Pig breeding is easy, rewarding and fascinating and we have put together a few pages of information to try and make it easier for you to carry out. When you’re just starting out with a couple of gilts, it’s not really viable to keep your own boar as well as he will be expensive to keep and needs to keep working otherwise he can become lazy and not do what’s expected of him when the time comes!
GOS make excellent, long-lived dams.
So there’s a list of Boars at Stud by area and we hope that there’s one at least not too far away from you.
In case there isn’t, then there’s also details of the only AI (Artifical Insemination) facility available for GOS pigs with an article of hints and tips.
The gestation period for pigs is approximately 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days and two litters a year is normal practice.
There’s also information on the Cyclic Breeding System, unique to GOS. It makes interesting reading but is less important now than it was a few years ago when the UK population was much smaller, (it is widely practised in America where there is a much smaller number of GOS). As long as the boar you find has no close relations to ( See www.gospbc.co.uk/gos-bloodlines )your females, (use the BPA online Herd Book to check), and he is of similar size, go for it!
Don’t forget to birth note your litters and make sure they’re correctly identified especially if you want to keep them for showing or sell them for breeding.
Tattooing pliers from Canada featuring 14mm characters and chisel point numbers to better provide effective earmarking for your pedigree pigs which the club encourages are available.
To birth note and register your pigs as pedigree you will also need to be a member of the registration body for GOS pigs The British Pig Association see www.britishpigs.org.uk