The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Bumblebear on July 18, 2012, 10:29:07 pm
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I enquired about a pig keeping course for hubby and me as we're thinking of keeping a couple of weaners and I wanted to do it 'properly' as we've never kept pigs before.
I phoned someone I found online and when they sent me through their info (by email) it seemed more like I was buying a "pig experience day out", rather than a beginner stockman course. To be honest I don't care a jot about "photo opportunities with piglets" :-\ or "lunch in a 4* hotel" :o I just want the gen on keeping pigs!
Are all courses like this? Do you peeps think that forums like this one; good old google; and a few good books are enough to get started?
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where in the country are you
what you are looking for is a course at an agric college i am not a great believer in all these courses some are better than others quite a good earner if you have the nuts to pull it of at least £75 per person plus sell them a few weaners as well i would say if you went to a local pig keeper with years of experience they are happy to talk pigs all day long just my opinion :farmer:
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That's kind of what I was thinking. We are in Norfolk and you look like a pig-keeper kind of guy :) We wanta couple of weaners to raise for bacon so, until I find my local, talkative pig-keeper can you tell me what you reckon is a good space for 2 x baconers? I've read 10mx10m (excluding ark) is enough - does this sound right to you?
Ironically we are surrounded by commercial pig farms where we live!
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i would give them a bit more but it depends on your soil conditions and rainfall and it will end up being bare earth after they are in there :farmer:
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Our beginners pig keeping course certainly isn't a 'piggy experience session' (though we do offer one of those too for folks who aren't ever likely to keep porkers but want to find out a wee bit more and spend a bit of time with them and get some photo's and cuddle some piglets ;))
On our beginners pig keeping course you would be getting hands on, learning how to check your pigs over, identify and treat common ailments, weigh them, looking at underlines and confirmation, learning (and trying for yourself) jagging, tagging, moving etc as well as a lot of information on record keeping and legalities, housing, fencing, feeding, slaughter and burchery etc - the feedback we've had is that people leave feeling confident they have all the info and skills needed to raise weaners to slaughter and the reassurance of being able to pick up the phone or email if they ever run into problems in the future.
I'm sure there are courses out there that might not be as good as others and you might get someone local to you who's prepared to teach you, but it can take quite a bit of time and obviously doing it all in one day gives you all the info in one go (and a big book of information to take away) :thumbsup:
It's entirely possible to do it yourself, using books and having the back up of forums for advice - that was how I started ;) But by going along to a course you get the benefit of others years of experience, learn from their mistakes (without making them yourself) and should get a real idea of what it's like to keep pigs.
HTH
Karen :wave:
Edit - if you're planning on keeping 2 pigs to bacon weight, I'd say a minimum of 20m x 20m would be more suitable and with the weather as wet as it's been and depending on your ground you might need 2 areas of this size so you can rotate your ground to save it from getting too muddy. Have a read back through the pig section on the forum (and on the main TAS website) for a quick guide or on the web check out my website (shameless plug :D) or the info on the Scottish Pig Keepers website for a quick 'how to' for starting with pigs :wave:
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Where can I find your website Karen? (I fell for the shamelss plug :innocent: ) :)
We were thinking 2 areas with an ark in the middle, with one being used at any one time.
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Found it.
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Two areas and an arc is ideal :thumbsup: If you can put a door in each end of the arc and have the option of closing and opening them it's ideal.
My website is here http://yonderton-com.webs.com/keepingpigs.htm (http://yonderton-com.webs.com/keepingpigs.htm)
That should take you to a bit of info on keeping them ;) And there are some cute pics in the photo album too ;D
Karen
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I presume you looked at Pig paradise website, their courses are very good, and you learn a heck of alot, it is geared to earning money though with pigs, which isn't what you always want if you are looking to keep a couple of pigs. Our courses were never pig experience days out, they were full on and people went away with the knowledge to start keeping a couple of pigs for the freezer. We also had breeding days which were geared just for breeding. There are some very good courses out there Karen included :wave: the BPA might be able to help as well as magazines such as smallholder that advertise.
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Or you could try ours !
Based in the South East, ours covers
How much space do I need, what about housing, what sort of fencing?
- What equipment do I need?
- What can I feed, how much, what will it cost ?
- Where do I buy stock from, what to buy, how much should I pay ?
- What are the regulations I need to follow?
- How easy is it to breed and what’s involved ?
- How do I keep them fit and healthy ?
- How do I find an abattoir and a butcher ?
- What meat do I get, how much, what can I do with it?
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It is a mix of outdoor and indoor sessions, and not what the one you got a brochure for is about (we know the one you mean).
As per HH, this course is designed to give you all you need to know to set up.
Visit our website for futher info
www.oaklandspigs.co.uk (http://www.oaklandspigs.co.uk/)
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All you guys with training courses sound fabulous BUT, doesn't anyone do one in Norfolk/Suffolk?! :fc:
I think I'm going to have to wing it....
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[advert on]
We are 2-3 hours from Norfolk, and a day with us could easily repay both petrol and cost in saving say 2 couple of vet visits or unnecesary fencing, buying the wrong ark or the myriad of other things that you might get wrong by "winging it"
But you can always buy our book - at £17.50 it covers all that you need to know - the course lets you see this in action, but the book will still give you everything you need to set up and produce great meat - you can buy it from our website
[advert off!]
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There's nothing better than a real "hands-on" experience & it's always helpful to have someone to turn to for advice & support. If you get your piggies from a responsible breeder, they will be all too happy to do this.
I'll give a big :thumbsup: for Oaklands' book too.
:love: :pig: :love:
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There's nothing better than a real "hands-on" experience & it's always helpful to have someone to turn to for advice & support. If you get your piggies from a responsible breeder, they will be all too happy to do this.
I'll give a big :thumbsup: for Oaklands' book too.
:love: :pig: :love:
Thanks Beewyched :)
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No probs - speak as I find :eyelashes:
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Bumblebear
go to the GOS website members section and you will find a list of breeders in the Anglia area any of which will be glad to talk to you and may let you visit them.
There are lots of courses now as people have jumped on the bandwagon, the good ones come by recommendation eg Oaklands, HH, Liz Shankland, these are all experienced pig people who know their stuff. One thing to ask of somebody running a course is to ask how long they've been keeping pigs, if its only a couple of years, look abit further they're still learning, i've been keeping pigs now for 8yrs and i'm still learning. I started with a day at Pig Parardise and it was a good introduction but not compared to actually going to a breeder and talking to them.
HTh
mandy :pig:
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we are in cambridgeshire if you want to pop over and talk pigs and pig keeping i also know of other breeders around here that would welcome you to look around and talk pigs too.
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just a thought wayland show (its in norfolk) is on 5th august why not come over and see the pigs and have a chat to the breeders its only a small show as far a pig shows go but very friendly :pig:
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Totally agree Fowgill, we kept all types of traditional breeds for 10 years before we did courses. Its all very well teaching facts (which can be learnt from a book anyway) but its the inside knowledge and the tips you only learn from experience that makes a good course
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It was the Paradise Pig course we initally enquired about and depsite being initally impressed by their experience etc their marketing literature was the full-on "pig day out" and really put me off. Quite frankly I objected to paying £16 extra for a roast pork lunch too - a pack lunch and early finish would have done me!
We went to the Norfolk Show but that was primarily to see the goats; we do usually go to the Wayland Show so I will definitely swing by the pigs this time and get chatting. Will an of you guys be there, so I can hunt you out?
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It was the Paradise Pig course we initally enquired about and depsite being initally impressed by their experience etc their marketing literature was the full-on "pig day out" and really put me off. Quite frankly I objected to paying £16 extra for a roast pork lunch too - a pack lunch and early finish would have done me!
We went to the Norfolk Show but that was primarily to see the goats; we do usually go to the Wayland Show so I will definitely swing by the pigs this time and get chatting. Will an of you guys be there, so I can hunt you out?
iv never met tony but have spoken over the fone a few times and he is v knowledgeable and informative.
wev had customers visiting here many times - before reserving pigs, including breeding stock. to me discussing pig breeding would be normal conversation if u were wanting breeders but some people get rather embarrassed, and would rather have a nice conversation and stroke the piggys and take a photo. horses for courses. :innocent:
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It was the Paradise Pig course we initally enquired about and depsite being initally impressed by their experience etc their marketing literature was the full-on "pig day out" and really put me off. Quite frankly I objected to paying £16 extra for a roast pork lunch too - a pack lunch and early finish would have done me!
We went to the Norfolk Show but that was primarily to see the goats; we do usually go to the Wayland Show so I will definitely swing by the pigs this time and get chatting. Will an of you guys be there, so I can hunt you out?
we will be there with the pigs.
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We would also recommend Oaklands course. Very well done and very informative.The book is great to have for reference. :thumbsup:
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I did the pig paradise course a few years ago and it was very, very good. I learnt a lot and Tony has been more than happy to answer questions in the years following the course. I have to say though the website and all the marketing,blurb very nearly put me off the whole thing.
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Just go for it! If you are just keping a couple for few months, do some research and take the plunge. This forum is great for sound advice. A roll of stock netting 12.5m by 12.5m is sufficient for 2 meat pigs, and a lot more space than commercial porkers get. Good luck :thumbsup: