Actias luna, the exquisite Luna moth. Luna moths are rarely seen, but are rather common. They only live for a week, during which they do not eat, because they don’t have mouths. I found this one out in the woods, probably been there for a while. How I wish I’d seen it living! #lunamoth #actiasluna #moths
Learning line breeding by doing. It’s one thing to read about it, it’s another thing entirely to set things into motion and be prepared to deal with the outcome. It’s just not as simple as breeding two pigs together- the pigs in their pedigrees matter, as past generations have influence. We dig deeper to know the pigs in the pedigrees, and their potential influence in offspring and future generations based on common ancestors.
Here we are determining the percentage of possible influence that certain pigs have on the pedigree, the potential likelihood of wattled offspring, and a little bit about what colors might be expected. We’re very familiar with pigs from these pairings, so we have a pretty good idea of what genes are regularly being expressed, and what possible flaws may appear, as well.
I’m guessing 25-50% of the offspring will be wattled, and that colors will range from cream to white/brown to brown/white with a small possibility for b/w or w/b. Will these offspring be consistent? I think some of them will. I think some of the piglets will have nice heads and heavy jowls, but you just never know! You’ll have to stay with me and see what the outcome is! We can learn together :) What I am pretty sure about is that these piglets will be a good size, with solid/thick bodies and good growth rate. If we keep any offspring from this pairing, the next generation will be carefully chosen.
#alwayslearning #selectivebreeding #learningasIgo #ancoraimparo #linebreeding #kunekunepigs #predictingtraits #registeredpigs #breedconservation #porktype #realpigfarming #heritagebreed
True story, I spent a good part of my morning helping this 390 pound Kunekune boar breed this Meishan sow.
I honestly don’t know what she weighs, as the tape measure method is not accurate with Meishans, they are so tall and narrow. I can tell you this… I’ve taken her offspring in for harvesting, that were the same size as her… and they only had hanging weights of 170-190 lbs. My tape measure told me that they weighed close to 340 lbs.
Kunekune are very accurately weighed with a tape measure, and loss from live to hanging is always 25-30% depending on if it’s a gilt/sow, boar, or barrow.
I’ve come to believe that the Meishan, while they look BIG, are full of air. The Kunekune? An extremely solid and dense pig, with a lot of meat and a layer of fat that depends on how YOU feed it. The only people I’ve ever seen complain and carry on about Kunekunes being “too fat” are people who don’t characteristically raise them. For example, the pastured pig guy who decides to finish off a Kunekune, and feeds it far too much and ends up with a walking lard ball. Or the person inexperienced with pigs and judging body condition, who gorges their pig and makes it obese.
If fed properly, Kunekune have a wonderful ratio of meat to fat, and how you feed and finish will dictate how much of that fat you take home.
The Kunekune pig is a marvelous pork producer for smaller and sustainable farms. It’s perfect for niche pork production, charcuterie and specialty & gourmet meats.
So why on earth are we breeding a Kunekune to a Meishan? One word: Transition. We don’t have enough Kunekune to market size in our meat herd, and we aren’t hitting our target weights consistently. We DO have Meishan pigs at a year old that have hanging weights of approx 150-160 lbs, so we hope this pairing will give us some offspring with hybrid vigor and the Meishan’s growth rate, with a more solid/broad body type and better temperament! Not too much to ask, ha ha! Eventually we will be 100% Kunekune!
