[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

All too often I get a call on a Friday, asking for a pig slapper or tags by Monday morning as pigs are going to slaughter.

If you are sending your pigs off on their final journey, below is a mini checklist of things you need to put in place in advance:

1) Check with your abattoir to see what method of identification they prefer - slapmarks on shoulders or ear tags
2) If you need to buy a Slapmarker - allow a week for delivery (thats our timescale anyway)
3) If you need metal ear tags - allow a week for delivery (thats our timescale anyway)
4) Ensure you have a movement form available to use.
5) Ensure you have an FCI Form (or register with BPEX and do it online)
6) Ensure you have told whoever is butchering, how you want the meat prepared (joint size, chops, bacon etc)
7) Make sure the pigs are used to the trailer in advance - Less stressful than trying to force them in on the day
Fill in and sign the vehicle cleansing declaration at the abattoir - Then actually clean and disinfect it!
9) If you need a meat "brandmarking" stamp - again order in advance - we work on 2 weeks from proof agreement

Sorry if this is like telling "Granny how to suck eggs" but if it helps someone then it will have been of use.

Thanks

[oaklandspigs]

Good advice SFS.

Someone might also find our "take with you on the day list" helpful
1. Slapmarker or spare eartag and pliers- if lairage man says can't read that slapmark - you can quickly reapply it,or if an eartag does fallout in transit replace it.
2. Torch if you are going early and in dark, you may want to inspect that funny rattle coming from the back or the pigs.
3. Mobile phone
4.Telephone no.of a) your vet  b) the abattoir -If you do have an accident and no matter how careful a driver you are, there's no accouting for the idiot that tries to overtake you in the wrong place, and then has a choice of putting you in the ditch or having a head on crash so you may need one or both of these.
5.Pigboard - if you pig does escape at the abattoir or in transit you'll wish you'd put on on the backseat!
6.AML2
7.FCI
8.Pigs (not on the backseat!)

[Susie]

Thank you both for this. As a newbie just preparing to get my first pigs lists like these are fantastic. 

[pikilily]

Yes I think this is a brilliant idea!
perhaps info like this should be locked at the top of the board, or in a sub-board dedicated to useful info, regulations etc. for each of the animals - sheep, pigs etc

what about it......Rosemary,,,,,Dan ?
Emma T

[Mo]

Great post!
It's so good to see it all in one place, thank you.
I agree it would be a good idea to have this kind of thing as 'stickies'

[Mr Pig]

Reminds me of an incident from the 1980s. I had just picked up an Iron Age (Tamworth x Wild Boar) sow and gilt and was taking them to slaughter. It was a fine July morning in the Cotswolds, about 6 am. They were feisty to load into the pony trailer I was using at the time but we got them onboard and I was away in good time to meet the 8.00am cut-off at the abattoir. I was driving along a narrow lane when a car forced itself past me and flagged me down. I wound the window down as the driver came up to me and said: "Here, did you know a pig just jumped out the back of your trailer?"

My heart sank. To my right was a broad verge follwed by a large unfenced field of wheat, tall enough for a pig to disappear into with woodland beyond. On the other side of the road was woods bordering the road. Would I ever find the missing pig or would she be lying in the road too badly injured to move? I thanked the frightened motorist mentally thanking luck that she hadn't gone through his windscreen if he'd been that close and drove carefully on looking for a farm entrance to turn round in. I drove back along the road dreading what I would (or would not!) find. There, on the verge bordering the large wheat field, stood the sow gently munching on the grass. Loading her back up was a bit more problematical. In those far off days I had no dividers so had to wait for someone to help me otherwise the gilt would be away as soon as I dropped the tailboard. Also, as I mentioned, being Iron Age they were quite lively and not as biddable as most pigs. It was the third vehicle that came along after about 10 minutes whose driver agreed to help - the local postlady. The others looked aghast at the pig and me and just drove off.

Between us, we managed to get the sow back in the trailer without losing the gilt. She had escaped by jumping over the tail board about 5' 6" high from a standing position, demonstrating the jumping powers of a wild boar. There were no obvious injuries although the inspectors at the abattoir later condemned and removed one leg as being 'badly bruised'. I went back to the farm where I'd turned round and scrounged a heap of baler twine and created a sort of cat's cradle to fill the gap above the tailboard. We got to the abattoir in the Forest of Dean with just minutes to spare and still two pigs onboard. Losing one in Cheltenham town would not have been funny.

Not sure what I should have taken with me in retrospect. Mobile phones were like hen's teeth in those days and I'm not sure who I would have phoned if i could have got a signal anyway!

[oaklandspigs]

Great strory Mr. Pig, thanks for sharing it