BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 British Saddleback

These are the results of the 2020 Bloodline Survey and may include some overseas members.

The Saddlebacks are the traditional breed with the most sow lines (28). In 2004 more than half these lines were being kept by less than 5 breeders. Since then we have managed to get 80% of the lines into at least 5 herds whilst the other at risk lines are held by well-established breeders. Last year we identified 8 sow lines in less than 5 herds. Alvis, Duchess, Fidra, Joyful, Lassie, Mary, Red Rose and Rose. Half of those lines now meet the 5 herd target leaving only Alvis, Duchess, Joyful and Rose to work on. A plan is in place to nurture the critically at risk Alvis sow line. Overall sow numbers have increased by 8% but some lines have bucked this positive trend in particular the Babble and Rosette lines where numbers of sows and breeders have fallen much faster than the average across the breed.

Members keeping this sow line Sow Line Total Sows 2020 2019 2018 2017 2004 2020 2019 2018 2017 2004

1 1 4 5 14 Alvis 1 2 6 7 21

7 9 14 13 10 Babble 13 22 29 27 22

10 9 16 19 1 Bell 18 17 23 26 1

6 6 7 6 11 Belle 12 9 12 9 23

10 10 9 10 4 Biddy 15 14 13 14 11

5 6 7 5 2 Bountiful 9 10 7 7 2

13 12 8 7 2 Colleen 16 18 16 9 5

21 23 29 29 15 Dinah 46 49 64 65 26

3 4 6 5 1 Duchess 7 7 9 5 1

5 3 1 2 6 Fidra 7 6 3 4 12

1 1 1 1 8 Gamma 4 4 4 5 7

9 11 15 18 7 Grand Duchess 24 23 35 42 22

8 8 6 7 2 Hilda 13 14 7 11 4

11 8 7 4 5 Ivy 15 11 9 9 14

3 2 2 2 3 Joyful 4 2 3 4 6

5 5 5 3 3 Lady 9 7 8 6 8

6 3 3 2 3 Lassie 10 5 4 4 6

15 12 19 22 14 Lottie 30 22 31 44 32

16 13 11 7 1 Lucy 22 19 23 19 1

5 3 6 5 2 Mary 7 3 8 7 11

17 15 17 14 3 Molly 29 25 27 18 2

6 6 6 6 4 Octavia 8 9 13 13 4

5 4 6 7 2 Red Rose 13 5 9 9 5

4 4 6 6 3 Rose 4 4 10 12 5

10 11 21 26 10 Rosette 18 21 41 49 24

6 6 4 6 5 Shamrock 13 10 8 14 10

29 25 21 16 12 Silver Wings 47 44 46 41 21

5 5 4 4 2 Spot 6 7 10 11 2 Total 420 389 478 491 308

Percentage of sows with purebred litters 58% 63% 61% 55%

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 British Saddleback

These are the results of the 2020 Bloodline Survey and may include some overseas members.

The Saddleback breed also has more boar lines than any other traditional breed (14). In 2004 10 of these lines had less than 5 boars and 5 breeders. Last year in spite of the improved fortunes of the breed there were still 4 lines in less than 5 herds: Dictator, General, Stockbroker and Viscount. Of those 4 only Stockbroker is still below the target where it has been joined by the Carl.

Although there are some lines that need attention the fact that the breeders with the support of the British Saddleback Breeders Club have been able to maintain 28 sow lines and 14 boar lines represents a fantastic achievement. The Gamma line is only in Ireland at present but if it could be moved back to the UK it could be fully included in the Conservation programme.

Members keeping this boar line Boar Line Registered Boars 2020 2019 2018 2017 2004 2020 2019 2018 2017 2004

3 5 6 8 7 Carl 4 5 6 8 7

12 10 6 2 3 Consort 13 11 6 2 3

5 4 5 7 14 Dictator 6 4 6 9 15

8 6 6 6 1 Dominator 8 6 10 6 3

6 5 4 4 2 Earl Simon 7 6 5 5 1

5 4 5 6 3 General 5 4 7 6 4

9 16 22 25 4 Golden Arrow 12 19 25 31 4

8 7 9 12 11 Grand Duke 8 7 10 13 10

8 8 6 2 3 Guardsman 9 8 7 2 3

7 10 12 10 4 Prefect 8 12 12 11 4

5 7 8 10 9 Rajah 5 7 9 11 9

4 3 4 7 2 Stockbroker 4 3 4 8 2

5 4 3 6 2 Viscount 6 4 3 7 2 12 13 12 6 2 Walter 12 15 14 7 2

Total 107 111 124 126 69

Members keeping registered pigs 126 129 146 152

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 Geographical Concentration of lines and breeders

These are the figures for UK members only and form the basis for conservation planning in 2021

This year’s graphs use a sliding rainbow scale from red to purple. The colours do not represent particular values as the range of lines and breeders between breeds is very wide. What they do show for each breed is where the breed is strongest in terms of lines and breeders and where it is weakest

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 Geographical Concentration of lines and breeders

These are the figures for UK members only and form the basis for conservation planning in 2021

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 Geographical Concentration of lines and breeders

These are the figures for UK members only and form the basis for conservation planning in 2021

These tables show in more detail the progress being made to establish all the lines in as many regions as possible. Green indicates that the number of lines or regions has improved or the maximum has been achieved. Amber indicates stability and red shows where numbers have gone backwards.

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Regions with this line

2019 Regions with this line

Alvis Sows 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1

Babble Sows 0 0 2 1 10 0 0 0 3 3

Bell Sows 0 0 4 2 3 0 0 9 4 5

Belle Sows 0 0 3 0 7 0 0 2 3 2 Biddy Sows 3 2 2 8 0 0 0 0 4 5

Bountiful 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 0 4 3

Colleen 2 3 2 3 4 0 0 2 6 6

Dinah 1 0 2 3 27 0 0 13 5 5

Duchess 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 1 2 2

Fidra 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 2 4 3 Gamma* 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Grand Duchess 4 0 17 0 2 0 1 0 4 5

Hilda 0 2 0 4 6 0 0 1 4 4

Ivy 2 1 0 5 7 0 0 0 4 3

Joyful 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 2

Lady 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 3 3 Lassie 0 2 0 1 5 0 0 2 4 2

Lottie 8 0 14 6 0 0 0 2 4 4

Lucy 2 1 3 4 6 0 0 4 6 6

Mary 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 3 2

Molly 14 3 3 6 2 0 0 0 5 6

Octavia 1 1 3 0 2 0 0 1 5 5 Red Rose 0 0 7 4 1 0 0 0 3 2

Rose 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3

Rosette 0 1 10 0 4 0 0 2 4 4

Shamrock 0 0 5 1 0 5 0 0 3 3

Silver Wings 0 4 3 10 11 1 0 18 6 5

Spot 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 1 3 3 Total Sows / Region 44 22 91 67 102 14 2 67

2020 Sow lines / region 14 12 19 17 18 4 2 17 2019 Sow lines / region 14 12 18 16 18 3 2 14

Total UK British Saddleback sows 409

With so many lines in the breed the goal of having all the lines in a region is probably too ambitious but it is very encouraging that almost all the regions in England and Wales have at least half of the lines and that those numbers have all been maintained or improved in the last year. Only four lines are present in fewer regions this year than last.

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 Geographical Concentration of lines and breeders

These are the figures for UK members only and form the basis for conservation planning in 2021

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lia

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Nor

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Sou

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Regions with this line

2019 Regions with this line

Carl 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 2

Consort 1 2 6 0 1 2 0 1 6 5 Dictator 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 4 4

Dominator 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 2 5 5

Earl Simon 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 4 4

General 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 2 4

Golden Arrow 0 0 3 1 3 0 0 4 4 5

Grand Duke 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 2 5 5 Guardsman 3 1 1 0 3 0 0 1 5 5

Prefect 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 2 3 6

Rajah 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 4

Stockbroker 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 4 1

Viscount 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 3 2

Walter 2 0 0 1 5 0 0 4 4 5

Total boars / Region 12 4 19 16 22 6 0 21

2020 Boar lines / region 7 3 8 10 10 5 0 11 2019 Boar lines / region 12 8 7 10 11 2 0 7

2020 Breeders /Region 15 14 20 21 25 9 1 20

2019 Breeders /Region 15 14 20 23 29 7 1 19

UK Saddleback boars 100 UK Saddleback breeders 125 As with the sow lines it is very challenging to have all 14 of the Saddleback boar lines present in all regions. More than half the lines are present in all but one of the regions in England and Wales. Almost half of the individual boar lines have seen a decline in their distribution but all the lines are at least present in a minimum of 2 regions.

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 Genebanking and Genetic Health

Since 2016 in partnership with the British Saddleback Breeders Club there has been a breeding programme for the remaining 5 boar lines needed for the genebank. All five were in critical condition but we have managed to breed up the lines, adding frozen semen from Consort, Dominator and Earl Simon boars to the tank, and our breeding programme is on track to deliver a Guardsman boar for the genebank in the coming year with a Carl to follow in due course,

HB No. Line DOB Ear No IB BUK/157 Rajah 06/08/1992 BUK/157 0.0086 BZG/218 Grand Duke 06/10/1999 BZG/218 0.0147 BZG/226 Dictator 07/10/1999 BZG/226 0.0298 R001024BS Golden Arrow 02/02/2005 WMC/165 0.016 R002792BS Rajah 03/10/2007 GJB/466 0.0263 R002552BS Prefect 23/01/2008 SGX/86 0.0104 R003062BS Dictator 15/05/2008 GJB/11A 0.0319 R005539BS Stockbroker 12/05/2010 GJB/278B 0.0099 R005818BS General 09/01/2012 BSX/115E 0.0114 R006428BS Viscount 02/07/2013 BSX/255E 0.0046 R006465BS Walter 25/07/2013 NMA/48 0.0091 R007629BS Tudor Dominator 5 09/03/2017 NPR/71 0.0066 R007701BS Framfield Consort 110 01/08/2017 NMA/110 0.0071 R008089BS Kajii Earl Simon 01/02/2019 SDU/39A 0.0106

Inbreeding Co-efficient of the British Saddleback Genebank 0.01380

The inbreeding co-efficient of the national herd is much higher than that of the boars in the genebank. The boars in the genebank go through a very careful selection process which cannot be applied to all the different breeders across the country. We are beginning a programme to encourage breeders with sows that are least related to the national population to keep progeny from those litters and breed them back into the herd. This is a very long and complex process but it is vitally important that we try to develop this type of programme for the future. We hope very much that the new agriculture bill with its emphasis on native breeds will help us develop this programme in the future.

Mean Inbreeding for the UK British Saddleback population: 2019: 0.0301 2020: 0.0327

Effective population (Ne) size is a measure of the genetic health of the breed. It is calculated as part of the National Inventory of Farm Animal Genetic Resources maintained by Defra based on the annual bloodline survey figures for the UK that we supply. Our 2020 figures will be added in May this year when the inventory is updated. The effective population size of all our native breeds is used in an index as part of the UK monitoring of biodiversity as part of our commitments under the Convention on Biodiversity to which the UK is a signatory. The effective population size is linked to the actual population but there are ways in which we manage this even when sow numbers are falling and this will be our challenge whenever we are faced with difficult times for pedigree breeders.

BPA Conservation Breeding Plan 2021 Genebanking and Genetic Health

British Saddleback Objectives for 2021

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