The more I read the more confused I am as to what exactly to tattoo, or notch, or ear tag on our piglets. I wrote to the BPA for clarification but they have not replied. There was a very long discussion a couple of months ago but it was primarily about marks for slaughter and the different rules in Scotland and England. What I need to know is what numbers/letters to use for ID purposes.
For the Saddlebacks (brand new litter of 10 arrived on Sunday morning, all doing fine), if we notch the system is designed for numbers only and no letters. So how does my Saddleback pig with, say, number 14 get identified from any other Saddleback from a completely different herd also with number 14? Our pedigree Tamworth sow came to us with a 3 digit number tattooed in one ear, but no HDL letters, so, like the Saddleback, she could presumably be confused with another Tamworth with that same number. Even though I could tattoo both our HDL letters and the individual pig number in our litter of 10 Tamworths, it all seems very inconsistent as Saddlebacks can only have numbers.
I have also been looking at the plastic tags, and it would seem that the logical thing to do would be to print the herd number AB1234 on one side, then the HDL + specific pig number on the other - this would be a very comprehensive ID. Problem here is that if we sell any of our piglets, which we are hoping to do as 22 pigs is more than we have space for, the next owner is stuck with our herd number on the ear tag, not his own, which he would need if he were to take them to slaughter. Or, perhaps, have one ear tag with the HDL and individual number, and the other with just the herd number, as the BPA book very unhelpfully says the two tags "can be the same or different", but no further details.
Finally, is it allowed to allocate specific numbers to each of the piglets, but not actually notch or tattoo or tag them at all until they leave your property, either as grown pigs going to slaughter when they could be slap marked instead, or when they get sold on to someone else? Some of ours are definitely not registration quality, so will not be any use for showing or breeding in the future where the ID would obviously be necessary.
In a nutshell - what letters/numbers/herd marks do you all use - on (a) black eared pigs and (b) orange eared pigs - thanks in advance - Tamsaddle