BUYING STOCK – MBOAR

PURCHASING BREEDING STOCK

If you are seeking breeding stock for purchase,, please contact MBOAR to bring you in contact with breeders that have animals that are registered or who qualify for registration.

BUILDING YOUR HERD

Things to Consider When Selecting Breeding Stock:

Breed Standard

Phenotype

Inbreeding Percentage

Lineage

What Are Your Goals As An Individual Breeder?

Meat Producer

Color Purist

Breed Preservation

Breed Diversification

HOW TO SELECT BREEDING STOCK

When selecting breeding stock to build your herd it is imperative for the integrity of the breed and the health of your herd that all stock meets the breed standard. Meaning they must have all the required characteristics and no undesirable traits.

Selecting beneficial characteristics for breeding is necessary to maintain and improve the correct phenotype, mothering skills, litter size and many other aspects that will serve the breed going forward. The future of the breed and acquiring suitable breeding stock is not a matter of ‘luck’. It is best accomplished through thoughtful selection, herd management and knowledge about the breed.

When selecting breeding stock from piglets keep in mind that undesirable traits can go unnoticed until they have reached maturity so look to the parents and lineage of the pig for more insight. Some undesirable traits are passed down through genetics and some are the result of inbreeding or cross breeding.

Required Characteristics

✔️ A short, deep body with a fine yet very strong skeleton/bone structure

✔️ Straight or slightly curved back

✔️ The groin (ham) is flat not rounded

✔️ Head is medium long, ears are large and tip forward at older age.

✔️ Ears are 2/3 of the length of the nose and form a straight line with the snout

✔️ Ears of the piglets are mostly short and often upright

✔️ Eyes are brown

✔️ The eyelashes, eyebrows, nose, claws, nipples and all natural body-openings are always black

✔️ The root of the tail is thick and the tip of tail-tassel is also always black

✔️ The skin under the fur is greyish-black. Young piglets or animals that are kept inside often show a lighter skin on the belly. When kept outside the skin color should turn darker

✔️ The number of nipples is 10 to max 12. Max 6 on each side

✔️ On the lower edge of the ear is a bright spot (an inch in diameter), the “Wellmann spot“

✔️ The piglets of the breed are mostly striped (Some piglets will not show stripes or only a slight coloration. The stripes disappear usually between 1 – 12 weeks)

✔️ Seasonal molting of the hair in summer is typical for the breed

Undesirable Traits

🚫 Light or pink color of the belly (when older than 16 weeks and kept outside)

🚫 Too fine or too rough bristles /hair

🚫 Too long, straight hair that is dark colored on the back (Razorback) of the pure blonde color and pure red color Mangalitsa

🚫 Too small upright or too large hanging ears of animals older than 12 months

🚫 X shaped front legs

🚫 Very short front legs

🚫 Too flat feet

Forbidden Traits

🚫 Pink spots on the belly, legs, nose

🚫 Black or brown spots

🚫 Un-pigmented body openings

🚫 Yellow or yellow striped claws

🚫 Pink nipples

🚫 More than 12 nipples

🚫 Pure white tails

🚫 Tails without the black end tassel

🚫 Pink/white eyelashes or eyebrows

HOW TO DISTINGUISH PUREBREDS FROM CROSSES

Not everything that has a curly coat is a Pure Mangalitsa! A pure bred pig of a certain breed, should show the breed specific characteristics, but that does not mean that a cross with that breed will NOT show them!

Be very critical when selecting stock. Make sure you can differentiate a cross from a pure bred by referring to breed standard and by verifying the pigs lineage.

For people who are new to the breed, the Breed Registry is a great tool to have for this purpose. For more information on the Mangalista Breed Standard click the button below:

BREED STANDARD

THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY STRUCTURE

Choosing stock with a good phenotype is not only beneficial from a breeders perspective of maintaining the breed standard and health of the Mangalitsa but also from the perspective of a meat producer.

Because Mangalitsas are raised for much longer than your average breed it is important to choose stock with good legs, back and feet to ensure they are reaching butcher weight in a healthy way.

These qualities if not in good shape will only get worse as the pig ages. Bad legs and feet might not be as obvious in a piglet in comparison to a 2 year old sow.

HOW TO SELECT GOOD BODY STRUCTURE

Desirable body structure in breeding pigs (yellow) and undesirable body structures (white) are illustrated below. Good breed selection is ideally decided after an animal is 12 months or older as certain body structures appear only when the pig reaches maturity.

Thus the final selection of breeders should be after 18 months of age.

Discriminating selection is very important when adding animals to your breeding program.

How to determine good and bad feet as well as leg structures in your pigs.

BOARS SHOWING EXCELLENT PHENOTYPE

Boars with desirable phenotype: Blonde, Swallow Belly & Red Mangalitsa breeding boars with correct legs and feet and good back and belly lines. These boars are in good body condition; not too fat or too lean.

PHENOTYPE BREEDING SOWS

Sows with desirable phenotype: Blonde, Swallow Belly & Red Mangalitsa breeding sows with correct legs and feet, good back and belly line. Good body condition, not too fat or too lean.

Lineage, Inbreeding Percentage & Color Purity

It is vital that breeders also know the lineage and inbreeding potential of pairing animals so future problems will be avoided.

All animals that are registered with MBOAR will have a record of inbreeding percentage. When members are seeking a new sow or boar, the software will calculate the potential inbreeding percentage of the future litter born of the specific combination of parents.

If breeding as a color purist it is also beneficial to know the import pigs in which your stock comes from. Pigs related to the following original imported & registered pigs: Pedro & Rhonda; share an off-color ancestor despite being of pure color. To some breeders striving for strictly color purity breeding, this might be a downfall.

Although rare, as we see an increase in breeding of pigs related to these off-colour pigs, we may see an increase in off-color piglets. This is due to the limited genetic diversity imported to North America especially in places like Canada, where all known blondes are related to these off-color pigs.