It is a large white breed known for its hardiness in outdoor (extensive) farming, its long, pear-shaped body and its lop-ears.

[2] The Welsh pig experienced a decline in numbers in the late twentieth century because consumer demands had changed and the carcase was considered too fatty.

[3] The earliest references in literature date back to the 1870s when pigs from Wales and Shropshire were being brought to Cheshire for fattening on milk by-products.

The cross of the Manchester boar with the Shropshire and Welsh produces a larger and coarser breed than the small Yorkshire.

The societies were formed with the specific purpose of protecting and promoting the Welsh pig breed.

[5] An additional aim was to disseminate the information that the Welsh pig is a good choice for commercial farming.

[3][4] After World War II, there was a large increase in the number of Welsh pigs as suitable commercial feed became more available.

The neck is moderately deep and the shoulders are flat at the top, supporting a long, strong and level back.

[9] In the nineteenth century, the Welsh was described to have rather long legs and to be a razorback whilst being a slow maturer and coarse-haired.

The sows can be used in a breeding programme with Large White or Landrace boars to produce fast-growing, cross-bred progeny,[8] and the boars can also be used on other rare breed sows to produce leaner, faster-growing young with improved conformation.