our history
Our rare breeds - The Berkshire
The breed originated in the Thames Valley, possibly around Wantage, circa 1790. It began as a large tawny red pig, spotted with black. The ears were inclined to be pendulous, the body long and thick, with short legs and plenty of bone. By the early 1800s, the breed had become lighter in the head and ears, shorter and more compact with less bone. Lord Barrington was thought to be largely responsible for the improvement, when introducing Chinese or East Asian blood to the breed. In the middle of this century, the decline in numbers of Berkshires kept resulted in the near extinction of the breed in this country. With the introduction of new blood from Australia, New Zealand and the USA, the breed has made great progress in recent years, both numerically and in carcass quality. Although primarily black in colour, the Berkshire carcass dresses out completely white, and has a high proportion of lean meat to fat. The flesh is fine in texture, and has a distinct flavour. As a crossing breed, the Berkshire ill suit any programme, whether used as a sire or dam. When mated to a white breed, the resulting progeny will be white, and will inherit the Berkshire's naturally strong constitution to withstand extremes of temperature and the easy level of feeding associated with the breed. The Berkshire sow is a productive, placid pig, which is a heavy milker and will lose little flesh whilst rearing her litter. The breed enjoys an ongoing, successful export trade, particularly to the Far East, where Berkshire pork is marketed as a rare delicacy.
The breed standard:
- Head: Fine face, dished snout of medium length; wide between the eyes and ears. Ears fairly large, carried erect or slightly inclined forward and fringed with fine hair. Jowl light
- Neck: Fine, evenly set in shoulder, free from wrinkles and free from crest
- Shoulder Blades: Fine and well sloping. Special notice to be taken regarding this point in females
- Legs and Feet: short, straight and strong set wide apart, standing well on toes and a good walker
- Back: long and level. Tail set high. Good spring of rib
- Ham: Broad, wide and deep to the hock
- Belly: Straight underline, with at least twelve sound and well placed teats
- Bone: well developed in males and fine in females
- Flesh: Fine and free from wrinkles
- Hair: Long, fine and plentiful, with absence of mane, especially in females
- Colour: Black, with white on face, feet and tip of tail
