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Author Topic: Essex pigs  (Read 12447 times)

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Essex pigs
« on: July 26, 2012, 04:35:12 pm »
Following on from the youtube clips of Adam's Farm I have been watching "Jimmy's Farm". He is trying to preserve a breed of pig called an Essex.
They look to my untrained eye exactly like a Saddleback. Is there a difference and if so what is it? :pig:  (by the way, youtube should be banned----last nights dishes are still in the sink :o ;D )

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2012, 04:45:26 pm »
your untrained eye is getting better      they are saddelbacks    the saddelback was formed from the Essex and the Wessex pig back in the early sixty's     but some lines can be traced back to either breed :farmer:

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2012, 05:35:11 pm »
So there were a few more than 60 left on this planet? :-\

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2012, 05:42:04 pm »
they must have had them all at yorkshire show last year   one class had thirty in it :farmer:

Polished Arrow

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • Forest of Dean
  • www.cinderhilllfarm.com
    • www.cinderhillfarm.com
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2012, 06:59:44 pm »
Essex ears are pricked, I believe.


I have a number of Saddleback piglets where the 'Essex' has come through - in the form of prick ears rather than the lop that they are meant to have.  They are little cuties, though  :D



www.cinderhillfarm.com

We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.
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WarescotFarm

  • Joined Jun 2012
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2012, 07:10:16 pm »
Maybe if we stopped eating them there would be more than 60  :innocent:
Miniature Falabella, Pygmy Goat, 2 Glouster Old Spots, 1 Long Island Red, 1 Light Sussex, 1 Dark Sussex, 1 Silkie, 1 Magpie Duck and hopefully some more chicks and ducklings due to hatch soon!

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2012, 07:21:55 pm »
Jimmy's farm Essex pigs were lop-eared. In fact when he entered a boar in  a show the judge called him (the pig) a Saddleback with no come back ???

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2012, 07:27:11 pm »
Ah Warescotfarm, actually the opposite is true  ;)

Bear with me (I know it seems strange) but if no one wanted to keep these pigs and raise them for pork there would be no need for the breeders to have litters born. Without these litters being born, there would be no good, young gilts coming through to replace the sow in the breeding herd and if not being bred regularly the sows fertility would drop off and any future litters might be smaller (if the sow was even able to conceive at all).
So, in truth, by keeping and eating the ones who don't make the grade for breeding, people are actually helping to ensure the continued success of the breed  :thumbsup:

In the UK 'Essex' isn't a recognised breed of pig - they are known as British Saddlebacks and the breed standard says they should have lop ears. The only one with a white saddle and prick ears that is a pedigree breed in the UK is the Hampshire (but not the original Hampshire breed from the UK, just to confuse things even more  ::) :D)

WarescotFarm

  • Joined Jun 2012
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2012, 07:33:53 pm »
Yeah I know, was just being a pain  ;)
We love raising glouster old spots, if I had land would have loads of piggies, I love those saddlesback / essex breeds too  ;D
Miniature Falabella, Pygmy Goat, 2 Glouster Old Spots, 1 Long Island Red, 1 Light Sussex, 1 Dark Sussex, 1 Silkie, 1 Magpie Duck and hopefully some more chicks and ducklings due to hatch soon!

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2012, 07:57:46 pm »
there are saddelbacks with prick ears       but some breeders are at it with crossing with the Hampshire to get better conformation :farmer:
just to confuse even more the RBST sells a little pig book and it claims the Hampshire originated in the borders    i am assuming the Scottish borders is implied with this book :farmer:

kitchen cottage

  • Guest
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2012, 09:37:35 pm »
I keep an Essex Sow and piglets.  They are smaller than the saddleback but perfect for a smallholder with a very uniform temperament.  Moreover, they are well adapted to Essex conditons and thrive in clay.
 
I love my Essex Pigs.  There are at least 60 around here!  ( I have nine! and the city farm has 3 breeding sows and 29 pigs at the moment without going round my neighbours!) and I suspect 1000-2000 is closer to the real figure..... they are LOVELY meat (though having tasted it I am getting to be a bit of a Tammy fan and have just bought 3 tammy/essex cross weaners ;D )
 
They are saddlebacks, they just aren't British Saddlebacks because they have no Wessex in them.
 
The only Essex pigs are derived from one farm.
 

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2012, 08:06:35 am »
Well, I'll be blowed. It gets a bit confusing, doesn't it ??? ;D

Blonde

  • Joined Mar 2011
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #12 on: July 28, 2012, 11:36:40 am »
Jimmy's farm Essex pigs were lop-eared. In fact when he entered a boar in  a show the judge called him (the pig) a Saddleback with no come back ???
There is a bit of variation on the old saddle back.....some have spiked ears some have lop ears.  and some are not black and white but brown and white.

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2012, 02:48:43 pm »
Confuseder and confuseder :-\ ::) :-\  I'll stick to my Kunes. ( though, I was told last week that my pigs were way too big for Kunes. I'm 5ft. 1. and they come just past my knee) ??????

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: Essex pigs
« Reply #14 on: July 28, 2012, 03:17:52 pm »
in all  probability Sylvia your kunnies are not 100% genuine kunnies   in the last 10 years they have increased there number of piglets in a litter  3 fold and doubled in size   but only some it is not an across the board  increase     it all comes down to the integrity of the breeder       if there was DNA testing available more than a few breeders would be crapping it  and not just the kunnies at that :farmer:

 

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