[princesspiggy]

but for public, i can pick up from butchers without fridge-van and deliver en-route?

[robert waddell]

that you will nead to find out from tradding standards     if you have a dream live it or it will only be a dream

[princesspiggy]

im half way there, got 2 sows ready for AI shortly, bit feared of having 40 pigs next year and not being able to sell them!! lady 15 miles away had pork killed to order for about a year, not there anymore!! dont know why, expanded really quick - then gone! just pig sties left in field. bit worried after that.

[robert waddell]

two sows when farrowed you have 16  maybe 20 piglets thats 22 sows will be farrowed again before any are killing size thats up to 42 pigs  with feed and no sales

[princesspiggy]

i know, thats the scary bit.

[princesspiggy]

iv got the time and space and enthusiasm but cant run at loss. a friend sells half pig for £120 in england. is that bout right in scotland? rare breed meat marketing man said scottish people wont pay premium prices and thats why they dont trade up here.

[robert waddell]

rare breed man wants a slap

[princesspiggy]

is £120 half a pig realistic up here?

[shetlandpaul]

depends who your selling to and were. but you mention a lot of road frontage. i would be very worried about that. with escapes or stealing you could get into trouble.
have you done a proper costing of your production. if your planning on staying small then can you sorce your feed locally. ie from a farm and make your own. don't forget to add the cost of your breeding stock. insurance if selling to the public then i guess your looking at some quite diffrent cover. then there is your vets and housing costs. next add on your slaughter costs and butchery unless your planning to do that as said before thats expensive. then a chilled van or would a number of cool boxes do. you can get 1/2 a pig for about 80. so if you can get 120 per 1/2 then thats nice.

don't rush to get big take your time start with a litter and see if they sell ok then build up don't produce stuff until you know you can sell it. im sure the pig experts would be willing to give you a rough idea of costs/profit margins.

[princesspiggy]

by road frontage i mean my lands parallel to A90 so can put sign near road for advertising. but access is actually through village. literally 3 fences plus river to cross so quite secure but visible to motorists. (dont wana tempt fate tho!!)
i did all costings, read professional pig farmer book about how much kilos feed they should need, and did financial forecast etc but in reality my gilts ate much more food and theyre not fat. i know what price to sell at as weaners to cover costs, which is more than we bought weaners for in past!!
would love to keep weaners on til finishing tho. i had a good feed supplier but his prices have gone up 40% in 10 mths. 
already got farm insurance but didnt think about extra for selling to public, so thanx
im lead to believe that i need to get sows in-pig asap (there almost 1) or it can make them barren (same with giant rabbits)
projected financial forecasts are based on 2 litters per year. so to take it slowly and have only 1 litter a year would def leave me outa pocket (as would feeding growers i cant sell)
advice welcome

[HappyHippy]

It's maybe a bit late in the day to ask this (and please don't think I'm trying to be negative  just looking at all the options) but have you raised weaners to slaughter before ? If you've not and are jumping straight into breeding without plenty of experience you could hit problems. By raising weaners to pork weight and selling the meat a few times this lets you build a reputation for good produce and gain a customer base for your meat while learning in depth about the husbandry required and get confidence when handling, injections and general pig care as well as the slaughter and butchery process. It also means that when you come to sell weaners you do so as someone with plenty of experience and can advise prospective buyers well, all helping to add to your good reputation and increase your levels of sales. Although there aren't many places up north with pedigree Tamworths, you can't just assume there'll be a market for them and have to face the possibility that you may be left with all of them unsold, raising them yourself wih only the hope that you'll be able to sell them (and possibly at a loss) It's scary and risky but you've got to be confident that in the worst case scenario, you can afford to keep them all and have the space and time to do so, before you get your gilt in-pig !
Karen x

[robert waddell]

i will echo everything you have said hh it would supprise you how many breeders there are up north and the demand for them(all breeds) i would also add you would possible have been better getting an in pig sow or gilt a bit dearer yes but you are of and running almost immediately you have to factor in the time you have kept them before production starts and will they take to the boar/AI first time this one there is a lot of variables in the equation on the negative side we think it is best to think of all the negatives then when they don't happen you are on a bonus just our weird way of working

[princesspiggy]

wev raised 5 weaners to finishing b4 but were for our own consumption. iv bin asked for meat by friends, but thats different to selling alot on reg basis. we chose these two gilts as weaners so i could make sure they tame and well handled before maternal instinct and sexual hormones kicked in. keeping them is 90% of the enjoyment for me so didnt a wild cranky old sow that was gona chase me outa field after her piglets were born. (though im aware it might happen anyway lol) if AI doesnt work 1st 2 times will try a boar i think. is pheromone spray helpful and when do u use is exactly - i know when their seasons are due. will prob start by selling weaners though would love to keep them on. i suppose you dont know til u try. i read on another site that there was a national shortage of birth-notified tam weaners? dont know if that is true though??
i'd prefer to sell pigs by the half, but know alot of people would want smaller amounts, then that makes it more complicated with pricing and only wanting best cuts etc.
grateful for advice so thanx cos would rather do it with knowledge than without x

[robert waddell]

does not matter how much you pet them they can still bark and snap at you at birthing /handling and yes there is a shortage of good tamworths plenty of crap ones

[princesspiggy]

crap ones are still birth-notified?
i know they bite, our second batch of weaners came from free-range croft, and were in long-run fantastic temperment - but when we went to pick them up it was like comedy sketch, owners (rather like fawlty towers) were chasing piglets round field for one and half hours, and did actually get bitten a few times. owners were cursing and swearing full blast at eachother, was funny if not embarassing,   tried to help but if the sows were biting their owners, if thought a stranger isnt gona help much. when i foned back year later to get more weaners, theyd stopped breeding and gave up!
still makes me chuckle, but all too aware it might be me next lol