The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: vickylouxx on August 27, 2009, 05:17:50 pm
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on talking to my mum how kept pink pigs 20 years ago , she didn't go by breeds just the colour we have been talking about which breeds to get been told tamworths escape and as the land I'm going to be using is not next to me I'm going to have to rely on battery electric fencing , does any one now what glouster old spot are like or any other ideas would be appreciated thanks Vicky
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Old spot are slightly more docile than Tamworths. Any pig with loppy ears are usually quieter. I think the same would apply to saddlebacks!
There are loads of pig breeds, have a look on the britshpigs.com website, they will have information on the breeds.
Editted, thanks overthegate!!
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Don't you mean more docile ?
They have floppy ears which act a little like blinkers and they are my favourite.
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thank you i will look into the breed and see if i can get any up here :)
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I've never kept tamworths however from what i hear they can be a little too good at escaping!
The GOS is a nice breed, that said I did once have one with a reel attitude problem.. guess her fate already?
As I said before OSB is the best all round breed for me, friendly,docile, a good natural grazer (dont tend to dig as much as other breeds given space), they produce great pork and dont tend to run to fat. Oh and i forgot to say very good looking!
All in all great pigs!
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Hi Vicky,
We had the battery run fencing and it wasn't the greatest TBH. Our 2 (Tamworth and saddleback) both got through it, despite having a 3 strands of tape and changing the batteries regularly. I'd be wary of only relying on that to keep them in, but others may disagree. Depends how fit you are for catching them !
Here's a link for GOS breeders http://www.oldspots.org.uk/members.asp (http://www.oldspots.org.uk/members.asp) looks like Caithness, Banffshire or Aberdeenshire are your closest. Do let us know how you get on.
Karen x ;D
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We trained our Tamworths to a mains electric fence as weaners i.e we held them next to the fence so they could see it and touched them off it three times. Now they avoid it like the plague. please don't be put off Tammies. They are great with bucket loads of personality, a real treat to have around.
Morgan
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thank you all for your advice sorry about tacking my time to reply but had to wait until the kids got of the PC as soon as i get a heard number i will be looking for some pigs cant wait lol ;D
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When I was in Aberdeenshire my friend wanted us to raise Kune Kune's. (I had the ground, she had the money and ideas) I'm really not interested in pigs now I'm down here but these were the cutest pigs I'd ever come across, so very friendly and easy to keep I was told. I don't think they plough up the ground and they'd probably be easier fro your son to handle. The bigger pigs can get pretty stroppy I'm told.
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hi, I'm hoping to have pork pigs as well but my son wants some pigs we wont be eating just cant understand him ,I'm hoping he wont become a vegetarian :o so he is saving for his own pigs with his own ark
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In that case, Vickylou, the Kunes would be excellent. They have lovely personalities. http://www.britishkunekunesociety.org.uk/
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i think it will take him oh about a year to save , thank god for my parents which pay there pocket money , he has already saved £50 and he nows he must buy 2 :pig:
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We have tamwoths, berkshires, lops and mangalitzas.
Tamwoths are by far the most adventuous. they can jump stock netting, however a couple of strands of electric puts them off. they are great fun to have around with lots of personality.
Mangalitzas are very vocal, docile and very active, they seem to spend less time sleeping than the other pigs.
lops are also friendly and docile, i think its down to the HUGE ears
Berkshires I think are my favorite, but dont tell the others!!!!!! again very friendly,
all our sows are friendlier than most dogs. all pigs thrive on attention.
I dont think it really matters what breed you get, if you spend enough time with your pigs you will reap the rewards.
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hi , thank you for all your advice , now i cant wait until i can start looking for pigs wish defra would hurry up and give me the number I'm waiting on
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Phone them up and hassle them!!!! :pig: :pig: :pig:
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hi , Ive just got agricultural number happy happy, can now ring them up for heard number ;D ;D ;D
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I had a Duroc and you'd need deer fencing to keep her in. The Saddlebacks and GOS were lovely, easily managed, but the pink GOS were more suseptible to sunburn than the black Saddlebacks.
I've given up on electric fencing. It works but you can never rely on it. This winter I'm building walls so I can sleep at night.
Has anyone tried gabian (sp?) cages - those wire enclosures they use to hold back embackments along motorways. I have a neighbour who made some himself with chainlink fence. They look effective and were a great way of getting rid of stones.
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Has anyone tried gabian (sp?) cages - those wire enclosures they use to hold back embackments along motorways. I have a neighbour who made some himself with chainlink fence. They look effective and were a great way of getting rid of stones.
We had gabion baskets left over from a job hubby was doing - never even considered them for fencing - would've been the easiest dry stone dyke ever !
The ones we had were 2m x 1m so probably would've been overkill in terms of security ;) but making them up to a smaller/narrower size would probably work - providing the pigs didn't learn to climb !
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Country file again this evening. I thoroughly enjoyed the programme but I've just got to stop watching it.
For those of you who didn't see it, they spent the full hour on Adam Hensons 1600 acre Cotswold farm.
A few years ago, Kaz and I visited the rare breed farm that his father and now Adam runs. It was well worth the effort. Anyway, back to the programme, what sent me into raptures, was the couple of seconds of footage when they panned across one of the fields which had the most beautiful GOS sow in it.
She was stunning and it made me think back to the times when we had three sows and a boar of that breed. It really was very tempting to think about reliving those time again. :)
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Can't comment on the breed advice - we are having our own problems making a decision as to which to get ;D
However - gabions. We have used them to very good effect to build a retaining wall for our barn (our land is gently sloping and we had to dig in to create a flat site for our barn, we ended up with a 1.5m end retaining wall). You can get the gabions in various different sizes - we are using 1m by 1m by1m, and also 0.5m by 1m by 1m.
In order to get a good finish to the face we found it was best to pack the gabions by hand, you can't just dump the stones in because they will end up with big gaps or bulge outwards which is murder to remedy once the cage is full.
We have loads of stone in our field because it was used as a general dumping ground for the old cornish hedging stone when the farmer opened up the fields plus the remains from the old stone cottage - its a great way of clearing up and re-using the stone.
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Where are you buying the gabions?
Morgan
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Sorry being extra thick today - its the sun - wondered if the pig might not dig out underneath? Or if its a tammie climb out over the top.
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Hi Mogan, We got our gabions from Devoran Metals just outside Truro - they stock the 1 by 1 by 1m as standard and just have to order in the other sizes if you want them. They are very helpful.
Can't comment on whether pigs could dig underneath - the 1 by 1 by 1m gabions weight about 1.5 tonnes when filled with the stone so if they dug under I think the gabion would fall into the tunnel!! As for climbing over - how agile are the tamworths?? The front facade is vertical so not easy to get a toe-hold.... but no exeprience so can't say for sure.
Tish
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Anyone feel like an experiment?