Tamworth Bloodlines

Anyone serious enought about Tamworth's to want to read this, will also know to check the CLRC website to see a list of my pigs, but I thought I would outline some of the specific issues with respect to the bloodlines I have.

Current adult boars include JAFA Harry, Beaver Road Luke and Paddy Green Perry.

Current sows include Veliraf Perscilla and Atilla, Beaver Road Sue, and a couple of sister sows from Pam Heath in Quebec with an Irish sire. I also have Paddy Green Ellee.

JAFA Harry is a distinct bloodline for me, as are each of the Beaver Road pigs. The Veliraf girls have some JAFA in them but no overlap with my Harry. I also expect to have a couple of new gilts with other JAFA genes, through a couple of Elysian Fields' sows that I will get from Murry Thundberg. Harry is a good size, and a very deep dark brown.

My Irish girls really help provide a guage of confirmation for the other pigs I have. They are both a wonderful light orange colour and of moderate size. Not quite as big as my Veliraf girls but close. They are both friendly and with their first litters they were excellent mothers....I really can't think of an attribute that I could breed up!!

Luke is big, and his structure would suggest a bit of Duroc got in the mix at some point. Probably someone in the US was convinced that bigger is better. On the other had Sue is a bit small, and also much darker in colour than I would ideally like to see. I know her siblings look a bit more true to breed. Interestingly, Luke and Sue produce offspring of remarkably good confirmation, and Ellee is a perfect example of that. Ellee has a couple of daughters (with Harry) at Pioneer Village in Toronto for the summer. Ellee is just a bit too protective of her piglets, so I hope the time close to lots of people helps socialize her daughters a bit more than she is.

My Veliraf girls are getting on in age and I will hold back a couple of daughters from each in their next litters. Perscilla has been bred to Harry over the years and Atilla to Luke. Perry is a good looking yearling boar from Persciall and Harry, and I've used him with one of the Irish girls and like the results.

My plan is to concentrate the Irish genes a bit more. Offspring from each of the sisters will be bred back to each other, and then those offspring will be bred together....that should keep me going for a few years.

If anyone is serious enough about their own genetics to want a specific pairing of any of my Tam's I would be happy to consider it in the larger context of my own breeding program.