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Breed Characteristics
Coloring: White skin with black spots. 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.
Cyclic Breeding
The British GOS pig breeders developed
the cyclic breeding system in an attempt to minimize inbreeding. All pure bred Gloucestershire Old Spots
pigs belong to one of four color groups: Red, Black, Green and Blue, represented in the color chart to
the left. Although GOS pigs all maintain the identical coloring, 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 (Sambo)
breed Black Group Sows, Black Group Boars (Patrick) breed Green Group Sows, Green Group Boars (Gerald) breed Blue
Group Sows and Blue Group Boars (Rufus) breed Red Group Sows. It is important to note that the cyclic breeding is
suggested not mandatory. Due to the shallow gene pool here in the US, breeding registered stock outside
the color group, in some circumstances, 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
is up to 5 different female names but only one unique male name per group. All female offspring from a registered sow, whether
bred following the color chart or not, 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.
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 Forms links, complete in full and send them into the GOSA registry with the registration fee listed in the instructions. In
order to tranfer ownership of a registered GOS pig please download the form by clicking on this Application for Tranfer link, complete the form and mail it to the designated address with the appropriate fee.
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