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Performance of Hogs of Different Breeds and from Straightbred and Crossbred Dams on Wisconsin Farms¹

University of Wisconsin

Abstract

FEW comparisons of the prolificacy, viability, and rate of gain of farm-raised hogs of the different breeds have been made. Lush and Molln (1942), using records from college herds and from state and federal experiment station herds, compared eight breeds of hogs for litter size at birth and weaning and weaning weight of the litter. They found highly significant differences between the breeds for each of these characteristics. There are several publications on the effects of crossbreeding swine for market hog production, among them those by Carroll and Roberts (1942), Lush et al. (1940), Robison (1948), and Winters et al. (1935). The results of these experiments indicate a consistent though not large superiority of the crossbreds over the purebreds. The interpretatkm of these results, however, and the opinion as to the economic soundness of the practice when all factors are considered, vary.

Knowledge of differences between breeds and between purebreds and crossbreds is of interest not only to hog producers, but to investigators in genetics, nutrition, and other aspects of swine experimentation as well. This paper presents information on the performance of four pure breeds, and on the performance of purebred and of crossbred dams.

¹ Paper No. 511 from the Department of Genetics and the Department of Animal Husbandry. Published with the approval of the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. This work was supported in part by a grant from Oscar Mayer and Company, Madison, Wisconsin.