[Mel]

Morning  all 
Please can some one confirm the marking procedure for me.I have to go and buy my weaners,obviously the movement order shall be given to me by the seller?! ok,when I get them home,do i use temporary marking whilst here and then slap mark them when ready to go for slaughter or should i slap mark them immediately upon receipt?I have to use a slap marker as our local abattoir has insisted upon this.tags are not an option 

Thanks ever so much!

[SallyintNorth]

I can answer if you are in England.  The temporary mark is for while they are in transit, so the seller should mark them (animal marker spray for instance.)  The mark has only to last until they reach their destination.  Once they are at your spot they do not need to be identified until they are 12 months old or are leaving the holding.  Bizarre but true. 

[oaklandspigs]

Leghorn,

As you're in England (and this is applicable for wales as well) :

The weaners can be moved with a temporary paint mark, this mark only has to last the duration of the journey, and can be anything eg "blue spot on shoulder", "Red stripe on back" as long as you can tie back what is written on the movement form with what is on the pigs.

Once on your holding, the pigs need no id as long as they stay with you, so you don't need to do anything !

We recommend either slapmark or metal eartag just before they go off, as they don't need it earlier.  Eartags can be lost.  Slapmark is only used in practice for slaughter, and should you circumstances change and you need to sell them live, then you'll regret slapmarking them earlier.

Sally - ID after 12 months (or at any age to slaughter) only applies to a move - so as long as they stay with you they do not need any ID even if several years old.

[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

Just a comment from me....

Slapmarking can be done at any time - a lot of people seem to prefer to do it at loading on the way to slaughter, which is fine.

However, it can be done a few days, weeks or months before if you so prefer, and if done beforehand may make the loading to a trailer a little less stressful (to you and the pigs) as it is one less thing to remember.

It is also possible to slapmark weaners - using smaller (10mm) characters which "grow" with the pig.

Our ink supplier has carried out ink-retention tests using all the methods, and all withstand the slaughter process fine - so at the end of the day it is your choice when to slapmark them - whatever time period best suits you.

Thanks