If you’ve driven past Pilaroc North lately, you may have seen some “Only A Mother Could Love” pigs swaying around. They’re certainly no Piglet from Winnie the Pooh. They look more like a Shar Pei-Raisin-Elephant mix than a pig. They’re wrinkly. They’re pot-bellied. They’re goofy. The more I think about it, the more they fit right in with the owners of Pilaroc!

The breed is called Meishan.

The Meishan is one of the oldest pigs in the world, domesticated 4000+ years ago. Originating in China, the breed type is supposed to be very well marbled and have superior lard and fat quality. Again, just like the owners of Pilaroc.

Meishans are super mama’s. By their third farrow, Meishan litters are typically in the 16+ piglets range with litters occasionally hitting 20 or more (compared to the average American breed that has 8-10). Can you imagine 20 children at one time?!?!!! I’d need to roam the earth heavily sedated. Plus, they don’t make a crockpot big enough to feed that many children, so I’ll just leave that marvel up to the pig world.

Meishans are also great with kids, super docile and well…lazy. Except the two we got. They seem to want to get out of their pens every chance they get. And if you’re sad that P.T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth is over, just come watch us try to get a pig back into its pen. Best circus act you’ve ever seen. We should charge people for it.

We currently have Berkshire pigs, a heritage breed known for meat quality. We are very happy with the Berkshire meat, but because we are always on the hunt to create the best meat you’ve ever tasted, and with a major obsession on genetics, we knew wanted to see if we could add some fat and flavor to our profile. So, the Herdsman drove to the middle-of-nowhere Missouri to meet a Meishan breeder and picked up two boars. This was a must if we wanted Meishans – they are very rare in the U.S., so we needed to journey far to get some of the best. In total, those boars traveled almost 1,000 miles to get to Lincoln County, TN. We will be crossing Meishan with Berkshire – a breed all its own, generally called Black Beauty, although that’s not official.

Two sows are already bred. Did I mention they can start breeding at 3 months of age? They are more prolific than rabbits, sea horses or Kris Jenner. So in under three months, three weeks, three days (gestation time of a pig), we’ll have little Black Beauties on the ground. And by this time next year, we’ll know if we have the next best thing in the world of pork. Can you say, “Hello, Bacon!”