Taihu pigs are known as a "national treasure" and are the pig breed with the highest litter size in the world. Many people want to raise Taihu pigs, so what pig breeds should you breed with Taihu pigs to make the piglets grow quickly? Let's take a look.
1. What pig breeds should you breed with Taihu pigs to make piglets grow faster?
Pairing Taihu sows with Landrace boars is preferable, as the piglets grow quickly. Taihu pigs exhibit strong hybrid vigor when crossbred with lean-type pig breeds, and their genetic performance is relatively stable, making them ideal as hybrid maternal lines. Currently, Taihu pigs are commonly used as the maternal line for three-way crossbreeding (the first generation of sows from a cross between a Taihu sow and a Landrace boar). During crossbreeding, three-way crosses such as Landrace-Taihu or Duroc-Landrace-Taihu maintain the characteristics of rapid growth, high lean meat percentage, and large litter size found in the parents.
II. How many types of sows are there in Taihu Lake?
Taihu sows include breeds such as Meishan pigs , Erhualian pigs, Hengjing pigs, Jiaxing black pigs, Fengjing pigs, Shawutou pigs, and Mi pigs. Among them, the Erhualian pig's breeding center is around Shunshan Mountain in Jiangsu Province, mainly distributed in Changshu, Wuxi, Wujin, Shazhou, Jiangyin, Yixing, Danyang, and Jingjiang counties. The Meishan pig's breeding center is along the banks of the Liuhe River, the main drainage channel of Taihu Lake, mainly distributed in Jiading District of Shanghai and Kunshan and Taicang counties of Jiangsu Province.
III. What are the taboos for raising Taihu sows for the first time?
1. Avoid breeding too early.
Taihu sows reach puberty around 4 months of age and sexual maturity relatively early. They can be bred when they reach a weight of about 70 kg and are 6-7 months old. If they are bred and give birth too early, it will not only harm the sow herself, but also indirectly affect the survival rate and number of piglets. Therefore, it is not advisable to breed Taihu sows too early.
2. Avoid using outdated methods of raising livestock.
Taihu sows differ significantly from the old Taihu sows in their feeding methods. They are a new type of lean-type sow with relatively high requirements for feed quality and feeding. If the old feeding methods are used, adult sows are prone to problems such as difficulty in coming into estrus and mating, poor physical condition, and small size.
3. Avoid mixing new and old animals.
Compared to older Taihu pigs like Erhualian, Taihu sows have stronger resistance to some diseases or have already survived them. If Taihu sows are mixed with older sows like Erhualian, some diseases that Taihu sows have survived will often occur in older Taihu sows, resulting in adverse phenomena such as piglet mortality and miscarriage in pregnant sows.
