The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: P6te on August 06, 2012, 03:25:58 pm
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All,
Following various discussions on the forum about Dopplers, I have for some time been contemplating purchasing one. The one that came out on top (as far as I can tell) is the Agritech Doppler but it isnt cheap. I contacted Agritech who sent me a DVD (free of charge) showing how to use it and what to listen for and I was convinced.
I always like a bargain so Ive negotiated with them a special offer that is open to all TAS members. The normal price for the External Agritech Doppler suitable for pigs, sheep, goats and camelids is £345 + VAT coming to a total of £414
The price for TAS members (until further notice) is £295 +VAT coming to a total of £354 with FREE POSTAGE and PACKAGING.
If you want to read more see http://www.agritechdoppler.com/index.htm (http://www.agritechdoppler.com/index.htm)
Needless to say I have just ordered one.
The offer is only available to registered members so if you are interested please PM me and I will tell you exactly how to obtain yours for this price.
Other than negotiating this deal, I have absolutely no connection with Argitech and I am not on commission for sales through the forum.
Pete
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Oh, if only I had £350 :(
Would anyone in Scotland like to join up and do a 'doppler share' scheme ?
If we could get say, 7 people to all contribute £50 each it makes the prospect much more acheivable ;)
If anyone is interested, just drop me a pm :fc: :thumbsup:
Karen
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Oh, if only I had £350 :(
Would anyone in Scotland like to join up and do a 'doppler share' scheme ?
If we could get say, 7 people to all contribute £50 each it makes the prospect much more acheivable ;)
If anyone is interested, just drop me a pm :fc: :thumbsup:
Karen
I'll go £50 with you. And I'm VAT registered so can claim the VAT back.
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you would only be able to claim the vat on your portion of the purchase either that or you you are leaving yourself wide open for a vat inspection and penalty's imposed :farmer:
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But if you don't tell I wont :innocent:
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That's a very good price. A share scheme is a great idea. Of course, you have to make sure that everyone respects the equipment and uses it properly, and I suppose you would have to have some kind of insurance in place for accidents, etc - or would the individual's own smallholding insurance cover it? Just a thought.
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I might be interested in a share of this. But how much skill and training do you need to use this?
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Hi Simon,
Mine is being delivered tomorrow but judging by the DVD a positive result is clearly detected. Mine is being delivered tomorrow and at the weekend we are collecting our sow who has been running with a boar so I'll let you know how I get on early next week!
If you call Agritech on 01243827840 (tell them you've seen about them on TAS) and ask for information / a DVD to be sent in the post I'm sure they will oblige.
Pete
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Pete
Just a note to say doppler isn't usually able to detect pregnancy for certain until around the 6th week, any earlier and its usually bladder noises you can hear!
HTH
mandy :pig:
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Thanks Mandy,
When we collect her she will have been with the boar for 9 weeks so if she is in pig and if she was caught early on I'm hoping to be able to detect a positive 'noise'.
I believe testing a sow vs a gilt is a bit different so any tips are welcome ....
Pete
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I was just reading their site (funny how great minds think alike ;)) and it says on there that there's a 'contour probe' that is used and can actually detect from day 16 in pigs :thinking:
I'm going to start a seperate thread, as I've just realised it might be of interest to sheep & goat owners too ;)
But if anyone's interested drop me a pm and I'll keep track of everyone and get something organised :thumbsup:
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Hi Karen .... I've sent you a PM
Pete
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CAUTION inexperienced people going about inserting probes into pregnant animals never mind transferring this equipment from farm to farm and the possible spread of disease IT JUST WONT BE ME what the rest of you do is up to yourself by all means get one but keep it on the one holding the uncertainty is in my opinion down to bad management and husbandry which in its self deserves a thread on its own :farmer:
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Robert agree on the caution re using probes on pregnant stock and would not advise it for the layman always get the vet for anything like this.
However if the equipment for scanning/listening is well looked after and sterilised/cleaned before and after each use i see no reason why it should not be a cost affective project afterall the vet uses the same doppler on lots of the different farms he visits. The only difficulty i see if actually getting people to return it complete with all its bits and retuning it as it is found.
just my opinion.
mandy :pig:
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Could reply to this, but folk would not like the reply, so i will just keep it to myself.
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Is it just me that thinks it'd be cheaper and just as accurate to wait and see if they come in season again? You can't serve them again until they do anyway :-\
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Could reply to this, but folk would not like the reply, so i will just keep it to myself.
probably not but glad to see you up and participating anyway! :bouquet:
mandy :pig:
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Hi Lillian I for one would be glad to hear what you have to say all info and opinion is useful.
I guess I do not know enough about these machines having not really considered getting one for myself before, but I had hoped it would be able to distinguish singleton and twin or triplet pregnancies in sheep, not just tell if the animal was pregnant or not.
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get them scaned simon with your neighbours sheep that is the cheapest way 50 pence a ewe :farmer:
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I think we'd all be sensible enough to clean and disinfect the probe and unit before sending it on to another holding - I'm not completely stupid despite what some folk think ::)
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get them scaned simon with your neighbours sheep that is the cheapest way 50 pence a ewe :farmer:
Thats what i do! :thumbsup:
but for free coz he thinks its fun to do pigs and i'm a daft wee blonde girly! :innocent:
mandy :pig:
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All,
When I've rceived my Doppler I will let you know exactly what is included, but I am only expected EXTERNAL probe(s) in this. I'd suggest calling Agritech to see what they could do if you require internal too.
Pete
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All,
Having seen some of the questions being raised, I have just called Agritech. This afternoon they will be signing up as members of TAS and will answer questions raised.
So ... any quesions, get typing! :idea:
Pete
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I have a question :excited:
Will they give me one for free? :innocent: :D
But in all seriousness, maybe a loan/hire scheme might be something worth looking at for us skint folk? :thumbsup:
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i asked lillian what she was going to say all she said was she would get barred :farmer:
simon lillian will pm you :relief: :farmer:
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??? :o ;D :innocent:
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I might be interested in a share of this. But how much skill and training do you need to use this?
With all of our equipment we send an instructional dvd which shows in detail how to use the equipment and explains the principles on how it operates. It really is very simple and straightforward and if you are seriously interested we can arrange for a copy to be sent to you.
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I was just reading their site (funny how great minds think alike ;)) and it says on there that there's a 'contour probe' that is used and can actually detect from day 16 in pigs :thinking:
I'm going to start a seperate thread, as I've just realised it might be of interest to sheep & goat owners too ;)
But if anyone's interested drop me a pm and I'll keep track of everyone and get something organised :thumbsup:
The 'contour probe' was our first external probe and the same technology is incorporated in the current version. The 16 day diagnosis has been made by stockmen handling 500 / 1000 sows who have become experts at the job. As Mandy says it is more usual to commence testing from approx 30 days. You must of course remember that a novice will not get these results from day one, it does take time to get used to using the equipment and as with everything the more you use it the better you become. And yes the same external unit can be used on sheep and goats as well as llamas and alpacas.
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CAUTION inexperienced people going about inserting probes into pregnant animals never mind transferring this equipment from farm to farm and the possible spread of disease IT JUST WONT BE ME what the rest of you do is up to yourself by all means get one but keep it on the one holding the uncertainty is in my opinion down to bad management and husbandry which in its self deserves a thread on its own :farmer:
Just to put everyone at ease the equipment we are talking about uses an external probe. With pigs we certainly do not "insert" our probes anywhere. We do however produce rectal probes for larger livestock such as cows which does use an invasive proceedure. Refering to the possible spread of disease this should not really be a problem provided the equipment is kept clean and prefferably sterilised before passing to the next farm unless of course any of these are minimal disease units in which case it's a no no!
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Just to put everyone at ease the equipment we are talking about uses an external probe. With pigs we certainly do not "insert" our probes anywhere. We do however produce rectal probes for larger livestock such as cows which does use an invasive proceedure. Refering to the possible spread of disease this should not really be a problem provided the equipment is kept clean and prefferably sterilised before passing to the next farm unless of course any of these are minimal disease units in which case it's a no no!
agritech, Thank you for joining up and answering the questions raised.
Beth
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Mine is being delivered tomorrow and at the weekend we are collecting our sow who has been running with a boar so I'll let you know how I get on early next week!
I'm afraid it won't be until next week when I can report out as above .... due to my car breaking down at Heathrow on Saturday morning I was unable to collect our sow. :gloomy: :rant:
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This afternoon we collected Elsie (our OSB Sow) who has now been running with a boar for 10 weeks.
Some may recollect that we purchased Elsie being In Pig but after waiting and waiting for her to farrow we realised that she was not and never was in pig in the first place.
So, she has now been away for 10 weeks and armed with The Doppler we collected her today. After loading Elsie in the cattle truck we tested her .... initially I heard nothing (remember this is the first time our Doppler has been used in anger).
We then tested a sow that is known to be in pig and due in about 7 days time. Straight away we heard the sound indicating that she is (as we knew) in pig. Our friend (whose farm we were at) also listened and heard the sound too. Having confirmed the correct location at which to 'test' we re-tested Elsie and although the sound was not as easy to locate and not as distinct, we both believe we heard the sound, a positive indication that she is in pig. :fc:
So, we have now brought Elsie home and although we will be re-testing her again in a week we are pretty confident about the result.
Had Elsie not been in pig very soon we would have been filling the freezer with sausage and bacon but we now hope that finally we will be hearing the sound of little trotters.
So ... as long as time and experience prove us right, the Doppler was worth while for us ... but its everyone to their own .....
Pete :)
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:fc: for Elsie. Looks like you're going to be Busy come Xmas time!
Mandy :pig:
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Thanks Mandy,
All being well we will be busy!! Its not the farrowing time we would have chosen but the priority was establishing if Elsie had become barren or not. In future we'll aim for better timing ..... well ... that's the intention at least!! :innocent:
However .... given that she had been with the boar since 10th June she could be due much sooner, I will keep you all informed.
Pete
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Just thought I'd let everyone know that the offer is still open .... I was recently contacted for details of how to obtain one and yesterday it was delivered ... so if you are interested PM and I'll give you details.
Pete
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I must admit it is an interesting suond... mine is used just like an ultrasound and you run the device over the soft skin with the help of paraffin oil, no need to penetrate the sow. Just squat down in the yards and work from just below the belly and to the rear of the sow. Makes an interesting afternoon for a group