Pietrain

The Pietrain is named for a village in Belgium and was developed there in the 1950s. It is white with black spots, has erect ears, and is the most heavily muscled pig breed in commercial use.

A Pietrain carcass yields more lean meat per kilogram than anything else, with enormous ham and loin development, which is why it is used as a terminal sire in Europe wherever lean yield is the payment criterion.

The muscling comes from a high frequency of the halothane gene, and that is the whole story of the breed.

The trade is stress. That same gene causes porcine stress syndrome: pigs that die under handling or transport stress, and meat that turns pale, soft and exudative. The gene is testable and stress-negative Pietrain lines exist, but buying this breed without asking about halothane status is buying the problem.