Pigs are divided into meat, greasy and bacon categories. Elite breeds of pigs, which can give a sufficiently large number of lean, lean meat, belong to the category of bacon.
They also differ in a thin layer of fat under the skin. Just one of these breeds of pigs is landrace. It is in considerable demand not only in Western countries, but also our breeders really like it.
Further in the article we will give a description of the breed of pigs Landrace with photos, as well as figure out how to breed these animals and care for them.
Characteristics and features of the breed
Landrace is a very popular breed of pigs. She was bred just to produce the maximum amount of meat, not fat.
Breeding history
Landrasov was bred by breeding Danish pig and large white English. It happened in Denmark at the beginning of the 20th century. The large white pig for crossing was chosen not by chance, but due to the fact that it possesses optimal exterior and productive qualities.
It should be mentioned that purebred pigs have a number of serious drawbacks. These include weak tanks and wiggling backwards due to the weakness of the hind legs. To make the breed more sophisticated and robust, breeders also breed the Landrace bacon breed with some other native species.
If we talk about resilience, body strength, resistance to stress, as well as meat indicators, the two-breed landrace significantly outnumber their pure breed congeners. 
Appearance
Domestic animals of this breed differ from others in their robust physique, as well as in very significant meat volumes. The body they have a long and elongated, torpedo-shaped.
The head is small and goes into a rather fleshy neck. The back is always straight, and the chest is narrow. The skin is thin and pinkish. The whole body of landras pigs is covered with rare and soft bristles of white color.
The limbs of these animals are of medium length. Healthy pigs are always mobile and move quickly through the pigsty. A distinctive feature, which it is impossible not to recall when describing landas breed of pigs, are long ears. They even hover over the eyes of the animal.
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This is a large breed pig. Males can grow up to two meters in length, and the girth of their chest at the same time reaches one and a half meters. As for sows, they usually do not grow longer than 1.6 m, the girth of their chest is also up to 1.5 m.
Productive qualities
The profitability of keeping landrace pigs has already been appreciated by many farmers. Such animals do not accumulate much fat. An important advantage is also accelerated protein synthesis, which has a beneficial effect on the growth of young animals.
They gain about 700 g of weight per day, in connection with which they can weigh about 20 kg at the age of two months. For an average of six months, you can reach 100 kg of live weight of the animal.
Such a rapid weight gain and the overall development of pigs very significantly save the financial means of razvodchiki who are spent on feeding, and therefore, increase the level of profitability.
An adult boar can weigh about 270-310 kg, sow landras breed - about 200 kg. At the same time, despite such a significant weight, the animals are very active and mobile.
Among the bacon breeds, Landrace pigs are considered among the best in terms of productivity. If you compare the amount of meat and the thickness of the blubber, then according to these indicators, they are 2-5% higher than other breeds. 
These animals are considered to be very prolific, since a landrace sow can produce 10–12 piglets at one time. At the same time, she has a highly developed instinct for motherhood and is characterized by a good level of milkiness.
Important! Good productivity is possible only under quality conditions. In order for the pigs to quickly develop, grow and gain weight, they need to provide a warm and dry room, as well as a good diet. The same should be provided to the sows so that they give large offspring.
How to choose pigs when buying
If you plan to keep two animals on your home farm, then it is not recommended to take two pigs. This is due to the fact that, starting from the fifth month, the female individuals are moving into the hunt. They disturb each other, which usually affects the efficiency of fattening.
Choosing a pig for purchase, you need to pay attention to his fatness. About the general strength of the constitution, as well as the state of health of the pig will tell a good physique, strong bones and high-spirited temperament.
The skin must be smooth and elastic, and sufficient oblasti should be present. The bristle of a healthy pig should be silky, the tail is dry and clean. 
The straight or slightly curved profile of the snout can tell about the strength of the backbone, the back should be slightly convex, the chest - deep and wide. The limbs must also be very strong and set wide apart; the hoof must be brilliant and clean.
Important! Excessively snub-nosed snout, slack back, as well as thin and curved legs are indicators of a weak constitution of the animal's body.
As for fatness, it should be quite good, but not excessive. Equally important is the condition of the lungs of the animal. If piglets are hard and often breathe, cough or wheeze, then this indicates lung disease. Healthy pig breathes deeply, without coughing and wheezing.
An important indicator of growth and development of a piglet is live weight. At the age of 3-4 weeks, a normally developed pig should weigh about 5-7 kg, at the age of 7-8 weeks - 14-18 kg.
Also a positive sign of a well-developed animal is the large length of its body. It is the long pigs that will grow faster and develop better. 
You will probably be interested to read about such breeds of pigs as: karmal, petren, red-belt, Hungarian mangalitsa, Vietnamese vislobryukhaya, downy mangalitsa, dyurok, mirgorodskaya.
Conditions of detention
Landrace pigs should be kept in a warm and necessarily dry pen. There should be no drafts, and the temperature can not fall below 20 degrees. You also need to regularly replace the litter, which should always be clean, fresh and always dry.
If animals are bred in areas with mild winters, then you can keep them in hangars using Canadian technology (do not change litter). Young animals react rather painfully to lower temperatures, drafts and dirt.
So, if you are going to maintain such a breed of pigs, you need to be prepared for the fact that they will have to pay quite a lot of attention.
It is necessary to keep the room rate for one individual, because in crowded conditions and crowding these pigs will slowly develop and often suffer diseases. So, for a boar, you need to allocate about 6 square meters of space, and for a sow - about 4 square meters.
It is also very important to monitor enough lighting: the total area of the windows should be at least one fifth of the floor area. 
Did you know? Pigs do not sweat. They have very few sweat glands. The organism of these animals is not capable of self-cooling due to perspiration, as, for example, the human body. A pig would gladly climb into the water, but as you know, no one is happy with the pools for it. That is why animals climb into the liquid mud, thus waiting for the midday heat.
Animal care
In order for a farmer not to encounter animal diseases, their death, as well as loss of profitability of breeding, it is necessary to adhere to a number of mandatory rules and recommendations in the process of raising landrace pigs.
Vaccinations
Even during the purchase of pigs, you must request from the seller a certificate from a veterinarian. There must necessarily be a corresponding mark that prophylactic vaccinations were carried out. If the pigs appeared directly on their own farm, then vaccination should be carried out according to the following scheme:
- on the third day of piglet life, they need to enter polyvalent serum, which protects animals from colibacillosis and salmonellosis. Also introduced vitamins and drugs, incorporating iron;
- when the pigs will be one and a half months old, should be vaccinated against leptospirosis, observing the seven-day interval between procedures;
- in the second month of life, animals need to be vaccinated against erysipelas;
- at three months of age should be vaccinated against the plague.
Hygiene
Despite the stereotypes, pigs are very fond of cleanliness. If you keep them on wet and dirty litter, then there is a serious risk of animal damage by helminth infections, pasteurellosis and sarcoptosis. That is why it is extremely important to regularly clean the pen, and small pigs bathe additionally in warm clean water.
Lighting, temperature
Proper lighting and adequate microclimate are key to the healthy development of pets. It is worth remembering that the Landrace breed is very sensitive to lower temperatures and drafts.
Therefore, it is very important to try to keep in the pen the average air temperature at a rate of 20 degrees. As for lighting, the best option would be to combine artificial and natural light.
If it is good to adjust the mode of lighting, it will be possible to improve the blood composition of pigs, as well as to raise the level of their resistance to diseases.
Walking
Again, the Landrace breed is a frisky and active pig. In spring and summer, when weather conditions allow, they need to provide an opportunity to run around on the walking area. Ideally, there will also be equipped with scratches and baths. 
Important! Landrace piglets must be bathed and vaccinated. Despite their vitality and good productivity, in the absence of vaccinations, these animals will often get sick.
What to feed
To get high-quality bacon, you need to ensure the animal the proper diet. The daily volume of food should be divided into two meals, and in winter it is recommended to feed the pigs three times.
It is also worth noting that the excess in the diet of nutrients can lead to the formation of excess subcutaneous fat, so it is very important to dilute the combined feed for pigs with coarse: meal, bran, hay.
For the breed Landrace will be very useful fresh vegetables, roots, silage. In the first place is to put fresh greens, especially nettles and clover, as well as pumpkin.
As for young pigs, they should be regularly inspected regularly and, if there are signs of insufficient weight gain, provide them with additional feeding. 
Did you know? Pig sense of smell can compete in sensitivity with dog smell. So, the French use this feature of pigs in order to search for truffle mushrooms, which grow at a depth of 10-16 cm in the soil. Today, trained pigs are excellent snoops of explosives, drugs, etc.
Case and breeding of young animals
When the sow becomes noticeable redness in the genital area, you need to think about choosing a boar for breeding animals.. After all, if on farms engaged in pig breeding, the search for boars for mating will not be a problem, then in the conditions of domestic breeding of these animals, you need to think about searching for them in advance.
Sows hunt for about two days. For successful passage of the mating of animals of this breed, it is necessary to provide a sow with a boar 2-3 times. The first mating should be implemented 10 hours after the first signs of desire are noticed in the sow, the next one - approximately 12 hours after the first one.
A sow that is ready to interbreed usually stays motionless in the process of covering it with a boar. In that case, if she does not let him in, spins, then this is a sign that the crossing process fails.
Some razvodchiki, especially inexperienced, knowing the need for two acts for effective mating, leave the boar and sow in the same pen or cage. 
It is not necessary to do this, as multiple crossing is characterized by a negative impact on the planned piglets. Also, the process of mating must be closely monitored, since during such a period pigs are very aggressive, because of which they can inflict damage to each other and wounds. This is especially true of large pigs.
Mating will be considered successful if, after 2-3 weeks after it, the sow does not show signs of hunting. It is worth noting that the presence of a single unhurried cross is not a reason to start feeding the sow for the purpose of further slaughter.
Failure can be mating due to poor quality boar semen. Also, the reason may be the wrong time to cross, when the sow was not yet ready for mating.
The most common cause of unsuccessful mating is the depletion of a pig or its excessive weight. You can try again, but with another boar. It is also very important to adhere to the diet of animals, they should not be hungry.
As for piglets, young landrass pigs are very demanding, and therefore it is very important to create good conditions for them. Farrowing in this breed is quite complicated, so the breeders must always be ready to help the sow. 
In the Landrace breed, piglets are born 114 days after mating has taken place. Piglet weight is about 1.5-2 kg.
Piglets after birth need to wipe dry, get rid of the umbilical cord, as well as to treat the umbilical wound with a solution of iodine. After that the pigs should be laid on a clean and dry litter, and a glow lamp next to it should be installed so that the pigs do not freeze.
Newborn babies should be brought to the nipples of the sow within the first hour after farrowing. Thanks to colostrum, the viability of young animals will increase.
In the first days of life, pigs should be fed exclusively on sow's milk. Weak individuals should be placed on the mother’s front nipples, since there is more milk there.
Piglets need to be settled together with the mother, but the pen needs to be divided into two sections. It is necessary to make it so that the sow does not accidentally crush its babies.
Also, the Landrace breed is characterized by a high level of sensitivity to stress, which means that they can show aggression in relation to their own babies and even eat them. 
For landrace piglets, both grooming and regular feeding are important. Feeding calves to their mother should be done once every two to three hours.
As you can see, the process of caring for landas pigs has a number of very important features. You need to pay a lot of attention, time and effort for the successful breeding of these pets. But product quality completely covers all costs. And any farmer will be able to learn all the details of animal care.
