Conservation

The British Pig Association is dedicated to conserving the native breeds.

On Farm Conservation.  The total number of pigs and breeders goes up and down but this is not just a numbers game. With such a small population we have to make sure that our pigs don’t become inbred. We also have to make sure that our pigs are not all in one place in case we get another disease outbreak like Foot and Mouth in 2001. A donation of £250 can help us to move a boar from Yorkshire to Cornwall where he can be used on unrelated sows.

The second part of our Conservation programme is Genebanking. Sadly we can’t freeze pig embryos so we have to focus on storing semen from boars in our genebank. Since 2002 we have been working with the Rare Breed Survival Trust in a very successful partnership. We have a target of 100 boars and so far we have 88 in the tank. It costs over £2500 for each boar and we try to collect 6 each year. Please help us to complete this vital safety net by donating to our programme.

Berkshire

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Move the Mermaid line into the South West and the Mermaid and Royal Sapphire into Anglia
  • Increase numbers and distribution of the Orlando line and move Ambassador and Nama Abel boars in the South West
  • Add a Peter Lad boar to the Genebank

British Landrace

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Try to establish the Aina, Ally, Anne, Asa, Asella, Cenette, Cynthia and Killegarden lines in more than one herd
  • Improve the distribution of the Elias, Nekton and Riber boar lines
  • Add the Nekton boar line to the Genebank

British Saddleback

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Improve the numbers and distribution Alvis, Duchess, Joyful and Rose lines
  • Improve the numbers and distribution of the Stockbroker line.
  • Add a Guardsman boar to the Genebank

Gloucestershire Old Spots

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Reverse the decline of Countess, Primrose and Star Antoinette lines
  • Improve the distribution of the Princess Ann line
  • Make sure that Rufus boar numbers do not fall further behind

Large Black

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Improve the numbers and distribution of the Princess, Queen & Warbler lines.
  • Select a final boar for the genebank unrelated to both the tank and the general population.
  • Identify pigs of breeding age with no birth notified progeny which are the least related to the general population and encourage pure breeding.

Large White

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Improve the numbers and distribution of the Bonetta, Dainty Girl and Jean sow lines
  • Save the Weiss and Dougal boar lines and improve the numbers and distribution of the Hover, Rope, Snobb, Solid Gold, Viking and Valiant lines which are only kept in single herds
  • Add the Prince boar line to the Genebank

Middle White

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Improve the numbers and distribution of the Modiste line.
  • Target progeny of sows least related to the general population for breeding
  • Add a new Mischief boar to the Genebank.

Oxford Sandy & Black

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Have all the sow lines represented in 6 out of 8 BPA regions.
  • Build up the Sybil line, arrest the decline in the Elsie line and make sure the Alistair boar line doesn’t fall too far behind whilst maintaining breed standards.
  • Select two unrelated boars to go into the genebank in 2021.

Tamworth

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Arrest the decline of the Golden Rose line and try to have better balance amongst the sow lines.
  • Encourage the movement of the Ruby line to the South and the Rita to South and South West.
  • Continue the programme to save the Dream Boy and Glen lines.

Welsh

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Number of Sows
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Total Registered Pigs
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Breeders

Current conservation targets

  • Improve the numbers and distribution of the Emma, Goldilocks, Glamorous, Jean and Tessa lines
  • Improve the numbers and distribution of the Ivor and Vulcan lines
  • Identify a Vulcan boar and one other of the three missing lines for the Genebank