Profile view of a Chester White boar
The Chester White was extremely popular during my time in 4-H and I had spent a few years raising them myself for livestock competition. Living in sunny California at the time, I would go out most mornings and putting sunscreen on them so they would not get sunburned.
History of the Chester White
Throughout much of the 1700’s in Pennsylvania, pigs were still largely wild animals that lived out in the woods uprooting foraging for anything they could eat. As more wooded areas were torn down due to human expansion, these wild hogs would found themselves at local farms looking for food. The constant contact with these hogs eventually led to farmers penning them for food and other uses.
A captain and businessman, James Jefferis was a man who in 1815 was looking for a way to improve the quality of the feral hogs he had on his farm. As they were not docile or very large, they tended to not be an easy livestock to raise. As he had travelled the world as a boat captain, he found and imported a white boar from a man named John Russell Duke of England.
Chester County, Pennsylvania marked in red
He began selling the offspring and their popularity soared, resulting in his boar being sought after as a stud for the surrounding farmers. Those who used Jefferis’ boar for breeding collectively starting calling it the Chester White at this time.
Birth of Dedicated Associations
Starting in 1884, a man named Thomas Sharpless decided to create the Chester White Record Association and graciously appointed himself as its secretary. Over the next 30 years, quite a few associations had been formed. A man named F.F. Moore decided to sacrifice countless hours in an effort to combine all of the those associations to create the Chester White Swine Record Association in 1914. Those associations were as follows:
- International Ohio Improved Chester Swine Record Association
- American Chester White Record Association
- Standard Chester White Record Association
- National Chester White Record Association
- Chester White Record Association
In 1910, 3 of F.F. Moore’s sons decided to launch the first breed magazine. This was a pretty unique idea t the time considering that their were very few newspapers, no radio or television, and almost no other outlets for news. The magazine was originally branded the White Breeders Companion, but changed to the Chester White Journal in 1918.
Copy of the Western Breeder Journal
Characteristics of the Chester White
While not as popular as the Duroc, Yorkshire, or Hampshire, it is the most durable of the white breeds and is excellent for large farming operations. As I mentioned earlier, the one drawback of the breed is that their entire body is covered in a pale white color a thin hair. This leads the breed to sunburns quite easily and requires easy access to shade.
There are multiple reasons white the breed has become a preferred option for cross breeding in meat production facilities. The biggest is that the breed genetics seem to be custom made for expedited growth. They can gain as much as 1.36 pounds (0.62 kg) a day and gain 1 pound (0.45 kg) for every 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of grain it is fed. In addition to having a high fat content, you can see why the breed is as popular as is it.
Their head is slightly larger with ears that fall flat on their face and point horizontally towards their nose.
| Boar | Sow | |
| Weight | 550 – 800 pounds / 250kg – 363 kg | 500lbs – 600lbs / 227kg – 295 kg |
Other Facts
- At one point the breed was called the Chester County White, but the “County” was dropped in 1848
- Some historians actually believe that at some point, there were some Chinese pigs that were added to the genetic makeup
- Their four feet are called “trotters” that are eaten as a delicacy called pigs feet or pigs knuckles