Mora Romagnola Pigs

Facts about Mora Romagnola Pigs. The Mora Romagnola are pigs that originates from Emilia Romagna in Italy. The Mora Romagnola Pig are also known as Mora, Bruna Romagnola, Forlivese or Castagnina. The "Mora Romagnola Pig" is strictly raised in Lomardy, Marche, Piemonte among others.

There were many breeds of the Mora Romagnola Pigs by 20th century but later they were cross bred with Yorkshire pigs. The Yorkshire pigs were imported to Italy in 1886.

The cross breeds were referred to as Fumati Pigs. The crossbreeds did not maintain the original quality of meat like the locals. Farmers preferred these cross breeds because they would grow very fast.

But, the scientists feared to continue crossbreeding because the original Mora Romagnola pigs were disappearing. This is when they decided to select several breeds of Romagnola and then named them Romagnola Mora. The name came about because the Mora Romagnola Pigs have a black brownish color.

Around 1918 the number of the Mora Romagnola Pigs was big. The Mora Romagnola Pig were around 335,000 in Italy. During second world war, the population went down rapidly. The Mora Romagnola Pig decreased to 22,000 by 1950, which was considered to be a very big difference.

Mora Romagnola pigs have a long body with a long head. The ears grow forward and cover their snouts. The Mora Romagnola Pig eyes are almond shaped and the males have long tusks. In fact, the tusks are like those of the boars, which make these pigs to look like boars.

Their height differs because sows are taller than the males. The sows are around 31 1/2 inches (80 cm) long weighing around 550 to 660 lbs (250 to 300 kg). They produce around 5 to 6 litter and do not feed them well because they don’t have a enough milk. Not much is recorded about the male though they are believed to be heavier than the soars.

Their color is different to. Mora Romagnola Pig sows have thick ridge of long bristles that are dark grey and their under side has a rosy color. The Mora Romagnola Pig piglet’s hair has a different color that turns to a darker shade when they grow. A Mora Romagnola Pig averages 6 to 10 baby piglets in a litter and will have two to three litters per year. The sows nurse their piglets for about three to five weeks. When Piglets are weaned off of their mother’s milk, they are not called piglets but are known as shoats. Piglets at birth weigh about 2.5 pounds (1.1 kilograms), and on average, will double their weight in one week.

Before the Mora Romagnola Pig were crossed bred, the colors varied. They were found to have different shades which ranges from reddish, brownish or black. There some that had light shades and others dark shade.

Just like other breeds of pigs, Mora Romagnola pigs fattens very fast. The Mora Romagnola Pig have very good qualities, which makes them to be preferred by many farmers. They are good in grazing though very manageable even when kept to pig houses.

The Mora Romagnola Pig feed on variety of foods which includes farm produces as well as roughages. Most farmers set them free though they can also be kept in their houses with minimum supervision. The Mora Romagnola Pigs are not destructive in nature.

The Mora Romagnola Pig meat is very sweet though the breed is neglected recently. This is because they are very slow in growth and this is a quality that farmers don’t like.

The Italians have worked hard to see that these Mora Romagnola Pigs do not completely disappear. The Mora Romagnola Pig were preserved though that did not help because as of 2007 only few numbers are left. Of late records show that only a few number of Mora Romagnola pigs are left and thus declared as rare species.

Mora Romagnola Pigs unlike is said, happen to be very clean animals. Mora Romagnola 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.

Mora Romagnola 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 Mora Romagnola Pig has an enamel coating that makes the pigs teeth stronger and helps it curb disease. Mora Romagnola Pigs chew their food because pigs have a digestive system similar to a human digestive system and cannot digest food that is not chewed.

Mora Romagnola Pigs are very intelligent, not like people think, that pigs are dumb animals. A Mora Romagnola Pig can drink between 10 to 14 gallons (37.8 to 53 liters)of water in a day. Mora Romagnola Pigs are omnivores like humans, an omnivores, (definition-they eat both other animals and plants). The Mora Romagnola Pig snout is its most important tool for finding food. The Mora Romagnola Pig snout is used for their excellent sense of smell and they have poor eyesight.

The saliva of Mora Romagnola 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 Mora Romagnola Pigs discharge this steroid and female pigs will go to vast lengths to acquire a smell of the sent.
Mora Romagnola Pigs are raised for there meat such as ham, sausage, bacon and pork chops. 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 pig or hog is defined as a wild boar" can be a very big danger where humans habitat.

Mora Romagnola 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 Mora Romagnola 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 Mora Romagnola 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 pigs balance for walking.

A pig is the last of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. The pig represents, happiness, honesty, fortune and virility in China. A female adult pig is called a (sow) and the male adult wild pig is called a (boar). The lifespan of a Mora Romagnola Pig is between 9 and 15 years

Mora Romagnola 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.

Mora Romagnola 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.
"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".