New Herd Book Number Format
Happy new year to all our members!
A new year, and a little change to pig registrations. The BKKPS is changing the format of the herd book number that is assigned to each newly registered pig. Instead of the old 4 character numberic (eg 8765), we are now using a random selection of letters and numbers (eg 4P6WE8). The first characters are random, but the last character is always a number and represents the year in which the pig was registered ie 4P6WE8 indicates that the pig was registered in 2018.
This change will only affect pigs being registered from 1st January 2018, with older pigs keeping their existing herd book number.
After 8 years on the committee, Sam has stood down to concentrate on other commitments. In line with the constitution the committee have co-opted Simon Whiteley as interim chair until a suitable replacement can be sought. Ellen Thomas has also stood down as publicity and marketing officer but is going to remain i/c social media.I would like to thank both on behalf of the society and its members for the hard work and dedication they have shown the society.With this in mind we are looking for a publicity and marketing officer to work alongside Ellen in her role. If anyone else has a particular skill or would like to get involved with the running of the society and help us celebrate 25 years of the BKKPS then please contact our Secretary, Dan Thomas, secretary@britishkunekunepigsociety.co.uk
Hello all,
Firstly can I take this opportunity to say a genuine thank you for all that you do for the breed and the Society. Our breeders are what keep both the breed and the Society going, without you there is literally nothing!
The Registrar would also like to thank you for your patience over the last few months. The backlog is close to being cleared!
Please may I ask you to take the time to read through the information below. None of this may apply to you but I am hoping we can all support each other, and new breeders, so we get things right.
We are receiving birth notifications, registrations and transfers both online and in paper form that have mistakes. We are also receiving applications for birth notifications and registrations that don't follow the guidelines for timings, eligibility and identification. This means a lot of work for the Registrar and the Secretary and as a result things are not being processed quickly.
The main issues are:
· No individual ear tag numbers for pigs
· Ear tag numbers are the same as ones already used before (duplicates)
· Trying to register boars in a first year of breeding (without contacting us first)
· Notifying after 40 days
· Registering after 18 months/after breeding
We are now looking far more critically at ear tag numbers and will notice if you are using tag numbers you have done before; we will also not approve registrations where no individual ear tag numbers have been given. In some cases we may ask you to provide photographs of the ear tag in the pig's ear before it leaves your holding. We are receiving communication from new owners asking us for ear tags for pigs and, on inspecting the database, we find these pigs are registered as having been tagged!
We know there are sometimes exceptions to the rules and, as a committee, we are happy to discuss these on a case by case basis so please do contact us in unusual cases before you try to notify/register/the pig leaves your holding.
May I also remind you about the articles available on the BKKPS website.
It would help tremendously if you were to pass these links on to new breeders who buy breeding pigs from you so they understand the rules before breeding. Here they are for ease of reference:
Over the winter the Registrar will be writing an article for the Newsletter and BKKPS website as well as producing a help guide for new breeders to try and support new people coming into breeding. Please may I ask you to help by feeding back to us:
· What do you find confusing, especially as a new breeder?
· What things don’t you understand or cannot find help with?
· What problems do you experience with either the online system/paper system for notifying and registration?
· How could we improve/what else would support you?
· Anything else?!
Please direct your responses to:
secretary@britishkunekunesociety.org.uk or chair@britishkunekunesociety.org.uk
Many thanks to you all for taking the time to read this.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of The British Kunekune Pig Society (BKKPS) will be held on Sunday 15th October 2017 at The Old House, Rectory Lane, Wolverton, Tadley, RG26 5RS by kind permissions of Sarah Sladen
As well as the AGM we will be holding practical demonstrations on keeping Kunekune Pigs as well as a Q&A session on pig health kindly lead by Sam Jones, BKKPS Chair
UPDATE: Valerie our Registrar is due to move house,
If you use paper applications for registrations please could you download a new copy from the members area of the website, this will include the new address.
IMPORTANT INFO:
Hello all, Sam Jones here :)
This week, DAWN STEVENS has decided to step down from the role of Show Co-ordinator so she can concentrate on her own pigs and the shows she attends. She will also be stepping down from the committee. It is with great sadness we see her leave, she has been both a show and BKKPS stalwart and is a very sincere, warm, kind, caring and thoughtful person. A lovely person to be around who actively encourages and supports anyone with an interest in pigs. She has personally been hugely successful in both the show ring and breeding; I know she will continue with hopefully more time to focus on herself and her own herd. She has worked extremely hard as a committee member , her greatest success being the introduction of the BKKPS Champion of Champions. , DAWN STEVENS, we wish you all the best for the future, take care, lots of love from Sam and the BKKPS team x x x x
The photo shows Dawn being awarded Breed Champion by Andy Case at the Lambourn Show
Thinking about showing your pigs this year? Want to go along and watch some Kunekune in the show ring? The schedules are out now for the following shows:
Burwarton Show
Berkshire County Show aka newbury
Pembrokshire County Show