History of pig farming
The history of pig farming began around 10,500 years ago. The domestic pig , along with the domestic dog , cattle , sheep and goat, is considered an early domestic animal .
For a long time, researchers assumed that the domestication of the wild boar was around 8500 BC. Took place independently of each other in two cultural areas: in China and in the Middle East , probably in the region of the fertile crescent moon . From there, pigs were then brought to other regions in connection with migration, including Europe. New research by researchers at Oxford University in 2005 seems to contradict this theory. DNA analyzes of 686 wild and domestic pigs from different continents showed that domestication in several regions of the world must have taken place independently of one another. Deviating DNA in pigs was found in Central Europe, Italy, North India, Southeast Asia and on Southeast Asian islands such as the Philippines. A center of early domestication could have been in what is now Germany. So far, only one Asian and two European Sus scrofa subspecies were assumed, but now at least seven are assumed. The Asian pigs come from the binding pig Sus scrofa vittatus , which is considered extinct.
distribution
Domestic pigs have been kept continuously in China ever since, and pork is the most commonly eaten type of meat there . More than 40 percent of the world's domestic pigs (489 million) are now kept in China. However, Denmark is the only country that, according to statistics, has more domestic pigs than inhabitants. There are around 170 million domesticated pigs in Europe, and around 70 million in the United States and Canada together. From southern China, pig farming spread throughout Southeast Asia to Polynesia , but not to Australia, within less than 2000 years of its inception .
( Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia , Weimar )
In the Middle East , the pig was domesticated at the same time as or shortly after that of sheep , goats and cattle . At that time, the region was still more forested and offered the pigs with oak and beech forests a suitable habitat and food. The Neolithic settlements of Jericho ( Palestine ), Jarmo ( Iraq ), Çatalhöyük and Hallan Çemi ( Turkey ) and Argissa-Margula ( Greece ) are among the oldest sites where the bones of semi-domesticated pigs were found . Representations of pigs as small sculptures and on cylinder seals and amulets are documented from the 5th millennium for Iran and from the 4th millennium for Mesopotamia . Pigs are often mentioned in ancient Egyptian economic texts, but pictorial representations are very rare. In several other settlements in the Middle East, large amounts of pig bones from the period up to 2000 BC were found. In places that suggest ritual slaughter.
Until about 5000 BC In BC pig farming had spread over south-east Europe to central Europe , while the spread to south-west Europe progressed more slowly. Pork was particularly popular with the Greeks and Romans (see also pig farming in antiquity ). In Europe, the domestic pig - benefited by the abundance of forests and the humid climate - remained the most important meat supplier until modern times. With a current population of 191 million animals, Europe is the world's second largest pork producer after China.
In contrast, pig breeding in the Middle East declined sharply later. The reason for this is suspected to be the extensive deforestation in the course of the expansion of arable farming and the change in the climate. The Hebrews began to lead semi-nomadic lives. Under such conditions, pig keeping became noticeably more difficult, as pigs need moderate temperatures, shade and moist soil and could no longer feed mainly in the forests, which made them omnivorous as food competitors of humans. Pig breeding, which was previously intensively practiced, has become a luxury. This change found expression in the pork ban of Judaism and later of Muslims . Nevertheless, pig breeding persisted on a smaller scale until post-Christian times. However, preference was given to sheep and goats, which are much better adapted to the now dry living conditions, which also use inedible food for humans as ruminants and supply wool and milk .
Unlike in Eurasia , pigs were not domesticated in Africa and America. The species living in Africa were just as unsuitable as the umbilical pigs found in America . In Australia there were no pigs at all due to the early isolation of the continent. It was only through the European colonizers that domestic pigs were settled on this continent, but to this day they have not come close to the importance that they have for the European and Asian diet.
Christopher Columbus brought the first pigs with him to the New World on his second voyage in 1493 ; he released eight copies on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola . Domesticated pigs arrived on the American continent later as a result of an expedition by Hernando de Soto (1539–42). After 1600 more animals were introduced from Great Britain.
According to the sources, the targeted breeding of different breeds of pigs did not begin until the 18th century.
Pig farming
Since the early days of their domestication, pigs have been kept either in free-range herds near forests or on fenced pastures within a settlement. In both cases, the animals were not food competitors for humans. In Western Europe, ate tame pigs in the acorn primarily acorns , chestnuts , beechnuts , hazelnuts and wild fruits such as berries , apples and pears . They dug in the ground for mushrooms , roots, worms and maggots, and they sometimes preyed on mice , snails or small birds .
The herding in forests since the ancient times occupied Europe. In the early Middle Ages , payments for the granting of appropriate usage rights to hat forests were a more significant source of income for the landlords than the sale of wood. During this time the farmers used fences to protect their fields from poaching pigs, which would have destroyed the harvest. In the course of time, autumn became the main phase of pig fattening because then the nuts were ripe. In many places it became customary to start fattening on the feast day of St. Michael (29 September) and then to slaughter the pigs in early December.
In East Asia, for example in China and Korea , pigs were only rarely kept in herds and fattened in forests due to massive deforestation and lack of larger pasture areas due to the higher population density. Here, the households usually kept a few domestic pigs for their own use, who mostly fed on kitchen waste, because the pig is physiologically omnivorous . This form of husbandry ensured that people had an almost free supply of pork, as no feed had to be procured.
In Europe, on the other hand, feeding real garbage to pigs was rather uncommon until the 15th century, although some of them received leftovers. In modern times , however, the animals were specifically kept in European and American cities in order to get rid of waste. While households also kept individual pigs in rural areas in order to use surpluses from the perishable harvest and to feed food waste, in the cities a larger number of pigs were kept purposefully in order to use the leftovers from collective catering. The reputation of the piggy bank is based on this approach. In rural areas of Latin America there are still semi-wild pigs that look for their own food in the area.
In the 18th century, domestic pigs in rural Germany were still driven to pasture during the day and only kept in the barn overnight. In autumn, after the grain harvest, they were let out onto the stubble fields, where they not only ate grain but were also allowed to dig for small animals in the ground. There was also the mast in the forest with acorns and beechnuts. In winter the pigs generally stayed in the barn and were fed boiled potatoes , beets and “brandy rinsing light” diluted with water. “There are six types of fattening for stable or house fattening. The first occurs through garden plants and grains or cereals; the second with brandy sludge; the third with the loss of the starch and corn flour factories, and of the flour mills; the fourth, with the outflows in beer and vinegar breweries; the fifth, with sourdough , and the sixth, with bread. ”Krünitz describes potatoes as particularly suitable for fattening. When it comes to fattening, he differentiates between bacon pigs and less fatty pigs.
Pig farming was different in the German-speaking regions and was dependent on the availability of feed, but also on regional food preferences. “In the Mark , in Pomerania and in Westphalia , in which countries the servants are used to the smoked pork, no one can do their housekeeping without slaughtering a certain number of pigs and smoking the meat; on the other hand it is z. B. less important in Saxony and Silesia , because in these countries the servants are not used to pork and are fed far worse. Pigs are also slaughtered there, but most of their meat is eaten fresh and only smoked as much as is necessary for the stately tables. "
In the 19th century, it was common to keep them in stalls in Central Europe. Breeding sows were mainly fed boiled potatoes or beets, with bran , boiled peas, pomace , sour milk or whey being added. Potato cultivation was established around 1850. In the summer were clover , alfalfa or weeds fed, in the fall of acorns and beechnuts. It was still customary to let young pigs and sows run free for several hours a day. The primitive "pork pork" of that time was compensated by sufficient exercise during the day. An additional independent forage search was also possible. The pigs were still being led by a swineherd.
breed
Pigs have only been specifically bred in modern times, especially in England since the 18th century, when the principle of self-sufficiency with food was abandoned in the cities. Up to this point in time, domestic pigs did not look very different from wild boars.
English pig farmers imported animals from East Asia and Naples , which originally came from Southeast Asia as well, and crossed them with their domestic pigs. The first white pigs are said to have come from the Chinese region around Canton. Fast-growing pigs with as high a percentage of fat as possible were desired. As a result of the experiments, the first modern breeding pig with the breed name Leicester was created around 1770 . Around 1800 the races Small White and Essex were added. The disadvantage of the new breeds was the lower fertility, sometimes even sterility of the sows. They are also said to have been more susceptible to infectious diseases .
In the middle of the 19th century, the Large White and Middle White breeds came onto the market in England, and from 1860 they were also imported to Germany for breeding purposes. The goal was an outspoken “fat pig” that was well suited for fattening in the pure stable. This form of husbandry was found to be more effective in meeting the increasing urban demand for pork and bacon .
In 1874 the pig breeds in Germany were divided into the following groups:
- Marsh pigs
- German country pigs
- Domestic crossbreed pigs
- English breeds
After 1900, the refinement of the German country pigs through crossings with English breeds began. The most popular was Large White , also known as Yorkshire . So-called “white pigs” with light, rosy skin emerged, which were divided into noble pigs and refined country pigs . Uncrossed, Berkshire pigs and Cornwall pigs played a certain role in Germany until 1960. In a survey in 1936, the grafted country pigs dominated with 71.6%; The proportion of German noble pigs (19.5%) and Swabian-Hall pigs (4.8%) was significantly lower .
At the end of the 1950s, the taste of German consumers changed, who now wanted more tender meat and less fat. As a result, longer and thinner pigs were bred, which have an additional pair of ribs ( cutlets ) and have pronounced hams .
Today there are over 730 different breeds worldwide, 2/3 of them in China and Europe; around 270 are considered critically endangered. Only 58 breeds are kept in more than one country, 33 are distributed worldwide. By far the most important internationally are Large White (117 countries), Duroc (93 countries), Landschwein (91), Hampshire (54) and Pietrain (35). More than 90 percent of hybrid pigs are used in pig production today .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Antje Findeklee: Often Pig , on Spektrum.de, March 10, 2005.
- ↑ Article: Pigs force rethink on human history ( Memento from March 15, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Sambraus, Hans-Hinrich; Atlas of farm animal breeds, Ulmer-Verlag, 1986
- ↑ a b c d e f g Article Article Hogs ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in Kenneth F. Kiple (Ed.): The Cambridge World History of Food .
- ↑ Hans-Dieter Dannenberg: Have pigs - historical and historical stories about pigs . Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1990.
- ↑ a b c Article Pig and Pig Breeding , in: Johann Georg Krünitz (continued by Johann Wilhelm David Korth): Economic-Technological Encyclopedia or General System of State, Town, House and Agriculture, and Art History, in alphabetical order , Volume 151. Joachim Pauli, Berlin 1829, here p. 30 ff., 52.
- ↑ Article pigs in Meyers Konversationslexikon , ca.1892
- ↑ Haring, Fritz; Handbook of Animal Breeding and Racial Studies, Paul-Parey, 1961
- ↑ a b Sandra Nickels: From the domestication of pigs to the development of today's breeds in Germany ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b On the history of the German domestic pigs
- ^ Genetic Resources, Genome Mapping and Evolutionary Genomics of the Pig
- ↑ aid infodienst - nutrition, agriculture, consumer protection e. V. (funded by the Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection), pig breeds and pig breeding
literature
- Marvin Harris: Taste and Reluctance (1985). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005.
- Jared Diamond : rich and poor. The fate of human societies . S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1998.
- Brockhaus encyclopedia . FA Brockhaus, Mannheim 1992.