In a press release, the breeding organisation, headquartered in Vught, the Netherlands, says it is the biggest database of its kind in the world.
The piglet that became the 20 millionth pig in Pigbase was born on 15 February at the organisation's nucleus breeding farm in Rio Verde, Brazil.
In Pigbase, all data from the organisation's breeding pigs are checked and stored so that the breeding values of all current breeding pigs can be calculated on a daily basis. That facilitates a more precise selection for a quick and balanced genetic progress. This results in pigs with a high predisposition for traditional key outcomes such as carcass quality, growth, feed conversion, litter size etcetera. Yet in addition to these, new characteristics such as vitality, sustainability, mothering characteristics and social behaviour are also genetically improved in the breeding programme.
Breeding farm links
Pigbase links the organisation's breeding farms with eachother, thus creating a single large population of breeding pigs. Worldwide, more than 800 breeding farms are included in Pigbase. For that reason, the breeding value of a sow in the Netherlands is partly determined by the performances of its family members living in, e.g. Germany, Spain or Canada.
For users, this means they can achieve good results with pigs that have the highest possible genetic quality. Moreover, these pigs have been bred in a balanced manner to guarantee sufficient health and welfare so as to meet the high demands placed on animal welfare by society.
Related website:
• Topigs
