The Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Group (OSBPG) celebrates the success of their Genetic Spread Allowance programme (GSA). The programme was launched in October 2020, and to date, the OSBPG have supported their breeders by providing them with over £1,400 in GSA payments to support further travel for genetic diversity of the OSB bloodlines
over the UK.
The map illustrates how far pigs have moved around the UK with the dedication of the OSBPG Charity supporters, which currently stands at over 2300 members, and the help of the Charity’s GSA programme. The rules
and guidelines are stringent, with checks on bloodline representation in that area or region of the UK. It goes without
saying that the pigs welfare is first and foremost at all times, and the charity prides themselves in ensuring that this
is the case giving confidence to the breeder that they are buying healthy and well looked after stock.
Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI), Kinship and Mean- Kinship are the three tools that are used to assess breeding
matches to ensure the sustainability of the breed is maintained. The addition of Mean-Kinship gives us an indicator of the genetic diversity within the breed and helps us identify our breed with more common breeding and those
with less common breeding. This helps us maintain genetic distinctiveness within certain lines and maximum
genetic diversity within the breed. The OSBPG Register does this and ensures a compatible check is made to ensure
there is no shared parentage and the genetic compatibility of our pedigree is diverse. You may notice that there may
be the same breed of pigs in one region but surprisingly they could all come from one breeder and related to one or two different lines which will in turn prove to have a small nucleus which can put the quality and the survival of the breed at risk. With the help of Cloud-Lines and a lot of hard work, the OSBPG Charity launched the OSBPG Register.
The Cloud-Lines system makes tools such as Stud-Advisor and Kinship checks available to breeders, giving members
more access than ever before to breeding data, and ensuring everyone can participate in maintaining a healthy
and sustainable breeding population.
The OSBPG Register is available to help our breeders run a thorough pedigree breeding search therefore eliminating
inbreeding and enhancing good genetic crossover. The system is efficient because of the Cloud-Lines advanced technology.
The four recent GSA success stories which go forward to enhance our breed, its genetics and bloodlines are:
- Oxfordshire to South East Scotland – Alexander line
- Yorkshire to South East Scotland – first Lady line
- West Wales to North Scotland – Alison bloodline
- Gloucestershire to Cumbria – first Iris bloodline
In 2020, Mr & Mrs Newman took ownership of a rare female line, Sybil, (only 22 of them in UK as of April 2021)
and the first in Cornwall. In August, Mr & Mrs Newman were very pleased with their Sybil gilt, called Gwen, when she
farrowed (gave birth) to 8 piglets. The term gilt describes a young female pig who has not yet had a litter.
To find out more about the GSA program Click Here