At present, most of the sows in many large-scale farms in China are binary sows handed over by Changbai and Dabai, and then use Duroc boars to breed, and get the most common fat pig breed on the market - foreign ternary, and the domestic pig breeds are squeezed out very seriously. Such strains benefit from the high number of litters produced by binary sows, the faster growth rate of ternary pigs, and the better meat quality. In fact, there are more than 100 kinds of local pig breeds in China, and at present, there are more prominent pigs, Taihu pigs, Jinhua pigs, big flower white pigs, Neijiang pigs and so on. Among them, there is a breed of pig breeding performance is the highest pig breed in the world, the average number of sows produced is 15.83 heads, the highest can reach 26 heads, and the world's highest record is 42 heads, which is China's Taihu Lake pig. Taihu pigs are known as the "national treasures" of the pig industry, and have been introduced by France, Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries.
Taihu pigs are mainly distributed in the Taihu Lake basin bordering Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, subdivided into Meishan, Fengjing, Jiaxing black, Erhua face and other taxa. Taihu pigs are medium in size, sparsely coated, mostly black or bluish gray, but also have white noses and tail tips, and meishan pigs have white limbs. The head of the Taihu pig is large and wide, the forehead and posterior folds are deep, the ears are large and droopy, such as flue-cured tobacco leaf type, and the ear tips are more than the corners of the mouth. The limbs are thick, the abdomen is large and droopy, and the abdomen of mature Taihu sows may touch the ground and the hips are slightly higher. Most Taihu pigs have 8-9 pairs of nipples, and the maximum is 12.5 pairs.
Taihu pigs have early sexual maturity, generally about 3 months will appear the first estrus, but until 6-7 months of age, the weight of more than 50 kg is suitable for breeding. Before 6 months of age, Taihu sows have not really matured sexually, and premature breeding will affect the litter rate and cause difficult births. The average estrus cycle of Taihu sows is about 21 days, and the estrus period is 3-4 days. The average number of ovulations of sexually mature Taihu sows is about 29, which is higher than that of binary sows. According to statistics, the average initial litter yield of Taihu sows was 12.14 heads, the number of live litters was 11.35 heads, and the average number of sows produced was 15.83 heads, and the number of live litters was 14.24 heads. According to statistics, Taihu sows with more than three litters can produce 20 heads per litter, excellent sows can produce up to 26 litters per litter, the world's highest record is 42, and the last 40 survive. Taihu piglets are stronger and more resistant to disease.
Adult Taihu sows weigh 160-180 kg and adult boars weigh 180-200 kg. Taihu fat pigs are generally slaughtered at about 90 kilograms, and the lean meat rate is about 40%. The meat quality is better, and the content of glutamic acid, serine, methionine, threonine and so on is higher than that of other varieties. The fat content in the muscle is high, the intermuscular fat content is about 1.37%, and the muscle marble score is 3 points. The daily weight of the fattening pigs in Taihu Lake is about 400 grams to 450 grams, and each kilogram of weight gain needs to consume more than 4 kg of feed, that is, the ratio of feed to meat is more than 4.0. Low feed utilization and slow growth rate are also the main disadvantages of Taihu pig breeds. At present, Taihu pigs have been introduced by France, Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries, using high-yield genes to breed improved pig breeds. The genetic performance of Taihu pig breed is stable, and the advantages are easy to retain after hybridization with lean pigs. At present, many countries and localities use the "Long Tai Sow" after the hybridization of the Changbai boar and the Taihu Sow as the basic sow, and then carry out ternary hybridization. After the hybridization of the long sow and the Duroc boar, the ternary pig maintained the characteristics of high parent litter, high lean meat rate and fast growth rate.
On June 2, 2006, China included the Taihu Lake pig in the national inventory of livestock and poultry genetic resources protection, which can also be seen in the preciousness of the pig species. In order to protect and develop the precious resource of Taihu pigs, in 1984, China established the "Taihu Lake Pig Breeding Center" in Suzhou, and has now bred a new national pig breed "Sutai Pig".
Knowing that pig lovers are here, they also hope that from the state to the farmers can attach importance to this excellent breed, take advantage of the high number of litters in Taihu Lake, and promote the development of the pig economy in China and the world.