The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: dysie39 on October 28, 2009, 01:25:50 pm
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Hi all, im Diane from Oldham in Lancashire, ive been a self employed pet sitter for five years now, and have also bought myself horse in the last 18 months, ( only a youngster ) Ive also just rented 2.5 acres of land locally, with a view to putting my horse on there when hes older,( not at the moment as houses are being built nearby )
I want to use this land in the meantime and have negotiated with a lady to buy 6 Kune Kune pigs I should be picking them up saturday 31st October,
I will ask a couple of questions now but may also put them elsewhere on this forum
I have a holding number but do I need anything else (movement licence)?
as pet pigs do they have to have ear tags?
can pigs be microchipped?
if the lady doesn't have the paperwork registration documents can i still pick them up ( my herd number is on the way )
thanks in advance for any advice
Diane
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Hello and Welcome Diane from Ireland
Wow thats a lot of questions.
I do not know the situation in the UK, but I am a pig breeder, and due to the Swine Flu epidemic there are restrictions in place.
One thing we cannot do is give anyone pigs wh has not got the specific pig herd number already.
I would assume also, that any pig has to be tagged, as the reason for tagging and recording these animals is part of disease control, and not just an agricultural requirement - so even though you may class them as pets, there still pigs and therefore have to comply with pig movement documents, herd numbers and the like.
As I say, I am in Ireland so its different here - I would ring DEFRA and ask for your holding or herd number, and read up on their web site for information on keeping and owning pigs.
Good luck and welcome again to the forum
Julie
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Hi and welcome.
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Hello & welcome from me in Lanarkshire ;D
To answer some of your questions:
The person who sells you the pigs should fill out the movement licence for you and give you a copy.
They should be tagged - as Snoopy says.
I've never had pigs microchipped myself, but don't see why not - PROVIDING they'll never enter the food chain - think there might be issues with microchips to go with your sausages ;)
Hope this helps.
Karen
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hi thanks for the reply's, just to update the seller has all the details so panic over on that score
im having a really good read of all the posts on here, i may even find an answer to my questions there
thanks again
Diane
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Hello and welcome from Derbyshire. kunes are great!
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Hi there dysie39.
I was born and bred in Shaw so know Oldham well. I left and went to Anglesey 20 years ago and when I went back to Oldham for a visit, most of the centre was a hole surrounded by plywood walls - I think it might be a new shopping centre now ? There used to be lots of small farms in the area but a lot of them got eaten up for building houses :( Has it stopped raining there since I left ?
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Hello and welcome!!
I know Oldham very well, as quite a lot of our carriage driving events are held over there, and we go to Royton for our animals feed too.
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Has it stopped raining there since I left /quote]
well its not raining this morning, YET,
thanks for the reply s, I also get my feeds from Royton do you go to Equine mania or Hackworths?
I use both, Hackworths are really good on advice on nutrition and diet,
and I found out this week they also breed pigs ( for meat ) so I can get advice on them as well, bonus
thanks again
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I go to Equine Mania, as its cheaper for horse feed that my local shops. Was not aware there was another one in the area ....can you PM me the address, and I may take a look when next up there - thanks!!