 Meishan pigs at the Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska | |
| Country of origin | China |
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| Traits | |
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The Taihu pig (Chinese: 太湖猪) is a domestic breed of pig from the narrow region of mild sub-tropical climate around the Lake Tai region in the lower Yangtze River Valley of China. The breed is a large one, black in colour with a heavily wrinkled face. It has a large head with a broad forehead and large folded ears.[1][2] The breed has a number of divisions, classified by some authors as strains[3] and by others as separate breeds.[4]
All the Taihu strains have a high rate of reproduction with litter sizes ranging up to twenty, but averaging fourteen live piglets. This characteristic, as well as their resistance to disease, has resulted in interest in the pigs for research into breeding and genetic engineering. Taihu pigs have been established in France, Albania, Hungary, Japan, the UK and the US.[1]
- ^ a b Mike R. Taverner, A. C. Dunkin, "Pig production", World Animal Science, vol.10C: Production System Approach, p.337, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996 ISBN 0-444-88347-9.
- ^ "Fengjing" @ Oklahoma State University: Department of Animal Science
- ^ Taverner and Dunkin 1996, following Zhang, 1986.
- ^ Flanders, 2009.