[princesspiggy]

i would bloody sue them and kick up hell.
sorry for ur loss

[katog]

Farmgate were sympathetic and professional in their communications with me, they have given me £200 which covers the vet, autopsy and new pig. I am satisfied with this result.
Thanks for all of your comments. The other pig is still alive and well and getting bigger and her friend is also well.

[Greenerlife]

I should think so too!  From a PR point of view it would be a disaster if they had done less.  Really glad for you and your new piggy!

[Stevie G]

Farmgate were sympathetic and professional in their communications with me, they have given me £200 which covers the vet, autopsy and new pig. I am satisfied with this result.
Thanks for all of your comments. The other pig is still alive and well and getting bigger and her friend is also well.

And good on them for doing this, it should have been so given the curcumstances.
And good Luck with your new pig.

[harry]

trust me if you sue them YOU HAVE TO PROVE EVERYTHING and i mean prove that the bag was damp when you purchased it and it killed your pig, if you can prove it (UNLIKELY) it was damp at purchase the next question is THEN WHY DID YOU FEED IT.... forget sueing it will go on for years and even small claims will cost you cash. Been there , done it and won £7500.another time i lost cost me £400. i happy with that balance.  dont even think about a solicitor.

[Helencus]

I feed farmgate sow and weaner to mine. had 1 mouldy bag in 18 months.. Thank god i chucked it out and didn't give any to them. Mind I wonder if o should change now.

[Tudful Tamworths]

Surely any reasonable person wouldn't feed mouldy food? Playing devil's advocate here, if I were the case for the prosecution, I would suggest negligence on the part of the purchaser/pig keeper as a mitigating factor. No-one is forced to feed bad food - and mouldy food isn't difficult to spot. Better to reach a settlement with the supplier before going through the courts and running up huge barristers' bills.

[katog]

Tudful Tamworths, the bags we opened on arrival and fed to the pigs showed no sign of mould, it was on opening the second and third bags the mould had grown and spread and was obvious and no, we did not give it to the pigs - they got porridge and fruit and veg till we got back to the shop for more. Then the same thing happened again so twice they ate a bag of feed with spores. I assure you I would not have given it to the pigs if I had seen mould.

[harry]

you wouldnt get huge bills at a small claims court but there are fees, a few hundred quid, but like i said you have to prove everything as you are making the claim. so when people advise you to sue willy nilly they dont know the time, expert opinions (vets)you have to pay for, court costs fees etc etc for basicly a £100 pig.... lifes to short, good they coughed up £200. but i bet that was WITHOUT PREDUJICE. which means they admit nothing for now or any future claims.

[robert waddell]

that is the great thing about a public open forum     we can all give input     what works for one would possibly not work for others
it is best to avoid court action if at all possible
it is cheaper and easier to defend an action than raise an action
when you go to court you enter with a 50%chance of winning or losing
the sheriff you are sitting in front of is only human and can make errors of judgment as we all can
you could have the best case in the world and a wrongly worded document or citation could render that case useless
as harry has pointed out it can be swings and roundabouts (win some  lose some) not so bad if it is two individuals that are not legally represented but if you lose and the other side has legal representation be prepared to lose your shirt     we sued someone for £1750 our costs were approx£5000 all paid up front    we won and we reckon the other sides total bill was over £12000 
as i said before better to avoid court action but some times you just have to persue/defend and the legal profession can get it wrong 
anyway the feed (all feed)is stored in plastic bags if you put mildly moist cloths in a plastic bag and leave they go mouldy our feeding(east coast vinners)comes in plastic bags it is then decanted into wheelie bins and yes some times it is still warm when delivered as ours is always fresh made  to date we have never had a problem with this supplier or products  and a lot of pig keepers use them
congratulations on getting a payment from them even if it is without prejudice

[harry]

and even if you win you dont neccasarly get your money......especally from individuals but also companys,  if they havent got it you wont get it.......... EVER.    my feed comes in paper bags, possibly better?

[Tudful Tamworths]

Harry, I think you're right about the paper bags. Certainly does allow the feed to "breathe" more easily. Unfortunately, it's just not practical for me because the weather is so unpredictable here.
In fairness to BOCM/Farmgate, I've been getting bagged feed from them in bulk for three years now, and have never had a problem. I DID have about a half a dozen bags of mouldy feed a couple of years ago but that was from a local feed merchant. Aside from the bagging when warm issue, I think storage can also count for a lot.
There are so many variables here and, as you quite rightly point out, liability is an extremely difficult thing to prove. At which stage of the process did the feed go off?
As you say, getting into a legal battle can be an expensive process. Personally, I'd be happy with compensation out of court.