Large Black Pigs are one of the rarest of all the traditional breeds with only 424 breeding animals left in the UK. There are 23 female blood lines and only 6 male blood lines, we currently keep 1 of the male lines and 1 of the female lines with plans to bring in another female bloodline during 2017.
We are passionate about looking after these rare animals because they are beautiful and incredibly placid, our boar Freddie is a 250kg pig who squeals when you rub his back and lies down for belly rubs like an overgrown puppy, he isn’t the only one either we also have Betty who at around 200kg is just as friendly and runs towards us for cuddles, these pigs have been raised to be sociable animals comfortable with people, they are great at helping people become more relaxed around such large animals and help build confidence in those who need it.
There is a theme with the animals we keep which is mentioned on each page about the livestock we keep and that is the fact that they are here to preserve their breed and make sure none of them end up in the precarious position many have been in the past. In order to preserve these breeds we have to select the best of each litter and find them homes where likeminded people want to work with the breeds we keep and continue with the work started many years ago by people equally as passionate.
This does mean that to ensure only the best animals are used for future breeding, anything not considered to be up to the breeding standard is either sold on or kept on here for meat production, for details about this side of Edfords please go to the Meat Sales Page.
