://www.stuff.co.nz, https://pinterest.com, https://grit.com, https://pixabay.com, https://thatsfarming.com, https://fossilrim.org, https://shutterstock.com

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16 Comments

  1. Rudinel Palmes says:

    Hi Im Rudinel from Philippines
    I want more information for Hog production and thier Breeds.

    1. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      Hello Rudinel, We’ll update you with that information soon.

  2. Bamide Oniyide says:

    I quite find this very interesting, and I will also like to start pig farming

    1. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      Awesome… That’s a great move.

  3. Kishor Baro says:

    Hi iam kishor Kumar baro I want to pig 🐷 ferming at my home send some ideas

    1. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      Sure, keep following, you will get more resources here.

  4. I’m requesting for the breed characteristics as well as picture if possible in a PDF form.
    Otherwise this information is a vital one.

    1. Obaniyi Oluwasegun says:

      Good morning sir, please I want to know more about the pigs breed and the types of feed to be giving them as well as picture

    2. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      Sure, you will be updated soon

  5. James Ewane says:

    I know very little about pig farming and would like to learn, to be able to operate a medium-sized farm.

    1. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      That’s awesome.
      Tag along and ask questions if any.

  6. Olivia Jensen says:

    And also, I am still waiting to pickup the meat from the pigs we just took to butcher and we are very anxious to see how they taste we took a red one, a blue dun and a blue and white so we are hoping to get some insight on which ones taste the best

    1. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      That’s interesting… which are you betting on would be sweeter? 😃

  7. Olivia Jensen says:

    I have duroc x yorkshire hogs, both the boar and sow where the result of the mix. I sold the boar to e neighbor he was eating to much, but I still have the sow and she has had 2 litters of piglets. She is crazy, destructive and bossy and intelligent. Her appearance is grey with black skin and black stripes on her sides. I’ve been told it’s a blue dun color. Her piglets though, are black( blue ), all red, pink skin with black dots (blue dots), white with blue dots, I think they resemble a blue and white yorkshire and have the wonderful temperament that was known for the breed also to the point I call my blue and white pig sweetheart. The first litter I raised to butcher and have a few closing on 450# we are working on muscle before butchering and I just sold my spring litter of piglets but I would love to share the photos of the piglets and a photo of the ready to butcher pigs ive found no photos of any crossbreed pigs online. And also, my sow had 15 piglets at a time, 3 to 4 die from her smashing them but I suspect it’s on purpose they where half the size of the others and they bigger piglets wouldn’t let them eat and I only have 1 sow at a time that’s nursing so can’t co nurse.

    1. Mbazu Chibuzor says:

      Wow!! I would love to see that crossbreed. Please, send pictures and parent breed information to [email protected]

      Thanks.

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