[Mel]

Hi all, :wave:I seem to be getting mixed feelings about which breed we are going to have,I was on the thought of GOS all the way but now all the local farmers I know say-do not get pure breed GOS as they have too much fat on them! Their advice is go for the cross and best would be GOS/Tamworth.or landrace, I wanted to have pure breeds originally,The Pork sells for more so I have been advised.

I am not really going to sell much but all the locals are happy to buy from me when ready,I just want to make sure I am going to be getting good quality organic free range Pork!-and as I love Crackling, :yum:the Tamworths/GOS would be great,what are your feelings about the cross breeds as opposed to pure breeds? sorry if I seem ignorant but we are only beginners with Pigs.

[Hilarysmum]

Everyone will tell you their particular favourite breed is best.  Go for whatever you like best, pure or X bred.  Most of the fat on a GOS or any other breed tends to come from overfeeding as they get close to slaughter weight.

[JulieS]

I like pure bred GOS (but then I would say that!).  I've never had one that was too fat, just be careful with feeding and they are fine.  So, so tasty too.  Nothing quite like GOS meat and the crackling is the best.

[HappyHippy]

Whatever breed (or mix of breeds) you get will produce far superior pork to that of the commercial indoor reared pork, providing they're kept in an outdoor set-up with a bit of supplimentary fruit and veg BUT you can only sell pedigree pork as 'Gloustershire Old Spot' or 'Berkshire' pork from a cross breed can only be sold as outdoor reared, without a breed name.
Personally I'm a fan of pure breeds, but that only comes from a conservation point of view - there are many crosses which finish quicker and have pluses that pure breeds may not.
As has been said already - everyone will tell you that their breed is the best !

[loosey]

We had GOS and Cornish Blacks (lare blacks) this year. The CB's has a lot of fat on them but didn't look overweight, however the actual meat was very lean (all fat on outside). GOS's had fat within the meat which I quite like but our 14 months old gilts are still much slimmer than Daisy (CB) who is massive!!

To keep I prefer the CB's, for some reason they don't smell as much and less hassle trying to keep their ears from getting burnt in the summer! This year we are crossing the two breeds so we'll see what we end up with. We only sell to friends and family who don;t mind whether it's cross bred or not as long as it's from us! 

[SallyintNorth]

We've just had our first Oxford Sandy & Black back.  Absolutely delicious, you can really taste all those apples!

I think the theory is that OSBs were formed by a cross-breeding programme involving GOS, Tamworth and Berkshire - certainly it's a hairy, ginger, black-splodged (not spotted!) pig with (in my limited experience anyway) great character and charm.  Supposed to be not too large and not too fat.

I was very careful about not overfeeding and the fat depth was 20mm.  Our butcher buys his commercial pigs at 12mm so I thought 20mm on an outdoor-reared rare breed was very acceptable.  Enough for flavouring and self-basting (and tremendous crackling with very little effort) but not so much it's all fat and no meat. 

I have found that the meat itself was very lean - as someone else has said, the fat is on the outside and not distributed throughout the meat.  I don't know whether this was feeding or breeding - anyone else know?

Sally

[oaklandspigs]

Leghorn,

Ignore all advice and get what you like the look of

Yes there are differences between some breeds, and yes our GOS tend to be fattier after 6 months if you overfeed, but so will other breeds, and yes coloured pigs don't burn as easily as pink pigs, and yes and yes and yes.....  Answer is if there was one good pig to get, we all have it, and the other breeds would not exist

As HH says, the differences between breeds are insignificant to the taste of outdoor reared proper pork.

So choose what you fancy, and enjoy !

Of course you should now ignore my advice as I've just told you to ignore all advice !

[robert waddell]

LEGHORN your local farmers have they got pigs???   if they have not don't listen to them  all pigs if fed incorrectly will get fat even the commercial ones     as i have said before in other posts nobody went to bed at night and were devoid of knowledge and woke up the next morning and were knowlegable in everything just get what pigs you like

[HappyHippy]

Just to add-
For a first timer - lop eared breeds are generally a bit more laid back and easier to handle 

I'll go and hide now while all the Tamworth, Berkshire, Hampshire and other prick eared pig enthusiasts disagree with me   

[robert waddell]

not at all a good healthy debate is all that is required

[oaklandspigs]

HH,

agree with your advice, and also diving for cover !

[Sudanpan]

We had pure GOS last year - everyone who tasted the pork sad it was the best ever  Also the crackling was to DIE for.
This year we have OSB x GOS
I'm sure your consumers will enjoy whatever you produce , so go for what you like the look of!
Tish

[Leri]

We have large black X Gos sows - we have bred them with GOS boar and so weaners are 3/4 GOS.
Haven't sampled the meat yet so not much help.
Except to say that although we started out with x breeds to breed for meat. I now wish my blacks were pure large black, and that I had a pure GOS sow. I feel I would rather go pedigree/pure to maintain the breeds. As obviously I could still cross for meat but also produce some pedigree litters. So that will be my future plan. I also have a pedigree saddleback who is beautiful.
Eventually I will buy a pure large black sow (as I love my two crosses looks and nature) and a pure GOS sow - I can use my GOS boar on them all - but will also have option of hiring black boar and saddleback boar.
We did also try a couple of OSB weaners but found them a bit more difficult to keep - a little more likely to escape etc - although have heard plenty of people that love them. I would never say never as I think they are gorgeous pigs but you have to stop somewhere!!
I do find though looking at the breeds for looks alone it is just the breeds I've mentioned above I like - the lop eared coloured ones. I thin kthey are beautiful :-)

[HappyHippy]

Leri, my last 3 to go to slaughter were LB x GOS - the meat was fantastic 
A wee bit sweeter and not as 'porky' as other crosses I've had. So good infact, that I've not got a couple of pure LB's to ensure a steady supply 
HTH
Karen x

[Leri]

That's great to know happyhippy - thank you - does help to know it's a sensible idea for moving forward :-)