The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: SmallTimeSmallholder on July 01, 2012, 08:08:24 pm
-
Help! My pigs are due at the abattoir tomorrow and one of them has lost her tag!! What should I do? Give her a new number or will a temporary mark be acceptable?
Panicing ever so slightly now!
-
I'd say re-tag, as long as the tag numbers match your paperwork it should be fine :thumbsup:
Some abattoirs will accept a temporary mark, it might be worth a phonecall before setting off just to check with them ;) Hope all goes smoothly tomorrow,
Karen :wave:
-
Thanks Karen,
I think you're right. Hoping I might get away with not having to re-tag & also wondering what DEFRA might make of my 'missing' pig, but as long as my paperwork tallys, then I'm sure it'll be fine.
All part of the learning curve!
-
i would phone the abbatoir- many will only accept tags or slapmark nowadays
-
No abattoirs can accept a temporary mark anymore, rules changed last year for scotland.
The tag only needs your herdmark on it, there is no individual ID required for pigs.
If the pigs came to you with a tag, then legally you should re-tag (leaving the old one in) with your herdmark when they go to slaughter. However since no-one checks that the herdmark matches the sending holding, this is largely ignored, and having more than one tag just adds confusion at the abattoir.
As long as the number of pigs on your holding matches the net of your on and off moves, Defra will be happy, and once killed of course there is nothing to match paperwork against !
-
One of mine lost its metal tag the morning they where going, I just put another one in