Pig Clubs’ Section

Northern Advocate, 17 December 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

Pig Clubs’ Section

Specially written by W. A. BEATTIE

PEDIGREE Weeding sounds very well indeed to the It holds promise of large prices, wealth, even fame, but to most it proves but Scylla and Charybdis, and one is is drdwn into a whirlpool from Which there seems little escape. Its fascination, and it certainly is very fascinating, leads many a man into financial difficulty, the hope of producing something outstanding being the lure. It was suggested to me by the District Council that, having had a wide experience of this branch of farming, I should write stating just what it involved, and, for the benefit of farmers generally,, should outline the formalities connected with the transfer and registration ol pedigree pigs. It might fce better to state the formalities first. Formalities In order that a pig may be registered in the. Herd Book, it is first of all essential that its parents be both registered pedigree stock. They must have a name and a number and these must have been recorded in the Herd Book. Where an owner of a registered sow gets a service from a boar belonging to another man, the pwner of the boar

Transfers

The Requirements Of Pedigree Pig Breeding

must furnish a certificate in writing that the sow was served on such ana such a day by the boar. A form is pro-' vided for this purpose, and may be obtained from the office of the secretary New Zealand Pig Breeders’ Association, Box 148,: Palmerston North. A certificate is only necessary when the owners of the parents are different persons. Litter Record When the litter is born, the owner must note the number of sows and bears born, dead or alive. At some time before the litter is three weeks cld r they should be earmarked, and a form filled in showing the mark, names and registered number of the parents, breed, and number of litter born and also number alive at the time of sending in the form which is also obtainable as above. Failure to observe this formality absolutely disqualifies 'the litter from registration. The sum of one shilling is payable when this form is sent in. Observance of this formality makes it possible to register any one of the litter .at any time before it reaches, twelve months of age unless it is transferred to someone, when registration and transfer must follow within sixty days of the date of transfer. Registration In order to register a pig it is necessary to fill in a further form giving particulars of parents, breed, date of birth and so one. The form is obtainable from the above office. It must always be remembered however, that unless the litter record form was sent in before the litter was three weeks of age, it is impossible to register the pigs. The fee payable on registration is 4/- to members of the New Zealand pig Breeders’ Association, and 8/- to non members. Membership also entitles one to free forms, and carries with it the Annual Herd Book. The annual subscription for members is one and a half guineas, and there is a half guinea entrance fee.

In order to transfer a registered pedigree animal, another form must be filled in in triplicate, and this is sent in accompanied by a fee of half a crown. Whether a transfer of a pig is given or not is entirely a matter of contract between the vendor and the purchaser. It often happens that a vendor does not wish the purchaser to compete with him in the pedigree market, and consequently sells subject to there being no transfer given.

This is perfectly fair and in order. At times at auction sales the stipulation is made that there will be no transfer unless the animals bring a certain minimum figure. This also is quite fair. Prefix Every breeder of pedigree pigs who desires to register stock must pay 2/*3 to the association and register a prefix. This thereupon becomes his property and no one else may use it. The prefix is the name of the stud and is used to avoid confusion.

It distinguishes one man’s animals from others of the same name in the herd book and must go before every name of a registered pig. Thus for example, a man might name his stud “Kamo” and all pigs registered on his farm will thenceforth be called Kamo Bob, Kamo Molly, Kamo Toby, etc. Once pointed but, the reason is sufficiently obvious.

Object of Formalities

The object of all these formalities is merely to keep the. most accurate account possible of parentage. Pedigree is just an accurate record of the line of ancestry. As only purebred animals can be registered it preserves within breeds the details of ancestry. This is a useful service as it enables a man to know whether he is outcrossing, line breeding, inbreeding and so on. Refusal of Registration Registration may be refused where the council of the association is aware of inaccuracies in the details furnished in support of the application for registration or where it becomes aware that any animal in respect of which application is made is not typical of its breed. *

Some control is thus given in keeping up the standard of the breeds. In foreign countries this power is much ‘wider, and registration will not be accepted in respect of any animal that does not on detailed examination by experts prove itself to be an outstanding animal. This advanced stage has not been reached in New , Zealand, but it is quite possible that in time some such state of affairs will exist. In the meantime we rely largely on the integrity vOf our breeders, and so long as they maintain a tradition in this regard, there may not be need to go too far.

Imported Animals

Where an animal registered as a pedigree in another country is imported into New Zealand, registration in the New Zealand herd book is not accepted without proof of the registration in the other country, and the animal must be inspected by an inspector appointed by the New Zealand Pig Breeders’ Association and passed as a fit animal to be the parent of progeny in every way typical of the breed. A check on the type of importations is thus maintained, and inferior animals will be refused registration. Numbers of animals have been so rejected, so the matter is not one of mere formality. Breeding Expensive Pedigree breeding is not only an expensive business, but involved a great deal of hard work. Not only is

Foundation Stock

there the cost of purchasing the

foundation stock, of keeping perhaps extra boars, of feeding, of keeping animals of all ages, of risking sales, of showing the stock, but there is also the worry of selling, the time spent in taking prospective clients over the piggery, and the necessity of being most careful in filling in all the correct forms and so on.

It is a rule of the New Zealand Pig Breeders’ Association that every breeder must keep full and accurate records that may be inspected by anyone appointed by the council at any time.

The selection of foundation stock from the best strains is the first job of any breeder, and it is a job that often

is done very badly. If a farmer starts on wrong strains, he will soon come to grief. In any of the breeds, there are but few really outstanding strains, and success commences with a detailed study of strain.

The difficulty which always follows this is in the selection of other strains to cross jvith those first selected. One may find that a good locking sow and an apparently outstanding boar do not nick, that is, their progeny are inferior to the parents. in such a case it is a problem to know just how to proceed an*d it involves proceeding, either with other sows or another bedr. Just which coutse to adopt in the particular case is often a matter of experiment, and this may prove expensive.

Culling

Except in the rarest instances, it is. not wise to keep the whole litter of a purebred sow for purposes of registration. There is usually some varia-1 tion of type in the offspring, and as j in any one breed there should only be j one true type, those that do not come up to standard must be culled. Animals showing constitutional defects must also be culled. It is rather unfortunate that some breeders do not follow this rule and sell everything as registered stock. In so doing, not only must their stud suffer sooner or later, but they often do untold damage to the breed as a whole. The supreme instance of this is in the Large White breed. There is no better breed, but when there was a large demand for Whites, some breeders forgot to cull,

and the consequence was that many very weak and bad types were used, and these brought discredit on the whole breed. The Breeder Personally, with the hundreds of j pounds worth of purebred slock that I i have to purchase lor various people in a year, I make it <a rule to go only to reliable breeders. There are some breeders with reputedly good stock, but as their name is not absolutely reliable. I will not consider purchasing from them. There are so many things that a careless or shrewd breeder can do that he shouldn’t, that it is too risky to deal with him. Understanding and reliability are thus essential qualities in a breeder, whatever class of animal he is producing. The man is as important as the animal.