The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: madmax on June 15, 2010, 07:55:40 pm
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hi i have been thinking about getting sum tamworths for sum time but i don't know where to start so i need sum advice on where to start.
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Hi madmax I am not the best person to give advice but i would say start with very secure fences ;D ;D. If you have not kept pigs before I suggest that you read up as much as you can about them and if possible go on a pig keeping course.
You will find lots of knowledgable people on here, perhaps some of them may be near you. i am in the Scottish Borders.
Good luck :pig: :pig: :pig:
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Ooooooooh tamworths, hope you are really fit :pig: :pig: :pig:
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im not fit but if thay make me run around thats all good
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Hello :wave:
I'd start by reading through all the old posts on the pig forum, get yourself a good book on pig keeping, attend a one day pig keeping course and go for a slightly more chilled out breed than Tamworths for your first attempt ;) Anything with floppy ears is usually a good bet ! (Oxford sandy and blacks look a bit like spotty Tamworths and are so much more docile ! ;D) You'll need to apply for your CPH number and a herd number before getting any animals too. And definately good, STRONG fences (I can't emphasise that enough lol!)
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most of my fencing is good and strong as the has been live stock on the land before many years a go
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We bought two Tamworth weaners from a reputable breeder in April. She was also involved in running piggie courses at the local community farm and wouldn't sell to us unless we had been on a course which I was quite happy to do.
The pigs have been absolutely perfect. No escapes so far but they've got alot of space to explore and are absolutely fine - come to the bucket, easy to handle, sociable etc. We have stout stock fencing and electric fencing in reserve just in case - so we shall see.....
As they grow they are beginning to get a but bargey but soon skitter off when they realise that hanging about and blocking the path isn't going to get them fed.
They are very intelligent. Ours were pretty unused to human contact when they arrived but they are very sociable now and always come running to the fence when they see us for a scratch and the odd tit bit. They seem to know that I'm the soft touch rather than my husband.
So - good up until now but they might become a handful later. We will be sending them in October-time.
I'm really glad we went for Tamworths despite their reputation.
Susanna
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I truly believe they're reputation is unfairly tarnished; Tams are amazing friendly clever sociable animals;who very quickly understand what you want of them . They were our first pigs and we had NO FARMING EXPERIENCE;they never gave us any trouble.We have stuck with them ever since and when we compare how easily and readily they do as we ask compared to friends pigs[gos etc]we know we have done the right thing.
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most of my fencing is good and strong as the has been live stock on the land before many years a go
Go round all of it and give it a REALLY hard waggle, it's amazing how it can loosen just with the passing seasons and changes in weather (trust me on that one ;) I have 'docile' kune kunes and good stock fencing and THEY managed to get out!) You don't want to find out it was loose AFTER they've escaped and you've run halfway round the county trying to get them back :o If you're having a permanent pig field I'd run a strand of barbed wire around the bottom of the fence to prevent them digging under, or if it's a temporary/moveable arrangement electric fencing at 6 inches and about 18-22 inches from the ground should do it. I had a tamworth x weaner and a saddleback x weaner first time round and the saddleback was SOOOOOOO much easier to handle (though the kids enjoyed 'hog riding' with the tammy much more, when they could catch it !) Whichever breed you end up with you'll have a great time ahead of you !
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wen i say strong i mean i can give a good hard push and pull it till i am red in the face and it does not move .
plus It has become embedded in the hawthorn hedge so not going any where unless they can remove a lot of hedging but the bit that cuts the land in half has roted and will be replaced by stronger stuff
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Never underestimate the power of a pig that wants to be the other side of a fence :D
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Hello MM the only thing wrong wi a Tammy the damned things can run twice as fast as me ??? ;D ;D ;D :farmer: :wave:
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lol
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They really are lovely pigs, one of my favourite breeds, just too old to keep up with them now.
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MM,
Would be worth considering a course and/or a book.
That way you would get to see first hand both the animals, and learn how to look after them and contain them, what they need, and how to spot when they are not at their best and what to do about it. You would also learn about the regulations, abattoirs, butchers and what meat you get from your pig.
Our course covers all that you would need to know, and you would not only see our two beautiful tamworths, but large black, large white, Middlewhite, Berkshire, Gloucester Old Spot, Oxford Sandy & Black, and our herd of British Saddlebacks.
We have had people from all over the UK, and course attendees range from people wanting to keep a couple of pigs to the couple who have set up in Japan breeding Berkshires !
Sudanpan who posts on this site has been on this course and I'm sure would provide a reference if you Pm's her!
Good luck !
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I started out with Tamworths and have had no problems at all with them escaping, I have a boar, a sow, her weaned litter and a 6mth gilt plus a saddleback sow. Mine are behind regular stock fencing some of the time and at the moment just behind a single strand of electric tape. They have quickly learned to respect the white tape which bites to the point that when I wanted to move my 6 mth old gilt to the other side of the field she point blank refused to cross the grass where the tape had been for a whole day. I have horses and donkeys so wouldn't have barbed wire at all.
I went on a course with oaklands, who incidently told us a similar story with the electric tape so I should have been paying more attention, so can reccommend them!! My course book is well thumbed and the sausages were good too!
Whereabouts are you is there someone nearby who you could visit and pick the brains of?
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i am in Sheffield near j34
i have been looking at a course but i do not have a car so i can not go a long way Vere easily
witch books are the best to go with?
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You dont have to go on a course for looking after pigs, although it seems nice to do so.
Any and all information can be gleened from the internet, even videos of sick pigs if you need them to recognise when your pigs are 'off'.
This website is a mine of information.
Plain old common sense and knowing your stock is the best way to look after them.
Id love to know just how many farmers go on courses, not many I bet and I tend to think a lot of courses although set up with the best of intentions and the best info are just a fashion rather like organic stuff was and is.
Id rather spend the money on the pigs myself. ;D
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That is the real answer to a lot of problems Jackie.NO OFFENCE INTENDED TO ANY ONE but today people do not seem to grasp the basic principals of anything and work it out and never observe any thing. I know some farmers have been to Agricultural college these days but all farmers of yester year Learned from their Fathers and friends and salesmen that called and good advice from the vitnery.The farm workers learned by working with senior workers.Now it appears to me all you need is a bit of paper that states you have done this course and that course Dear dear where will it end.I know every one has to start some where.Lets pretend I am 100% fit and well.I apply for a post and a 21 yr old chap with all the NVQ's etc; also applies .Who do you think will get the job assuming I am not know to the employer?I was talking to Jeff the other day He has done the spraying on the farm for years He has had to go and have a training course to drive the ATV and another one to spot spray the nettles etc; on the farm He said Ive been the chap that has done this job since I left school First of all the Farms Foreman gave me a thistle spud and he came with me Ya know he all ways walked about the far with a spud and he showed me how to do the job.Later Knapsack sprayers came on the farm The salesman showed me how it worked and off I went.Now I have the Kazawacki ATV 4X4 and I ride round.I can do as much in a day as I used to do in a week.I couldn't legally do the job with out the 2 SUSTIFICUTS and Ive done it for Years ??? ;D ;D :farmer: :wave:
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MadMax, i never did a pig keeping course, although i would of liked to. Instead i just kept bombarding people on here with different questions and managed to rear 7 very healthy SaddleBack cross GOS pigs for meat.
Basic principles ae making sure they have enough space to be piggy, a dry warm place to sleep with a new bale of straw every couple of weeks, clean water, fed twice a day and if its hot somewhere where they can make a wallow. Fingers crossed that nothing out of the ordinary happens you should be able to sit back and enjoy the experience before finally letting your taste buds give the final thumbs up.
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There you go M M Easy as falling off a log.W.P. has had a great time growing his own sausages and pork chops Has as others I posted a couple of how to's in Recipes what to do with you pig when its dead
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If you can get on to a good course it would be worthwhile if only to learn all the regulations and how to deal with DEFRA. :D
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I would not dream of trying to correct you Mum BUT NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO DEAL WITH DEFRA! :) ;) :D ;D :farmer: :wave:
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Actually my local animal health woman says its part of her job to come and teach me to fill in the forms for her and DEFRA, who am I to stop her if she wants to do that? ;D
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Do you know what DEFRA translates to. If you write the whole lot instead of using abbreviations :D :farmer: :wave:
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Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
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So Max you are new to this world are you not? :D Try Done Everything F-----g Rong Agen ;D
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LOL
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Nice one wiz ;D
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:) :) :)