The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: goodlife on September 21, 2011, 10:49:27 am

Title: advice please
Post by: goodlife on September 21, 2011, 10:49:27 am
My 26 week intact OSB has been offered a home instead freezer

This is to some friends who have unregistered OSB sows and cannot get a boar for them (as they are not registered)

they would like to keep the breed the same and not bring in another breed to serve them which they have been offered.

The plan would be to send him there and then when he has done his bit we would have some weaners as payment and the boar would be theirs.

does anyone have an opinion on this as I'm not quite sure what to do

Title: Re: advice please
Post by: supplies for smallholders on September 21, 2011, 11:28:01 am
Hi,

Sounds a good idea to me, as long as the weaners or eventual meat is not passed off as OSB.

Im sure some in OSB circles would probably disagree.

Thanks
Title: Re: advice please
Post by: Fowgill Farm on September 21, 2011, 12:11:08 pm
Sounds like a goodplan for both of you especially if you don't really need him for meat, at 26 weeks he may be a little young to work, working boars lives nornally start at around 8 or 9 months. the only difficulty you may have is his size, he may be a wee bit too small to serve the sows especially if they are mature i.e over a year old. if they're young gilts he may be ok.
Normally i advocate going down the pedigree track as it saves a lot of grief in the long run but if this deal works for both of you then fine, work out what he's worth to you as meat and then ask for the number of weaners (£40 each normally) to cover that.
HTH
Mandy  :pig:
Title: Re: advice please
Post by: goodlife on September 21, 2011, 12:48:52 pm
thank you

he will be to small to start but the plan is for them to bring him on till he is ready

Title: Re: advice please
Post by: Berkshire Boy on September 21, 2011, 01:49:35 pm
Exactly how i started. I had 2 gilts but could not find a boar locally to hire then a friend met a guy at the abattoir who had a young Berkshire boar he was slaughtering and suggested he rang me first, i got him for meat money and still have him 5 years on. I now have a registered herd but I have a couple of unregistered sows who he lives with and still produces lots of meat pigs. If I was you I'd go for it. :thumbsup: