[WinslowPorker]

Hi all,

Just a quick questions, i know we have to tag the pigs ears anyway but is there any sure fire way of ensuring that the pork you tak edelivery of belonged to the pig that went in to the abbatoirs??

Call me a cynic but i just cant help but think that all of my love and enjoyment of rearing these pigs could be undone so easily at the final stage.
my local abbatoir is MutchMeats in Witney and there is a couple of horror stories circling regarding this very thing, so anybody who has used them i could really do with you r experience?

[JulieS]

I haven't used that abattoir, but if you have any doubt about whether you might not get your pigs back you could slapmark them four times.....on both shoulders and behinds.     Hopefully someone on here will be able to put your mind at rest about your abattoir.

[WinslowPorker]

Hi JulieS
(Have just invited you on my Skype after looking on website)

Slapmarking??? what is that, sorry to sound thick but is it exactly what it sounds like - a big rubber ink stamp or something?

I do not really have a lot of choice for abbatoirs around the home counties any more, there is one more local who charge £25 & Vat, although Mutchmeats are i think £17, so quite a difference but then i have to weigh up £8 against peace of mind which is what i will get from the more expensive one........... i think!! dont you just hate it when someone sets a seed of doubt in your mind.

then i have to do the forms as well? FCI & Movement form, is there any sort of timescale/notification period with these?

Any help or comments from all will be appreciated

[JulieS]

I'll turn on my skype 

The FCI and Movement forms you fill in and take with you on the day.

Is the £25 + vat  for kill and cut? If so, that sounds very good.....Personally I would go for the peace of mind.  It's worth a lot.

[WinslowPorker]

The £25 is for kill and cut into 2 halves, my local butcher is cutting and boning plus sausage making (with some help/hinderence from yours truly) for £25 a pig, so all in allits about £55 for kill, cut and sausage which i dont know if its good or not? but i am happy coz we can break even at that price.

will have a little google for those forms

[HappyHippy]

Hi,
Your price for kill and cut sounds good.
We paid £17 for slaughter and £60 per pig for butchery (but got quite a lot of sausages  )
I'm with Julie on the more expensive slaughter cost - the last thing you want to have in your mind is that after you've spent your time and money raising these pigs (and a wee bit of love too ) is that they've suffered in any way at the end or you're getting someone else's meat.
Good luck

[WinslowPorker]

Cheers JulieS & HappyHippy i think my mind is made up and £8 is not a lot to worry about on the grand scheme of things.

My butcher has told me you will geta bout 25lb of sausages per carcass just from the trimmings??? does that sound right to all you more experienced bunch? 

[The Mobile Butcher]

Hi I own a small Family run Abattoir near Whitby in North Yorkshire , and with hand on heart I can say every animal that I kill and butcher for all you good folk in smallholder land , is the same animal that you brought in, you will always get back.
 I also have heard of such horror stories , but like most people are saying try to shop around ask friends for their help and guidance, and together lets run the cowboy abattoirs out of town.

 By the way I charge £55 for a pork pig killed and butchered + a extra charge if the customer asks for any extra cutting requirements.

All the best and I hope you enjoy your Pork   

[oaklandspigs]

You pig will come as two halves, one will have the head.

Therefore if you have eartagged, one half will clearly be identifiable as yours - eartag in ear!.  The other will "fit", and it should be very obvious if it is not a match both in size and shape.

The alternative is to slapmark on both shoulders.  You two halves will then clearly have your ID on them.

The slapmarker, this is a device with pins that you "slap" onto the shoulders
,example in this link

http://pigletspenpigshop.appee.co.uk/product.php?prodid=23


The chances of you receving back the wring carcass is extremely unlikely, and will be due to cock up rather than conspiracy. It is not in the abattiors interest to do anything dodgy, and whilst no doubt there are examples of this happening, it is probably very low down the list of things you should worry about !!

[WinslowPorker]

I now feel quite sick looking at the 'slapmarker' it looks more like a weapon of torture!!! someone tell me that the picture on the link above is a very detailed close up...........................

[doganjo]

Is it not just the same as an instant tattoo?  Pain for a second or two at most?  My 6 week old puppies get tattooed in the inside of their ear.

[WinslowPorker]

I assume that is what it is and you dip it in the ink then give them a slap on the backside, mind you they may get a bit fed up if i have to do each quarter........ perhaps thats a job for my mate i wil make sire i am 'away on business' or 'overslept' that day 

[oaklandspigs]

Actually slapmarking is quite easy, and pigs seem to suffer from transient pain - that is they jump and then seem to go back to normal.

You MUST slapmark on both shoulders - Pigs Records, Identification and Movement Order 2007, part 3 section 6 (2):
"..., or by slap-marking equipment, in which case it must be on each shoulder."

We slapmark as they are eating, it is a good slap done with purpose, but is just tatooing the skin.  The pig will typically jump and squeel, but within a few seconds go back to eating - you then slap the other shoulder.  After slapping  they seem to suffer no effects, and many times I have slapped and then sat with them for a belly rub (theirs!) so they do not go off you !!

If you are getting them back as halves there is no point in doing the rumps also, as that would then be to suspect your butcher as well