The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: P6te on October 16, 2012, 12:40:04 pm
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Last weekend we took 2 pigs on their final journey, both Saddleback x OSB. They were not the easiest to load but went in the trailer eventually. They unloaded easily and we then went to collect 5 more pigs that a breeder had kept for us. These are also Saddleback x OSB that are now 19 weeks old.
When we arrived we took the trailer down the field and backed it to the gate making a suitable entrance to the ramp using the run gate and trailer side gates to guide them in. The run they were in was a fenced with twin electric wires to 3 sides and stock fencing on the other. We managed to get all 5 to the loading area without any trouble but when we looked to move them into the trailer 2 of them just ran through the gate (which we had completely overlooked and was absolutely useless to contain them) and 2 ran back into the run and only one ended up in the trailer! :huff:
So, 2 pigs now on the run but reasonably contained within that wider area so we focused our attention on the ones in the run (the one in the trailer was secured with an internal gate across the front) …. We now got 2 hurdles (not actually hurdles, probably crowd control barriers with a solid top, bottom and side bar and vertical bars welded between) to assist and repeated the exercise, albeit the pigs were not in such an accommodating mood by now. So with more coaxing we got the pigs back in position and felt confident that this time we had them! Pig boards to hand and the trap was closed …. Did they go in the trailer??? No … they ran straight through the hurdles stretching the steel bars as they went!! So, even more pigs now on the run and just one in the trailer and it’s starting to get dark. >:(
Additional help now arrived so with 5 of us attempting to corner 4 pigs surely we’d be ok? :thumbsup: We managed to return all but one pig to the run ready to go again …. One of the pigs went into an ark so it was decided to trap it in there with a pig board and one person go in and grab it (getting desperate now) …. 19 weeks old … weighing in at 30kgs plus …. So in the ark he (not me!) went … just as fast as he went in the pig shot out through a weakness in the corrugated side of the ark! By now this exercise was looking rather like catching rain water in a colander; it was suggested that we just shoot them and save on slaughtering costs!
Time to calm down (pigs and us) and re-think strategy …. ::) :idea:
The people we were getting them from have their pigs about 120 metres away from their house and stables but frequently walk pigs up the field through the yard and into the stable and thought the pigs would readily follow the bucket with food (as if they hadn’t eaten enough that had been put down to tempt them …) They have been keeping pigs a lot longer than us and know what they are doing :fc: (right!!). With 4 of us with pig boards to keep them moving the right way and one leading with a bucket off we set … up the field and just as we were entering the yard 2 of the pigs decided that they didn’t want to play any more and made a run for it. The other 2 carried on and eventually were in the stable. Myself and one other stayed in the field attempting to round up the 2 on the run … joined by the others once the 2 were in the stable. So … its now getting dark and 2 pigs (almost entirely black pigs) running free. This escapade included passing through hedges and into a field with cattle and horses who just added to the ‘entertainment’. These 2 eventually ended up back in their run where they started having crashed through arks, hurdles, gates and hedges and finally electrics - squealing as they went. It’s now dark, really dark … the sun long since set … one of the pigs was rugby tackled in the run and somehow carried squealing like mad all the way to the trailer (that by now was 120 metres away by the stable). The 2 pigs in the stable were carried (squealing) to the trailer and we now had 4 pigs ready to go but unanimously agreed to give up on pig 5 … we had after all been on the go for 3 hours with a trail of destruction left in our wake! :gloomy:
We took the 4 home and unloaded them straight into our run without any trouble where they quickly settled down for the night and at 10pm we had our evening meal! So … we still have 1 pig to collect and plan on getting her next weekend when we hope she will be in the stable waiting for us. We have already paid for her and her upkeep otherwise I think we’d just leave her there!
But … pigs, don’t we just love them? ….. well … possibly not quite so much at 10pm last Sunday night.
Pete
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Oh, I can picture it sooo well. Lovely piggies :pig: :pig: :pig: :pig: and one for next week :pig:
Sally
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The first time we tried to load pigs we tried to herd them with no success whatsoever. Now our technique is to let them miss their supper the night before and then back the trailer to the gate of their pen filled with fresh straw, bucket of food and some veggies or their favourite slices of nutty bread. Patience and rattling of the bucket has only not worked one morning when we were a little short of time and rushed them a bit. We just sit and wait for them to go in of their own accord :-)
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It doesn't sound like the people you brought them from had given much thought to how things were going to happen. Why on earth hadn't they kept them in the stable the night before? blimey, What a palava for you! Full marks :trophy: for retaining your sanity and a sense of humour. You are very very understanding customers!
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:roflanim: :pig: :roflanim: :pig: :pig: :roflanim: :roflanim: :pig: :pig: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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We had someone once who brought over two gilts for our OSB to serve, They had to cancel on the day as they could not load the gilts. It turned out that their ramp had been touching an electric fence and the pigs were getting shocked everytime they stepped onto it. They did eventually realise and brought the pigs over another day, but it took us five hours to load them when they came to leave. They would not go near the ramp.
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I feel your pain. When we first went to collect our two sows we managed to separate them out from the herd and walk them over to the stables where we could back the trailer up to the door. But then they just sat down and refused to budge so had to come home empty-handed!
So...not to totally thread-hijack but.... we tried to separate our sow off from her weaners on Saturday and totally failed to get her to move out of the field, through a gate but over the line of electric that we've been using. She's a big old girl and you can't move her if she doesn't want to go. I don't want to withhold food from her as she's got eight weaners on her so reducing feed and luring with a bucket seems out of the question. - so any ideas for the next attempt this coming Saturday?
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I feel your pain. When we first went to collect our two sows we managed to separate them out from the herd and walk them over to the stables where we could back the trailer up to the door. But then they just sat down and refused to budge so had to come home empty-handed!
So...not to totally thread-hijack but.... we tried to separate our sow off from her weaners on Saturday and totally failed to get her to move out of the field, through a gate but over the line of electric that we've been using. She's a big old girl and you can't move her if she doesn't want to go. I don't want to withhold food from her as she's got eight weaners on her so reducing feed and luring with a bucket seems out of the question. - so any ideas for the next attempt this coming Saturday?
in reverse with a big bucket over her head (one of those tubby buckets are best) keep a tight hold of the bucket and walk forward she will keep walking backwards, think of it like a hood they use to move a horse what they cant wont freak them.
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kja - I'd been told that.... I tried it on the micropigs...... she ran forward.... over me... leaving me flat on my back in the mud..... I hadn't admitted that before
I've done it with my own tame pigs though
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Kaja - I'd been told that.... I tried it on the micropigs...... she ran forward.... over me... leaving me flat on my back in the mud..... I hadn't admitted that beforeI've done it with my own tame pigs though
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its all in holding the bucket and you pushing i have seen it done on a full grown boar before be live me if you hold the bucket right you can move a pig anywhere in reverse :roflanim:
i will ignore the micro pig bit :innocent: sorry i am in the they don't exist camp so try not to use the word.
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KC is in the no micropigs camp i believe, have you seen the photo's they're huge!!!
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KC is in the no micropigs camp i believe, have you seen the photo's they're huge!!!
yes i have. its the MP word i get annoyed at the more people use it the more the uneducated belive they exsist i think a better title for them would be the mythical pig same initials but more to the point :innocent:
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:roflanim: :pig: :roflanim: :pig: :pig: :roflanim: :roflanim: :pig: :pig: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
At the time we either had to laugh or cry .... and thankfully (in the main) we managed to :roflanim:
....... but at the end of the night we REALLY had had enough!!
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I feel your pain. When we first went to collect our two sows we managed to separate them out from the herd and walk them over to the stables where we could back the trailer up to the door. But then they just sat down and refused to budge so had to come home empty-handed!
So...not to totally thread-hijack but.... we tried to separate our sow off from her weaners on Saturday and totally failed to get her to move out of the field, through a gate but over the line of electric that we've been using. She's a big old girl and you can't move her if she doesn't want to go. I don't want to withhold food from her as she's got eight weaners on her so reducing feed and luring with a bucket seems out of the question. - so any ideas for the next attempt this coming Saturday?
We've had this problem in the past, that line is a REAL barrier. We just kept putting bits of food down and took it super slowly, even walked away from it all at one point to do other jobs. Just backed off totally.
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You need to cover where the electric fence was with a big wadge of straw or a tarpaulin or they just won't cross it, a bucket of apples or veggies helps too.
Mandy :pig:
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Kaja - I'd been told that.... I tried it on the micropigs...... she ran forward.... over me... leaving me flat on my back in the mud..... I hadn't admitted that before[/size]I've done it with my own tame pigs though
its all in holding the bucket and you pushing i have seen it done on a full grown boar before be live me if you hold the bucket right you can move a pig anywhere in reverse :roflanim:
i will ignore the micro pig bit :innocent: sorry i am in the they don't exist camp so try not to use the word.
:thumbsup: ;D
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Hi, Wonderful story Sunday night regular.
Wonderful Pigs
all the best Bob Dean www.rangerpigs.com (http://www.rangerpigs.com)
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Loved the story and laughed out loud. Sorry 'bout that! :D
Mainly because we've been there, done that, got the badges and know the stress and true horror of chasing big pigs around large expanses late at night! Should have had it videoed for us all on here - you'd have made a fortune running it on a Pay to View channel!
Hope tomorrow is a bit less stressful, anyway, and that the people selling have learned some lessons about preparing the pigs for you, and putting them somewhere convenient for your collection.
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Hi All ,just registered to the site and was looking through for tips and advise as new to all this . picked up our 1st little lady last week and she managed to escape 1st day was funny for 5 mins then she decided to run across 2 neighbouring fields and im sure she was laughing.. amazingly after a chase from 3 of us she ran straight back to the place she escaped from into her enclosure i thought she was a gonna..... ok next week im picking up my man he is a half wild bore/pig this should be interesting there is no way he is escaping but my fun will be catching him me thinks....oh and weighing in at about 45kg at a year old im guessing ...keep you posted.. :wave:
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Hi All ,just registered to the site and was looking through for tips and advise as new to all this . picked up our 1st little lady last week and she managed to escape 1st day was funny for 5 mins then she decided to run across 2 neighbouring fields and im sure she was laughing.. amazingly after a chase from 3 of us she ran straight back to the place she escaped from into her enclosure i thought she was a gonna..... ok next week im picking up my man he is a half wild bore/pig this should be interesting there is no way he is escaping but my fun will be catching him me thinks....oh and weighing in at about 45kg at a year old im guessing ...keep you posted.. :wave:
i think at a year old the weight is way off ...............unless we are talking micro pigs and i wont even go there :innocent:
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Hi ya, really guessing but it is half wild bore alot leaner than its mum but he could be more maybe 55/60kg..we will see when i try to lift the transport container he is going in... ???
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I wish you luck.
I have 7 little piglets that even manage to escape the securist of paddocks they form a raiding party and head for the polytunnel I've lost two lots of veggies and have given up replanting for the time being. One of them even managed to get into the neighbouring farmhouse kitchen along with my Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. My lovely neighbour was quietly washing up at the time, gave her quite a shock.
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If he is a year old I would expect him to weigh well over 100 kg.
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Really !! im now worried..... just to confirm this Bore is half WILD BORE cross pig ,it looked to me about 45 max 50 kg i have seen a 35kg wild bore on a pig roast and it looked just a tad bigger hehe we will see Monday. i understand the Wild Bore are slower growers but as we know these creatures are solidly built..i will keep the thread topped up and im guessing the nightmare we are going to have catching or assisting it into its transport box. cheers :thinking:
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As promised report on picking up the wild bore cross.... Well Nightmare really but over quickly... the plan was to contain Mr Bore in a cage/pen to guide into a what i thought was a more than adequate transport box, well contained for 15 seconds and HE jumps from standstill 3.5/4 feet this Pig is 60kg plus ..mmmmm..ok next plan a bucket of food into the "Wooden Animal Box (Normally for Adult Sheep) but solid" for piggi (Wild Bore Cross Pig).. well after a few moments he goes in and the gate is shut.....At this point im worried as the cage is now Buckling and bending as piggi is clearly not happy. Well some how He manages to get his head out through one of the top Bars and a front leg... mmmm i think that was silly as you are now stuck!! Not for long with a Squeal and a massive lunge he managed to bend the frame and escaped all within 40 seconds of going in the container ,this pig was large the gaps were small ..i was Gutted but very impressed.....Im now looking for a metal container/ BOX..
Even his Owner was well impressed. .
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use fencing with no holes, I tin all mine :farmer: