Can genes from English and Swedish pigs provide a more robust and vigorous pig for organic production? The Knowledge Centre for Agriculture, Organic Department and the Development Centre for Outdoor Animal Production are looking into this in a new project.

Foreign genes can be the source of a new and more robust and vigorous breed of pig.

That was what a delegation from the Knowledge Centre, Organic Department and the Development Centre for Outdoor Animal Production were searching for on their recent visit to England and Sweden to study pig breeds.

The study trip is part of a new project about investigating whether there are breeds in England and Sweden that are better disposed at living outdoors, as is typical in organic pig production.

- The hope is to find cross breed combinations that can breed pigs that are both vigorous, have a good temperament and successfully look after their young. If we are successful it could be part of the solution in reducing death rates of piglets in Denmark, says Tove Serup, specialist in the Organic Department.

Piglets from smaller litters

It is the organic pig producers that have, over a number of years, been seeking a breeding solution to finding a more robust piglet from smaller litters.

Organic sows are normally kept outdoors where they are free to move around, they live in pig-huts in the field and have the opportunity to express normal behaviour such as nest building for example.  This poses exceptional demands both to the animals and to their daily management.

The sows often give birth to more piglets than they have teats. As they are free to move around it is not easy to transfer piglets from one litter to another, as is practiced in a conventional production.

- Each sow must be able to look after its own piglets and the piglets must be robust and vigorous, in the optimal situation. If the number of piglets in a litter, more or less, matched the number of teats on the sows udder there would be a good chance of attaining this situation, explained Tove Serup.