[Daisys Mum]

Good luck Amie, I am sure you will love having your pigs.The advice you will get here is usually very good.

[Hilarysmum]

Hi and welcome.  All the salient points have been covered here.  Although worth reading all the pig postings on this site some very helpful information from lots of very experienced people is available on these pages.

I love tammies but find them too fast for my advanced years. 

After my experiences with Hilary, a lovely/beloved sow with a very definite mind of her own, the speed of a race horse when annoyed, and teeth to make Dracula cower, I would very strongly suggest you get plenty of experience of handling pigs before embarking on any form of breeding. 

If at all possible gain some hands on experience of farrowing before buying your sow.  I would strongly recommend you pay the extra and buy a proven, well handled, gentle sow from a good breeder (loads of good breeders on here) preferably local to you who can and will help out should you require it.  If your first farrowing starts in the middle of the night and needs help you will need all the confidence and trust between you and your sow to intervene. 

Please though dont be put off, I wouldnt be without H for the world, nor would I give up pigs, they are so totally addictive.  Enjoy your piglets, enjoy your pork (totally fantastic experience) and then enjoy a long and happy time breeding pigs . 

[loosey]

Ditto everyone else.

It might be an idea to go and visit some piggies as I think the breed you go for is very much personal choice.

We've had Tamworths, Old Spots and Large Blacks ... the blacks are by far my favourite and that's the breed of my forever pig "daisy"! 

Tamworths were too hyper for me ... I found them to be the border collie fo the pig world! The old spots are ok but they're not as nice to look at as the large blacks - they also always smell more despite being all kept together.

Any pink skinned pigs will need to be sun creamed in the summer as they burn easily and get sore!

I'm a real Large Black ambassador, I have nothing bad to say about them, they're friendly, pretty, taste amazing, are easy to keep and personally I have only had a couple of escapee situations which have been easily resolved!

Ooooh, I do have something bad to say about them ... they are VERY VERY vocal ... never be late with breakfast!!

[HappyHippy]

I'm a real Large Black ambassador, I have nothing bad to say about them, they're friendly, pretty, taste amazing, are easy to keep and personally I have only had a couple of escapee situations which have been easily resolved!

Ooooh, I do have something bad to say about them ... they are VERY VERY vocal ... never be late with breakfast!!

That's not just Large Blacks - that's EVERY pig 

But I think I've cracked it  I deliberately feed at a different time every day (not huge differences, but a half hour back and forth) which seems to work - UNLESS they see or hear or smell me ! lol! 

[manian]

i agree they do seem to 'know' when its their feed time. they know the first time they see me the chickens are sorted and they come over and grunt hellos have a cuddle and back to bed. the next time they see me they peer down and see me getting the feed and boy they let me know to hurry up!!!!
 

[loosey]

Daisy screams her head off when you give her a scratch. I obviously molly coddled her too much as a weaner ... I used to wipe her eyes as they got runny in the summer and she not shouts her head off if she doesn't get her morning face wash!!

[Hilarysmum]

That's priceless a pig who loves having her face washed.