[oaklandspigs]

Presume you mean paint mark?

If so then whatever paint mark you make on the pig needs to be refelcted in the paperwork. 

With saddelebacks you have the saddle, so we tend to spay a dot on a white shoulder bit. We would then put on the AML2 "Blue dot on shoulder"

Other people use cross, dash, stripe - the key is that you can match the AML2 to the pig. "red cross on rump" "green stripe on back" etc.

[Helencus]

Yes I did thanks so can you put the same mark on several or does it have to be different for each pig? Sorry for all the questions but value your experience.

[xxmillyxx]

Sorry to butt in, but we had some BerksxGOS piglets born on New Years Eve - our first (and the pigs lol).  We are planning on keeping these for fattening.  Do we need to birth notify or is this just for the pedigree pigs when they are born? 

GOS pedigree pigs are with the boar at the moment.  So hopefully we will have some pedigree piglets in the near future.

I understand the tagging, slapmarks and notching, etc but forgot about the birth notification.  (First timers, eh !!)

Can you help please?

[Helencus]

Yep we're a pain in the butt but folks on the pig forum are very knowledgeable and helpful :-))

[Hilarysmum]

If you  have pedigree piglets born it is a good idea to birth notify.  If any then turns out to be worth keeping/selling for breeding you have the option of registering as a pedigree.

I think you have 12 weeks max. from birth to birth notify.

[oaklandspigs]

Yes I did thanks so can you put the same mark on several or does it have to be different for each pig? Sorry for all the questions but value your experience.

All marked the same for each batch.

The idea is that you can track "batches" through, so in a commercial load you could (in theory) have Fred's and Georges pigs in two sections on the lorry.  The paperwork and paint mark would tell you which is which - eg Fred's would have a green stripe and George's a blue spot.  The days of weaners going in multiple loads are well over, as is delivering to abattoir on a paint mark, but the law is still there.

[oaklandspigs]

Sorry to butt in, but we had some BerksxGOS piglets born on New Years Eve - our first (and the pigs lol).  We are planning on keeping these for fattening.  Do we need to birth notify or is this just for the pedigree pigs when they are born? 
Can you help please?

No problem. 
There are three “types” of pig:
Registered (also called Pedigree) pigs.  These are purebred pigs that are first “birth notified” to the BPA (the BPA hold the records for most breeds,  inc. GOS) when they are born, and subsequently are registered to the owner.  Normally only breeding stock is registered.  Both parents must have been registered. Only the owner of the sow can birth notify.  To register your sow you must join the BPA (and obviously have a pig that was birth notified or has already been registered).  Birth notification must occur within 8 weeks of birth.
Purebred pigs.  These may be offspring of registered parents that were not birth notified (it is not mandatory to birth notify, but if you don’t register offspring cannot be used for registered breeding).  Many people have purebred, as they don’t want the hassle of pedigree.  Stock from purebreds can be sold as such, but if you are advertising your litters as say GOS, you should be happy that they are pure.
Cross-bred – everything else !


So as birth notification is for pedigree registered pigs only, you don't need to worry about this for your current crossbreds.
For your future litters - are you GOS  pigs registered with BPA, registered to you and you are a member?  If so you have the option of birth notifying when you do breed (this is not mandatory, unless you are going to breed from the offspring  and register them, sell certified meat pigs or sell for breeding).  Both sow and boar must be registered (although boar can be registered to someone else) and obviously same breed!  If not, don't worry, just enjoy having some fantastic pigs.

[robert waddell]

oaklands   since you are held in such high regard PS - This assumes that buyers of "meat pigs" do not want meat certificates (certifies that they were pedigree) - unless they have a very specific market this is unlikely. However if they do want meat certificates, then they would need individual ID, so double tag as per breeding.

Finally on the birth notification form you would put only those you have tagged in the notified bit - eg if 8 born (and all survived to weaning), but only 3 tagged , then you would have :
Born alive 8
Born dead 0
weaned 8
Notified 3

Only those 3 could have either a meat certificate or be added as a registered pig.

Am becoming increasingly convined that you could set a GCSE exam on Pig ID !

I think you are wrong with this.  The birth notification form is just that, birth notification nothing more and nothing less. The meat certificate can be obtained on any birth notified piglet.  Now this may explain how the litters are decreasing in size if you only notify (as your example) 3 piglets that is recorded on the mother's history (the date when piglets born number born then the number that is notified).
Now your last posting,THE BPA CLEARLY STATES THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PIG. PEDIGREE WITH PAPERS AND ANYTHING ELSE IS JUST A PIG I think you are mudding the waters with  your PUREBRED. Unless it is your own marketing blurb. Now this is just my take on this but claiming
(stock from purebreds can be sold as such) is trade description. If it does not have papers(copy of the birth notification) it is just a pig of equal status as an eight way cross

[oaklandspigs]

Lillian,

You are correct that to be eligible for a meat certificate the pig must be birth notified - that is it must appear in the "notified column" and to do this must have an individual ID, hence in Helencus' case would need two tags. Meat certificates require the number of the pig concerned to be on the certificate and on the pig - otherwise how can you tie back a pig to the fact that it is pedigree?- all the certificate forms show an eartag number - as per BPA website.  http://www.britishpigs.org.uk/on-line%20meat%20certificates.pdf
If your understanding is different, come back by all means.


The "born" "weaned" etc. columns shows the number born etc. and would be used by the BPA to show the fecundity of the breeds and lines.

I am very happy that the BPA states that pigs are registered or not.  That is their position. The kennel club would say the same about dogs. However I would reckon that 90% of piglets sold in the UK are unregistered, and described by their parentage.  You are quite correct on trade description, and I stated that you should be happy that what you are selling is as described.  However the BPA is not the legal authority - at the end DNA would be, and their is no legal req that you can only sell a pig as say saddleback if it is registered. (caveat re selling GOS pork rather than pigs - but this area too long to detail) At the end of the day the BPA is merely a club who through concensus runs a list of pigs that people tell it are xx.  It has no legal authority to run this list, or any exclusive right to the list.   An equivalent would be to say that the kennel club could stop me descibing my wippet as a wippet unless I had registered it with them.  Plenty of unregistered wippets around.  If you worry about whether it is pure - then logic says you would only buy from birth notified stock.

[robert waddell]

oaklands 
you answered my post with tact and diplomacy   however with yourself running pig courses and writing books it was your explanation of the boxes on the birth notification form that is missleading(i quoted your whole posting rather than one part)
i am well aware of the ruling with GOS/supermarkets now the point with there only being two types of pig(the bpa's oppinion) is to prevent the less astute that are embarking into the wonderful world of pig keeping to keep it simple (once they have there pigs they get attached to them and want to keep them)it is very difficult to tell somebody that the pigs they have cared for and nurtured and been implied that they are of pedigree stock  when in fact they have just a pig with no paper work there are unscrupulous breeders in all forms  you just need to look at the micro pig business  a shinning example

[oaklandspigs]

oaklands 
however with yourself running pig courses and writing books it was your explanation of the boxes on the birth notification form that is missleading(i quoted your whole posting rather than one part)
i

Sorry Lillian, you're going to need to expand on that , am very happy to engage to get to a common understanding, but you leave me unsure as to what I misstated.  Can you expand on this please so that i can understand?


All my posts on here are given "pro bono" and are limited to time to type them - I try my best to impart knowledge to forum queries, and to help forum questioners to a better understanding. 

As for the rest of your post, you make a cogent argument, but I feel there are more shades to pig keeping than registered vs. micro-pigs, and we explain much of this on our courses and in our book, both of which receive much praise from participants and readers.

[manian]

oaklands
i have your book and agree that it covers a wide range of information and is very useful. 
mx

[Hilarysmum]

For the most part, the biggest, best label for selling my meat is FREE RANGE.   

[oaklandspigs]

Manian,

Thanks for the recommendation - much appreciated.

Lillian
It would be good to clear up what you think I have said above that is misleading, as future readers of this post will be left with a quandry.  If between us we can get to a common understanding (if not agreement!) then at least readers can make up their own mind.  If I have mis-understood, or just badly phrased, I would be delighted to improve the wording for the benefit of the forum.

[Helencus]

Oaklands didn't know you had written a book, be very interested in reading it what's the title?