The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Sunnybank on November 12, 2011, 09:22:12 pm
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we are thinking of getting a few pigs next year. We already have a holding number for our sheep, do we need one for pigs
Also can anyone tell me how much room they need, we are going to make a couple of pens up for them. we are planning on getting some weaners and keeping them til ready to go to market.
is there a best breed to start with, was considering berkshire?
at what age are they ready for market?
any advice welcome
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I assume you mean you have a CPH number for your holding and a flock number for your sheep - if so, you will need a pig herd number, which you will get from Animal Health.
There are loads of threads on here with similar questions to yours and quite a lot of good (IMHO) information on the website proper - click on LIVESTOCK button at the top of the page.
I've never kept Berkshires but they are often recommended for newcomers, because they aren't very big. We've always had Tamworths - they're fab, but quite big and boisterous (but when we were beginners, there wasn't TAS ;D).
While I'm not saying "don't sell them through the market", you might find a better return selling to friends and family - unless you are planning to start a serious pig breeding / rearing enterprise. But if you are simply keeping a pig for your own freezer and, since you need to have at least two, a second pig, I'd try an sell it privately.
The amount of space you need depends on your land, how many pigs and how often you are keeping them. If you are buying a couple of weaners in spring to fatten until the autumn, then resting the land for 6 months till the next batch - well, we used to do it on two pens of 30ft x 40ft (but they were trashed by October).
Loads of other piggie people on here will advise.
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Berkshires are lovely ;D (totally unbiased view from a Berkshire keeper ;) AND they are one of the rarest of our rare breeds, so it's great that you want to give them a try :thumbsup:) they are reasonably easy to manage, quite inquisitive and taste fantastic :yum: ;)
I'd recommend 20 x 20 meters as a minimum for 2, ideally a third of an acre for 3 - from getting to going - but if your ground is wet/boggy/clay soil more pens will be needed as they'll trash it quicker and the sooner you can move them to a new area, the quicker the churned ground will recover ;)
Agree with Rosemary - sell to friends & family, don't waste your time with the market or trying to sell to butchers - you'll not get back what you've put into them :-\ Some folks say 55Kg liveweight for Berkshires (around 5 months) to get pork which is second only to the Middle white :yum: but we sent ours off a bit bigger and were really happy with them :yum:
And if you get in touch with Animal health they should be able to give you a herd number for pigs - you just use the same CPH ;)
HTH & welcome to TAS :wave:
Karen x
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A year ago today we attended a one day "keeping pigs" course and I must say that I felt overwhelmed by all the regulations related to keeping pigs.
We moved to France in March. We bought 2 weaners ( cul noir de Limousin ) ear tagged from a registered breeder and seller. We do not need to register that we keep pigs.The smallholder who just wishes to fatten a couple of weaners and have them home killed comes under none of the EC regulations that breeders must. Our neighbour and his experienced hunting mate will kill the pigs etc and I will butcher them. No need to log the pig movements then.
Essentially I have inherited a time and tested set up.
The piggery is at the end of a long barn and our rooms at the other end of the barn.
They have 2 rooms ( 4x4 meters) and we have just the one!
Outside they have access to a large area that I have split in 2 ( about 40x25 meters) . I plan to walk them across the lane to a garden we have never used in a few weeks time. I think the pigs will follow me to the woods in I walked with a bucket!
They plough from dawn to dusk when not having their afternoon nap BUT we they have preserved themselves a grassed area for a toilet. Oh they sleep in one room and toilet in the other,
Fortunately we have shed loads of fruit and nuts etc and our neighbours throw their veg excess and waste. This means the pigs do not have to search out massive amounts of food but have plenty of space to snout about. I did not plan to have them in the winter but hope to continue to cook up their breakfast in what was the smoke room linked to the piggery. The stores are full of veg and fruit but I guess they will soon get thru it all and I will have to buy in the pellets that I first saw being chucked into 18 inches of mud to 11"outdoor reared - rare breed" pigs last November -(in Northampton.)
I guess I am saying is if you have a building then the outside area needs to be big enough to ensure the ground does not get "pig sick" . Resting strips of land may help or take them for a walk to a friends garden.
Good luck and hope you enjoy the pigs as much as we do.
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we are thinking of getting a few pigs next year. We already have a holding number for our sheep, do we need one for pigs
Also can anyone tell me how much room they need, we are going to make a couple of pens up for them. we are planning on getting some weaners and keeping them til ready to go to market.
is there a best breed to start with, was considering berkshire?
at what age are they ready for market?
any advice welcome
Start small, it does not matter what breed you have they will grow with you. :wave:
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ime a newby this year and glad i went for kune kunes that were suggested on this forum when i asked. They seem to be less destructive of land and fenceing, saying that they did find a couple of week spots in the fence which i thought was secure, now sorted by adding electric barrier to wood fence, they escaped into the area i was saving for them in december and ploughed a good area up in 2 days, thought i better make sure they didnt get on my nieghbours lawn. so learning with this small breed has been less problomatic than a dirty great big pig......... ime going to keep with them next time as well.
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Berkshires are a great breed for beginners, to fatten make sure you gets boys then you won't be tempted to keep them when the time for slaughter comes. Don't even think about taking them to market you won't make your costs back nobody wants coloured breeds at market they want big lean commercial white pigs. I take it you thought about market coz you're squeamish about the whole slaughter thing but belive me its better that you make sure their lives end humanely and quietly at a local butcher/abbattor than from the market where they could end up on a big wagon with 200 other screaming pigs being trekked across the country to a meat packing factory!!
Get prepared for them read as much as you can ask questions on here.
Pigs are hard work but rewarding if done properly.
Check the GOS website www.oldspots.org.uk (http://www.oldspots.org.uk) for the getting started articles.
Go on a pig keeping course if you can.
Have a good think about your decsision, committment is the biggest stumbling block to pig keeping, while you have them they need to be checked fed & watered twice a day whatever the weather, more so in extreme weather, as i say not for the faint hearted, cute little weaners grow into boisterous teenagers and so on.
Not trying to put you off just make you see things thro less rosy tinted specs.
HTH
mandy :pig:
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I would say Gloucester Old Spots again another unbiased GOS keeper :thumbsup:, No matter what pig keeper you talk to we will always say our own because we have all found breeds that we like and stick to however, may have to get some Berkshires in the summer and see how they go they seem like nice pigs, I have tried Saddlebacks will be getting rid of my last 4 end of November and would propably not have them again very aggressive with other breeds, my last 2 Durok gilts will be going beginning of next week, also have KK X GOS which are interesting looking :D. I agree with Mandy about coloured breeds at market I bought 2 GOS sows from market some time ago now I would say 87% of pens had commercial breed pigs with half tails missing which is a big give away that they have been commercially kept. Plenty of research and a good book, pigs are lovely but are livestock and things can and do happen, research and book so you are prepared for all eventualities and pigs will certainly give you plenty of those. :pig:
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choose one that fits your farm and management style. personally i just adore the tammies. tho id like to taste a kune.
ul only have them for 4-5 mths til they are sent away. so not a lifelong commitment...
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tho id like to taste a kune.
How close to Westhill/Inverurie/Insch are you again PP ? I'm coming up this weekend and would happily bring up a sample ;) Just let me know before lunchtime tomorrow cos that's when I'm leaving.
Karen :wave:
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wow, thats an amazing offer!
we are 45 mins max from inverurie, right next to A90 so u cant get lost.
ur all very welcome to visit, or i cud meet u nearer inverurie if that helps. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :wave:
just curious what age weight a kune is finished at? they look tasty..hmmm
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Against all advice (typical!!) we started with Tamworths and they were fab.
They did have a huge amount of space and never tried to escape.
We plan to have two every other year and keep all the meat ourselves which gives the paddock a rest for 18 months between trashes!
I have just done another two bellies for bacon and we've got another two backs at the bottom of the freezer. We have still got about three carrier bags full of sausages.
We mainly eat bacon and sausages from the pigs. I did try a ham last Christmas and next year I'll try again but with a boned rolled leg. I also want to try salami.
Best of luck with your venture
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I've had Berkshires (very naughty but nice) I have Kunes (dear little souls) I have saddlebacks, "going" on Monday ( not a bit of trouble) and I now have four 18 weeks Saddleback/ G.O.S./O.S.B. crosses (v. naughty but make you laugh) ;D I think I will stick to Kunes and Saddlebacks :)
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Well I have a selection and I think they are all great. You can stand in one corner of the pen and call pig and they get up and come. They follow you round in their pens and if you want through the gate as well straight in to the yards....boars and all. So intellegent.... If quiet enough you can sit with them and they will happily sit with you and lean all over you and put their heads son your should for a pat. They are amazing animals. They can waste a lot of time as I have found out over the years. Dont spend as much time as I would like with them now, but when first starting out ....yes a lot of time, but numbers are much greater now. But still have my special girls which I can walk holding their long tails while we go down the lane way....
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Oh look, this forum is addictive, having read this thread now I want pigs as well as ponies...... :D
(can't have pigs, land far too wet, pigs would be up to their bellies in peat bog, which would never recover, in no time flat......) ;)
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Oh look, this forum is addictive, having read this thread now I want pigs as well as ponies...... :D
(can't have pigs, land far too wet, pigs would be up to their bellies in peat bog, which would never recover, in no time flat......) ;)
Hmmm.... maybe a couple of weaners over the summer? If I manage to catch Meg next time, she'd have some ready for new homes end of May, so they'd be growing June-July-August, butched end Sept... ;) What would you like me to cross her with? Saddleback again? ;D
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true free ranging the second pic looks like they are looking for bother :farmer:
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the second pic looks like they are looking for bother
don't they just :D
Your piglets are too cute ;D but your suggestion carries with it the fond notion that it rains less here in the summer...... :D
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Your piglets are too cute ;D but your suggestion carries with it the fond notion that it rains less here in the summer...... :D
lol ;D ;D ;D and yeah, same here. In fact, spring and autumn have been drier and summer wetter this year ::) (Autumn drier until these last three days, that is - catching up now!)
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we've had our first pigs since july and they are due to go a week monday. we have 2 tamworthxGOS boars. They have absolutely destroyed the ground but, what a rewarding experience so far. Every Sunday we muck out the shed and they play up awful 'cos they know we'll give them more pellets to leave us alone. if i walk inside the electric fence they wont leave me alone. i was repairing one section and one of the pigs started nudging my backside for attention. i was there scratching his ears, back, belly for about 20 minutes. we have about a third of an acre and have been gradually opening it out to them, but can they root. 20m square in a few days no problem and they are on a maintenance level of pellets and 20 kilos of apples a day. we have approx a third left so next year we plan to let them start on that, let the other ground recover and plant that with food for them. swedes, pumpkins, kale, even looking at apple and sweet chestnut trees. go for it, great experience.