Purebred vs. Crossbred

Breeding questions, sow talk, semen management, baby pig basics
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Mycomorel
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Purebred vs. Crossbred

Post by Mycomorel » Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:32 pm

Hello everyone,

I haven't breed pigs in 15 years and I'm in the process of selecting gilts for a new breeding herd. I have 5 years before my children will start showing and would like to take that time to build a high quality show herd. I have been looking for information regarding best practice when it comes to building a successful show herd. It seems from all the information I've gathered that it would be better to selectively breed purebred lines of sows to improve my quality and then out cross those sows with a different breed of purebred boar to create an F1 hybrid that would be used as a show pig.

I have talked with other show pig producers in the area and they have told me that they mainly have crossbred sows and have no idea how far they are removed from their purebred out crossings.

My thought is if F2,F3,F4 generations loose heterosis the further they get away from the original out cross then doesn't an F1 give you an advantage assuming the quality of the sow and boar is equal.

Just curious if this is the better path to take and what wisdom you may be able to pass on to me.
Thank you.

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colored_pigs
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Re: Purebred vs. Crossbred

Post by colored_pigs » Sun Sep 30, 2018 10:36 am

I am sorry you did not get an answer sooner. I have a small operation that is mostly geared to my kids projects and other county fair's.

In my opinion the F1 is the best females for show pigs. Last year we bred 3 sows to our above average herd boar. 2 very crossed up females from different cross bred boars 1 hamp appearing 1 heavy blue and I had 1 (F1) female that was 1/2 york from an average boar at best, she was just great phenotypically. The F1 did not have the best baby out of the group but easily had the best litter overall.

This year i kept 3 sows plus 2 gilts, bred the cross females to pure yorks and hamps, bred that F1 female to a boar from Southern gold. One did not cycle at expected time and had old semen and choose to bred to same above aveage boar. All for Jan 2019 litters. I believe I have read about F1 expected consistancy compared to very heavy crossed females but did not apply it to my own herd. Excited to see how Jan 19 pigs look.

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