Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig

Facts about Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs, Gloucestershire Old Spot is a pig breed that is native to England. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs are largely found in the Gloucestershire County in England and hence, they were named after it. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig breeds are also commonly called as Gloucester Old Spot, Gloucester, Gloucestershire Old Spots or just Old Spots. In addition to the correct name and variations of the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig breed, such as Old Spot or Gloster Spot, the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig breed is also commonly referred to as the Cottager's Pig and the Orchard Pig. Ironically, in spite of these modest origins, both The Princess Royal and The Prince of Wales keep the Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs on their individual Gloucestershire estates.

History of Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig

In 1913, the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig Breed Society was created and the founders called this pig breed as Old Spots since the name of the pig breed is very long that nobody can remember. The first pure-bred records of the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig began during 1885, much after the society it did for sheep, cattle, and horses. This is for the reason that the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig breed was a peasant's mammal, a forager and was not at all highly considered. No other pure-bred spotted pig breed was recorded earlier than 1913, so the present Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig Breed Society is recognized as the oldest such pig breed in the world. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig breed has only had pedigree rank since the initial part of the 20th century.

The scientific name for Pig (Sus scrofa), the wild swine (Boar) from the old world with a narrow body and prominent tusks is from where most domestic swine come from. The "fear of pigs Swinophobia".

Once, the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig breeds were an extremely popular pig breed. With the arrival of rigorous farming, certain pale, lean, high-yield pig breeds were selected to suit the farm conditions and mass-production requirements. Many old pig breeds were extinct, or were diminished to a great extent, in this time.

Features of Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs are very intelligent, not like people think, that pigs are dumb animals. A Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig can drink between 10 to 14 gallons (37.8 to 53 liters)of water in a day. Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs are omnivores like humans, an omnivores, (definition-they eat both other animals and plants). The pig’s snout is its most important tool for finding food. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs snout is used for their excellent sense of smell. Usually, the male Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs are heavier than the female ones with a body mass of 600 lbs (272 kg), whereas the female pigs have a body weight of 500 lbs (227 kg). The body of this English pig breed is mostly white in color with black color spots. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs are recognized for their obedience, cleverness, and profligacy. The motherly skills of the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig breed allow it to raise great litters of piglets on the meadow. Its nature and self-support are supposed to make the pig breed attractive for farmers, developing pasture pigs and those who would like to adjoin pigs to diversified functions.

The head of the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig is elongated, with somewhat a dished nose. The ears of the breed are well set apart, and they are dropping forward to their nose. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig have a well-built body, with strong shoulders and they are not raised. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig have an extensive back, with a broad loin and well sprung ribs. The sides of their body are deep, with a broad belly and a border along the ribs to hams. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig have big hams and they are well packed to the hocks.

The legs of the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig breeds are strong and straight and their coat and skin are soft without crinkles. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig breeds have well-positioned teats.

The average lifespan of the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig breed is 10 years. The saliva of Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs contains pheromones-( A chemical substance used to attract a mate) similar to that of other pig breeds that communicate their sexual wants. The male Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs discharge this steroid and female pigs will go to vast lengths to acquire a smell of the stuff.
Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs are raised for there meat such as ham, sausage, bacon and pork chops. Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs can make great pets. A wild male pig is called a (boar)- meaning uncastrated male pig, that lives in the wild and can be hunted. Feral pigs (means wild) can be a very big danger where humans habitat.

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs can carry a variety of diseases and can pass them to humans. Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs have small lungs compared to their body size.

The term Swine: is any variety of omnivorous, even-toed ungulates of the family Suidae, this includes hogs, boars and pigs having a short neck, thick skin a movable snout and a stout body.

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs unlike is said, happen to be very clean animals. Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs make sure their bathroom area is far away from where they eat, lie down and rest, even piglets (baby pigs) will find a place to go to the bathroom, far away from their nest. A Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig averages 6 to 10 baby piglets in a litter and will have two to three litters per year

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs Feet

The four feet and four toes of the pig are called "trotters" that humans eat as a delicacy called pigs feet or pigs knuckles. A Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs foot has four toes that are pointed downwards when the pig walks, it walks on the tips of its toes, rather than its whole foot and only uses two of the toes in the middle and the outside toes for balance. The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig has tougher feet at the ends that are hooves. The two toes in the middle of the foot are slightly webbed, this helps the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs balance for walking.

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs do not sweat a lot, that's why they cover themselves in the mud to keep their bodies cool. The expression "sweating like a pig" comes from a reference to pig iron, which comes form iron smelting.

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs have 44 teeth when full grown, when they are baby pigs (piglets) the have 28 teeth which will fall out when they are 12 months old. Just like human teeth, the pig has an enamel coating that makes the Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs teeth stronger and helps it curb disease. Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs chew their food because pigs have a digestive system similar to a human digestive system and cannot digest food that is not chewed.