Swiss Large White pig

Young sow of the Swiss Large White breed (SUISAG)

Origin and development

The Swiss Large White pig has been the subject of breeding programmes since the early 1900s. It derives from old native breeds and was gradually improved by cross-breeding with the British Yorkshire. Since 2002, the Swiss Large White has been bred as a typical dam line with excellent reproductive traits, and it is now the predominant Swiss breed. It is particularly suitable for the production of fertile and long-lived cross-bred sows, but it is also used as a pure-bred breeding sow for the production of porkers.

Description

White pig with erect ears, good maternal traits and an average of 16 teats.

Breeding objectives

Optimum litter size and minimal suckling losses. Small number of non productive sow days. Good lifetime performance with regular litters and low within-litter birthweight variation. Optimum weight gain with good feed conversion and medium-fleshed animals. Selection for E. coli resistance.

Swiss Large White suckling her piglets (SUISAG)

Performance traits of animals registered in the herdbook (2019)

Reproductive performance h 13.1 live-born piglets per litter h 2.4 litters per sow per year

Ultrasound on-farm testing (males) h 99.3 kg weight at end of test h 155 days of age at end of test h 640 g lifetime average daily gain Ultrasound on-farm testing (females) h 97.5 kg weight at end of test h 158 days of age at end of test h 621 g lifetime average daily gain

Station testing (females and castrated males) h 971 g average daily gain during fattening h 2.53 kg/kg feed conversion h 57% lean meat content h 2.2% intramuscular fat content h 100 cm carcass length

References

Suisseporcs (www.suisseporcs.ch) SUISAG (www.suisag.ch)