As a follow up on yesterday's post about pigs and land management on Islay, tonight more information and pictures of the animals that do their work so well on Dunlossit Estate; the pigs. Until last week I didn't know much about pigs except that they make funny noises, are very friendly, live also on Islay, are lovely to see and hard to photograph. So far I haven't been able to take one good picture of either of them due to their curiosity. As soon as you walk towards the fence they come running towards you and make it almost impossible to take a good picture. I'm glad others had more success!

Next to the Dunlossit Estate office lives a black pig with a white stripe round it's middle (picture right) and I thought it was a Middle White Pig, sounds logical doesn't it? When I sent this picture to Fiona MacGregor who works at the estate office, she told me it was a Saddleback, one of three on the estate. Fiona also calles this pig 'Dumbo', because when it runs up to you its ears flap so hard, you almost think its going to take off! Furthermore Fiona told me I needed a lesson in pig identification, I must admit I felt the same! She was kind enough to send me pictures of the pigs that live on Dunlossit Estate together with names and descriptions. There are seven breeds of Dunlossit pigs and all are native to Britain and are rare breeds. To help ensure the survival of the Middle White Pig and other rare breeds, a trust was set up by Dunlossit. More online information about this trust will be available soon when the new website comes online. Back now to pig identification... this was a good lesson for me and by sharing it I hope you will enjoy this as well. Here we go: Continue reading.....
Middle White Pig - a 'middle' size pig which is extremely popular in Japan. It is a pinkish,
white colour (unless it's been in the mud) and has a squashed nose
with pricked up large ears

Tamworth - more native to Scotland - red/ginger in colour with coarse hair and short ears

Gloucestor Old Spot - Large white pig with black spots

Large Black - Large black pig with large drooping ears that cover the eyes

Berkshire - Smaller black pig, usually with white 'socks' and a flash of white over its face.
The one in the picture is called crosspatch

Lop Eared Pig - A large white pig with ears similar to the large black

Saddleback - Smaller black pig with white/pink stripe round its middle

If you want more information about rare breeds of pigs you can find it on the British Pig Organisation website and on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Chloë Randall told me that there will be a major feature on pigs coming out in the August issue of Scottish Field Magazine with pictures of Polly Pullar

Oink Oink for now and hopefully more pig news in the near future

Tag: dunlossit estate pigs pig breeds middle white pig trust