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Post by granadan on Feb 12, 2007 8:56:50 GMT
Had an interesting session in the bath last night (my thinking spot cos I can jot down thoughts on the tiles with lipstick - himself goes potty) and musing in particular over the state of two of my himi sows after mange ripped through half my stock. One choc and one black himi both lost a fair bit of hair. It is growing back black and chocolate respectively (this is body hair).
Okay, so I know the reason is that the black is temperature sensitive and hairless skin is cold. So I'm reckoning that it will clear by summer when they moult out.
So (bear with me, i'm getting to the point), the black on the smut and feet is because these are the extremities of the pig and colder. The colder they are, the better the points - it's (unless not full EE extension or from agouti stock) entirely temperature based.
Are we actually selecting these pigs for poor circulation? I cant see any other effect of rigorous show selection except for that. I'm not saying it's hugely harmful, I'm just curious as to other himi persons thoughts on this...
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Post by Himi Queen on Feb 12, 2007 12:43:33 GMT
sooo, do you mean we are keeping them cold just for show? in my opinion thats a bit harsh on the pig! If its a brilliant show pig it will stay white and the points will stay as dark as possible. thats all there is to it, i dont think we should force them to be cold (if thats what its all about, i'm slightly confused!!) so that they look good.
i have found that there are himis good in hot weather as well, (those pigs with darker body colour in winter) and the others are worse in the summer cuz it lowers the point intensity.
vi x
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