He's Trying To Raise The World's Largest Hog

He's trying to raise the world's largest hog AG WORLD Ag World 13-3-18 He drinks a 6-pack of beer and eats 30 lbs. or more of food a day but Chief, a big 1,230-lb., 7-year old Berkshire boar owned by hog producer Bob Corbett, North Lewisburg, Ohio is still not the world's biggest hog. Corbett won notoriety last year for his giant hog when the animal was awarded the "Biggest Boar" title at the Indiana State Fair. Shortly after the fair he appeared on the David Letterman TV show and started receiving requests for personal appearances at shopping malls, grand openings, parades and other events. "There's been tremendous interest in Chief but he's still not big enough to make theGuiness Book of World Records," says Corbett, who has adopted an unusual "health food" diet for the hog that includes such diverse products as grain, beer, cherry jello and gum drops. "I knew he was going to be a big one when he was born. He was one of a litter of 11 and had big bones and wrinkly skin. At 6 months he weighed 300 lbs. - 75 lbs. more than the other pigs in his litter - and at the end of the first year he weighed 590 lbs.," says Corbett. In past attempts at producing a record-size hog, Corbett had done everything he could to fatten up the animal with molasses and other sugary or fatty foods. The problem was that the hogs would get so fat their stomachs dragged the ground. Because they weren't healthy, their life expectancy was shortened. This time he decided to use body building diets, observed by professional weight lifters, to build Chief up more gradually. Each day the hog is fed ground oats, barley, bran and turnips. He'salsogiven vitamin supplements, including iron, Vitamins B and E, and others. His favorite food is cherry jello (it's high in protein), and about the only unhealthy food he receives is red or orange gumdrops (he turns up his nose at green or yellow ones). He also gets an average of about a 6-pack of beer a day, primarily to thin his blood, according to Corbett. Chief also gets exercise. Corbett walks him 1/4 to 1/2 mile each day. And the big hog goes to the doctor regularly, too, for X-rays to check fat buildup around his heart and lungs. Chief now is 9 ft. long, 4 ft. tall and 8 ft. around. Last summer he got up to 1,322 lbs. before the heat wave hit and he lost weight. Although the Guiness Book of World Records lists a 2,500-lb. hog as the all-time biggest, Corbett says the biggest "modern" hog - raised since the 1940's;. when larded hogs were demanded by the market - is a 1,338 lb. hog raised in 1977 in Nebraska. He hopes Chief passes that weight later this year and moves on up higher. Meanwhile he collects a $700 fee for personal appearances. Signs at all the entrances to North Lewisburg, a town of 1,200 people, tell anyone driving through that it's the home of Chief. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Corbett, 4495 Corbett Rd., North Lewis-burg, Ohio 43060 (ph 513 747-3448).

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