Breeders – please familiarize yourself with the GOS Breed Standard. And select your breeding stock accordingly.
GOS BREED CHARACTERISTICS
- Head: Medium length with a slightly dished nose. The ears should be well set apart, dropping forward to the nose.
- Body: The shoulders should be fine but not raised. A long level back with well sprung ribs and a broad loin are desirable. Deep sides, with a thick, full belly and flank from the ribs to hams are standard.
- Hams: Large and well filled to the hocks.
- Legs: Straight and strong.
- Skin and Coat: Skin should not show coarseness or wrinkles. The hair should be silky and straight.
- Teats: There should be at least fourteen well placed teats.
- Objections: Heavy jowl, short elevated ears, a mane of bristles, crooked legs, and serious wrinkles.
- Coloring: White skin with black spots. Not less than one spot and overly spotted is not desired. Black should not predominate
Color Groupings Explained
All pure bred Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs belong to one of four color groups: Red, Black, Green and Blue, represented in the color chart below. All GOS pigs have the same pattern white with black spots. The color groups represent the family or lineage from which a pig originated. Referring to the color chart, Red Group Boars are Sam, Black Group Boars are Patrick, Green Group Boars are Gerald and Blue Group Boars are Rufus. It is important to note that the cyclic breeding is no longer utilized by most breeders as was suggested in the past. Due to the shallow gene pool here in the US, breeding registered stock outside the color group, may be advantageous for diversification. The only true requirement to register GOS piglets is that both the Dam and Sire have been registered by the US or UK GOS registry.
For each color group there are up to 4 different female names but only one unique male name per group. All female offspring from a registered sow inherit the color group and name of that sow, while the males take on the unique boar name of the particular color group designated by the Dam. Therefore a registered Green Princess sow’s male offspring can be registered as a Green Gerald and a female offspring can be registered as a Green Princess, as long as the boar that fathered the litter is also registered. Animals that are progeny from the most recent importation have been designated UK2. When both the sire and dam are 100% UK2, the boar will carry the sires designation as is done in the UK.
Breeders are responsible to register their litters before transferring ownership. In order to register GOS pigs please download the form and instructions by clicking on these Registration Instructions and Registration Form links, complete in full and send them into the GOSA registry with the registration fee listed in the instructions. In order to transfer ownership of a registered GOS pig please download the form by clicking on this Application for Transfer link, complete the form or mail it to the designated address with the appropriate fee.