Radley Farm Shop - RARE BREED PORK, VENISON, BEEF, CHICKEN, DUCKLAMB, PIES

The Saddleback has the striking color marking of a white belt on a black body. However, the coloring of the modern day Saddleback still varies widely as it apparently has through the entire existence of the breed. Unfortunately, the belt is a marking of low heritability. Littermate markings may range from a very wide white belt that covers almost the entire body to the opposite extreme where there is little white. The ears of the breed are drooped.

The Saddleback originated from the amalgamation of the Essex and Wessex breeds in England. The Wessex Saddleback came from Dorsetshire, England, while the Essex came from the county that gave the breed its name. Prior to 1820, both had contributed to the swine of Hampshire which were apparently the ancestors of the American Hampshire breed. How much of the crossing took place or how well the breed was established before foundation stock of the Hampshire was exported to the United States, between 1825 and 1829, is not known. Youatt and Martin' reported swine very similar to the American Hampshire in England during 1855.

A strong point of the Saddleback breed in England is its reputation as a mother sow. The sows have large litters and are said to be excellent milkers. The breed is reputed to be hardy with good grazing characteristics suited to outdoor production systems. It has been used as a cross with white breeds to produce breeding sows for commercial swine production.

The breed has seen some commercial use where hybrid vigor is sought. Their popularity seems to be in excess of the numbers that are registered. So, as with many other breeds, unregistered grade stock is often used in cross breeding. The increasing usage of the breed in crossing parallels the reputation of the Hampshire in America for crossbreeding and for rotational breeding programs. The similarity of the Saddleback and Hampshire in so many ways does indicate the former must have given more to the latter than a striking color pattern.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE OLD SPOT

The Gloucestershire Old Spots is a black and white breed that is predominantly white in color. In recent years, selection has been towards less black and now only a spot or two are usually found. The breed also has a heavy drooped ear. Gloucestershire Old Spots originated in the Berkeley Valley region of England and have now spread throughtout the UK. The origin of the breed is unknown but is probably from the native stock of the area along with introductions of various breeds. In 1855, Youatt and Martin mentioned there was a native stock in Gloucestershire that was of an unattractive dirty white color. The Old Spots are among the large size pigs in England. At one time, they were called the Orchard Pig because they were partially raised on windfall apples and whey waste agricultural products of the area.

Gloucestershire Old Spots are said to be good foragers or grazers. This is not surprising considering the type of feeding practiced in the original home of the breed during its early development. The sows of the breed are known for large litters and high milk production. Prolificacy and milk production have been characteristics sought by practical producers everywhere

BERKSHIRE

The breed originated in the Thames Valley, possibly around Wantage, circa 1790. It began as a large tawny red pig, spotted with black. The ears were inclined to be pendulous, the body long and thick, with short legs and plenty of bone. By the early 1800s, the breed had become lighter in the head and ears, shorter and more compact with less bone. Lord Barrington was thought to be largely responsible for the improvement, when introducing Chinese or East Asian blood to the breed.

In the middle of this century, the decline in numbers of Berkshires kept resulted in the near extinction of the breed in this country.

With the introduction of new blood from Australia, New Zealand and the USA, the breed has made great progress in recent years, both numerically and in carcass quality.

Although primarily black in colour, the Berkshire carcass dresses out completely white, and has a high proportion of lean meat to fat. The flesh is fine in texture, and has a distinct flavour. The Berkshire is early finishing, which means the ideal carcass is around 36-45kgs (80-100lbs).

As a crossing breed, the Berkshire will suit any programme, whether used as a sire or dam. When mated to a white breed, the resulting progeny will be white, and will inherit the Berkshire's naturally strong constitution to withstand extremes of temperature and the easy level of feeding associated with the breed.

The Berkshire sow is a productive, placid pig, who is a heavy milker and will lose little flesh whilst rearing her litter. Our breed enjoys an ongoing, successful export trade, particularly to the Far East, where Berkshire pork is marketed as a rare delicacy

POULTRY

We have been successfully breeding poultry for a number of years and we pride ourselves on our outstanding quality of our birds. Our aim is always to breed the best birds we can to continually improve type, size and colour.

At present we have over 20 different breeds of poultry, ducks and geese.

Our individual breeding groups are kept small to ensure good fertility rates, with only the highest quality birds used. As with all of our animals, they are reared and cared for by us, and so an extreamly high level of animal welfare and husbandry is achived.

Hatching eggs from my breeding birds are available for sale aswell as Pure and Rare Breed chickens, ducks and geese.