# Poland China

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{{Short description|American breed of pig}}
{{infobox pig breed
| name          = Poland China
| image         = Poland China pigs in Florida.jpg
| image_alt     = black-and-white photograph of two very large black pigs at a trough
| image_caption = Boars in Florida in about 1917
| status        = {{ubl|[FAO](/source/FAO) (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|p=148}}|[DAD-IS](/source/DAD-IS) (2026): not at risk{{r|dad}}}}
| altname       = {{ubl|Warren County Hog|Miami|Big China|Poland|Poland-China}}
| country       = United States
| distribution  = 
| standard      = 
| use           = 
| maleweight    = {{cvt|290|kg|lb|-1}}
| femaleweight  = {{cvt|240|kg|lb|-1}}
| maleheight    = 
| femaleheight  = 
| skincolor     = black with six white points – nose, tail and feet
| hair          = 
| note          = 
}}

The '''Poland China''' is an American breed of [domestic pig](/source/domestic_pig). It was first bred in [Warren County](/source/Warren_County%2C_Ohio) in [Ohio](/source/Ohio), in the [American Midwest](/source/American_Midwest). Its origins lie in a small number of pigs of Chinese type bought in 1816, which were [cross-bred](/source/cross-breeding) with a variety of breeds of European origin including the [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire_(pig)). It was bred as a [lard](/source/lard) pig, and is among the largest of all pig breeds.{{r|cabi|p=535|jan|p2=193|dad}}

== History ==
[[File:Plaque_from_Poland_China_hog_monument.jpg|thumb|right|Bronze plaque in [Blue Ball, Ohio](/source/Blue_Ball%2C_Ohio), commemorating the first Poland China pedigree, written on the Hankinson farm in 1876]]

The origins of the Poland China lie in the purchase in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) in 1816 by John Wallace, a trustee of the [Shaker Society](/source/Shakers) of [Union Village](/source/Union_Township%2C_Warren_County%2C_Ohio) in [Warren County, Ohio](/source/Warren_County%2C_Ohio), of four pigs of the breed or type known as Big China;{{r|cabi|p=535|jan|p2=193}} it is possible that they were in fact of the now-extinct [Bedford](/source/Bedford_(pig)) breed.{{r|cabi|p=535}} Three sows and a boar were brought to the village of Union, where Shaker farmers [cross-bred](/source/cross-breeding) them with local pigs of the types known as Russia or Byfield, both large pale-skinned pigs. Further crossing with other breeds of European origin including the British [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire_(pig)) and the [Irish Grazier](/source/Irish_Grazier) – a slow-growing pig with good ability to forage for itself – led to the consolidation of a type which by about 1846 was usually known as the Warren County Pig, but also as the Poland or Big China.{{r|jan|p=193}} 

The name Poland China was agreed on at a meeting of the [National Swine Breeders Convention](/source/National_Swine_Breeders_Convention) in [Indianapolis](/source/Indianapolis) in 1872;{{r|jan|p=193}} at the same meeting the convention rejected the claim of David M. Magie, a successful Poland China breeder of the [Austin-Magie Farm](/source/Austin-Magie_Farm_and_Mill_District) near [Oxford, Ohio](/source/Oxford%2C_Ohio), to be the creator of the breed.{{r|hist|p=5|ohpo}} The first [pedigree](/source/Pedigree_chart) was drawn up in [Blue Ball, Ohio](/source/Blue_Ball%2C_Ohio), by W.C. Hankinson and Carl Freigau in 1876, and a [herd-book](/source/herd-book) was started in 1878.{{r|cabi|p=535|mpls|dad}}

The breed became widespread in the United States, and by the end of the nineteenth century was among the most numerous pig breeds in the country. Numbers fell in the twentieth century as demand for [lard](/source/lard) decreased. In 1990 the registered population was about {{val|18000}} head.{{r|jan|p=193}}{{efn|name= a}} In 2018 a total population of {{val|12300}} was reported.{{r|dad}}

The Poland China has been exported to a number of countries in Central and South America, in Asia and in Oceania. In 2026 it was reported to [DAD-IS](/source/DAD-IS) by thirteen countries, of which two – Argentina and the United States – also reported population numbers; approximately seven-eighths of the total estimated number of the pigs world-wide, {{val|62795}}, were in Argentina.{{r|dad2}} The Poland China was formerly reared in very large numbers there, principally for export. In 1944 about {{val|1.3|u=million}} head were slaughtered, approximately a third of total production in the country.{{r|cabi|p=541}}

In the 1920s and 1930s, agricultural reformers introduced the Poland China pig into China, with mixed success. The pigs were not adapted to the climate, and Chinese farmers were more interested in a pig's ability to produce fertilizer than its meat capacity.{{r|sig}}

== Characteristics ==

The Poland China usually displays the coloration of the [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire_(pig)): solid black, with white points on the nose, tail and feet. It is a large pig, heavy-jowled, lop-eared and short-legged.{{r|jan|p=193}} It is among the heaviest of pig breeds: sows average some {{val|240|u=kg}}, boars about {{val|50|u=kg}} more.{{r|dad}} The heaviest pig on record is a Poland China named [Big Bill](/source/List_of_individual_pigs), who in Tennessee in 1933 was found to weigh {{cvt|2552|lb|kg|0|disp=flip|comma=off}}, with a length of about {{cvt|2.75|m|ft|0}}.{{r|jan|p=173}} 

== Notes ==

{{notelist | refs=
{{efn|name =  a|For comparison, the corresponding figure for each of the three dominant breeds – the [American Yorkshire](/source/American_Yorkshire), the [Duroc](/source/Duroc_(pig)) and the [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_(pig)) – was more than ten times greater.{{r|jan|p=194}}}}

}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>

<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.it/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ&hl=en ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn|9781780647944}}.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[https://fao-dadis-breed-detail.firebaseapp.com/?country=USA&specie=Pig&breed=Poland%20China Breed data sheet: Poland China / United States of America (Pig)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed May 2021.</ref>

<ref name=dad2>[https://dadis-transboundary-breed-ws.web.app/?species=Pig&transboundary=Poland%20China&lang=en Transboundary breed: Poland China]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed March 2026.</ref>

<ref name=hist>Joseph Ray Davis, Harvey Samuel Duncan (1921). [https://archive.org/details/historyofpolandc01davi/page/n5/mode/2up ''History of the Poland China Breed of Swine''], volume 1. [s.l.]: Poland China History Association.</ref>

<ref name=jan>Janet Vorwald Dohner (2001). ''The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds''. New Haven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press. {{isbn|0300088809}}.</ref>

<ref name=mpls>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063111/http://middletownlibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/searchterm/Hankinson Search result: All fields: Hankinson]. MidPointe Library System. Archived 4 March 2016.</ref> 

<ref name=ohpo>Lucy Curry (1978). [http://lanepl.org/OHI/BUT023101.pdf The Felix Fryman Farm House]. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Accessed May 2021.</ref>

<ref name=sig>Sigrid Schmalzer (2002). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2002.tb00131.x Breeding A Better China: Pigs, Practices, and Place in a Chinese County, 1929–1937]. ''Geographical Review''. '''92''' (1): 1–22. {{doi|10.1111/j.1931-0846.2002.tb00131.x}}. {{subscription required}}.</ref>

}}

{{Pig breeds of Canada and the United States}}
{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}
Category:Butler County, Ohio
Category:Pig breeds originating in the United States

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Poland China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland_China) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland_China?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.