I'd rather notch than tag to be honest
I did my first notching last summer having been
dreading it beforehand, I had visions of squeeling piglets and blood everywhere (I too, am a wuss
) but it really wasn't even half as bad as I'd been expecting
We did them around 10 days old when they were still small enough to be easily held and they made more noise being picked up than they did during it (except for one 'diva' gilt - but she just squeeled constantly anyway
)
The notch that you are taking out is only tiny (around 4-5 mm at that age) and there's no blood. A quick spray of teramycin or 'purple spray' and job's done. We took the piglets to the house - well away from mum, to do it - that certainly takes the pressure off too
Make sure you get good notching pliers that line up completely with no gaps and they'll not even notice you're doing it
Karen