Tamworth pig
| Conservation status | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Standard | |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Skin colour | flesh-colour |
| Hair | red-gold |
| |
The Tamworth is a British breed of domestic pig. It is the only red-coloured pig of the United Kingdom.[4]: 700 Its origins are unknown, but it appears to have developed near the town of Tamworth in south-eastern Staffordshire, close to the Warwickshire border.[4]: 700 It is one of seven British pig breeds listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as 'priority', the highest level of concern of the trust.[5]
History
The origins of the Tamworth are not known. It appears to have originated shortly before or after 1800 near the town of Tamworth in south-eastern Staffordshire, close to Warwickshire border. There are many theories of the origin of its unusual red colouration: that it derived from a wild jungle pig (Sus scrofa cristatus) brought from India by Sir Francis Lawley; that it derived from Irish pigs known as 'Irish Grazers', brought to Drayton Manor in Drayton Bassett by Sir Robert Peel;[6] that Peel had not used these, but a boar brought from the West Indies; or that the colour was due to a West African Guinea Hog descended from pigs from Portugal, or to a red pig imported in about 1750 from Barbados.[4]: 700 The colour may have been fixed by selective breeding alone.[4]: 700
The Tamworth was recognised as a breed in 1865 and entered at the Royal Show in that year. A herd-book was started in 1885, and a breed society, the Tamworth Incorporated Pig Breeders Association, was formed in 1906.[4]: 700
Some Tamworth stock reached Canada in the 1870s, and larger-scale imports began in 1888. Because of its hardiness in the rigid Canadian climate, it became widespread, and by the mid-twentieth century represented about 10% of the pig population; numbers later declined.[4]: 700
In Australia, the breed reached peak numbers of about 1000 in the mid-twentieth century.[7] In New Zealand there were five breeding sows in 2002; in 2021 it was listed as "priority" by the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand.[8] Tamworths were imported into the United States by Thomas Bennett of Rossville, Illinois, in 1882,[9] and a breed society was started in 1887 in Ames, Iowa;[4]: 700 the Tamworth never became widespread, and in 2012 its conservation status in the USA was listed as "threatened".[9]
Characteristics
It is a medium-sized pig, fine-boned and long and narrow in the body, with a long straight snout, a slightly concave profile, and prick ears.[10] The coat is long, fine and straight and of a red-gold colour, preferably without black hair; the skin is flesh-coloured and should carry no black spots.[4]: 701 Average weights are approximately 260 kg for sows and 320 kg for boars.[3]
Use
The Tamworth is is reared principally for bacon.[11]
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In [[Knepp[ Wildland]]
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Piglets
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Sow with piglets
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In Stirling, in Scotland
References
- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ Breed data sheet: Tamworth / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Pig). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed February 2023.
- ^ a b c Tamworth. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
- ^ Watchlist 2022–23. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 28 September 2022.
- ^ Tamworth Pig. Canadian Farm Animal Genetic Resources Foundation. Archived 17 January 2015.
- ^ Australian Agriculture 1993, National Farmers Federation, Morescope Publishing (1993)
- ^ Tamworth Pigs: A Rare Breed of British Origin. Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand. Archived 20 April 2021.
- ^ a b Breed Information – ALBC Conservation Priority List. American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Archived 29 July 2012.
- ^ The Tamworth. The British Pig Association. Archived 1 August 2017.
- ^ James A.S. Watson and James A. More (1962 [1924]). Agriculture: The Science and Practice of Farming, eleventh edition. Edinburgh; London: Oliver and Boyd.
Further reading
- Annette and Grant McFarlane, Pig keeping on a small scale, Kenthurst, NSW, Kangaroo Press (1996).
- J van Der Pol.., Today’s hog won’t work outdoors, Graze. (reproduced in Genesis vol.16, No.3, 2001)