[Fowgill Farm]

Otto
As everyone says probably stress and could also be change in water, so long as eating and drinking should settle down.
We always have bother getting them in the ark but if you have the time sit in its doorway, their natural curiosity will get the better and they'll come to have sniff & chew and learn its nothing to be scared of. if it has a sacking door leave it open, if theres plenty of straw they'll be warm enufff, pigs aren't daft, they'll soon learn.
hth
Mandy

[shetlandpaul]

watch the apples young pigs love them but it really gives them the runs. I thought the no kitchen waste was EU wide not just uk. Is this just the Brits keeping to the rules again or is it super nanny again. Its not worth the risk if your local animal health person sees scraps you will get hammered.

[Hilarysmum]

No its Europe wide, just the Brits take it literally everyone else picks out the bits that suit.  Thats not to say that if anyone fed their pig a chicken carcass (and it happens) and then disease broke out that they would not throw the book at them cos they would.  Just more relaxed here. 

[shetlandpaul]

thats the trouble we can understand why the slops had to stop. but there has to be sense. how can veg waste from a domestic house pose any risk. Its the feeding of animal waste to animals that is very dangerous.

[Hilarysmum]

Some people in Whitehall have to justify their existence.  Amazes me that Bernard Matthews bends/breaks many rules causes an outbreak of turkey flu and gets what ?  Yet a smallholder infringing the tiniest rule and down comes the huge great foot.

[MiriMaran]

I suppose the government can't trust people to use common sense!

I approached a smallish supermarket chain, that is renowned for its ethical practices, to get the out of date fruit and veg, which all goes in the bin.  The answer was "our policy is to throw all vegetable/fruit waste away."  When I tried to question them about it I just got the same sentence over and over and over!!  Everybody is just too nervous!!

[Hilarysmum]

I dont know how possible it is to perhaps remove the veggies after they have thrown them away.  We get most of our veggies from the frozen food factory.  Here its normal to ask at the bakers for stale bread and cakes.  Local cake factory supplies a large local pig elevage.  Rules???   Quoi?  What rules!!!!!!  Well it is France.

[shetlandpaul]

yet you dont get foot and mouth. Yet if it did happen you would be stuffed maybe thats why were more conceren about the rules. BSE/foot and mouth avian flu ect ect has cost us a fortune.

[xnbacon]

Aren't pigs naturaly omnivorous anyway?  What meat would they naturally eat?  I gather they are quite partial to chicken from other posts!  Personally I could never understand why one would even think about feeding meat to cows and sheep who are naturally herbivores, must have been ££ involved.  However if meat gets re-introduced to pig food does that mean we can go back to feeding kitchen waste?

[donard]

Basically, the experts screwed up in a big way when they decided to dispose of the carcasses of scrapie-infected sheep by adding them to cattle nuts - and BSE was born. They then decided to completely ignore the well-known, and now, proven fact that viruses mutate and CJD was born.....

Now smallholders, ( who would have had the good sense at the time to destroy those carcasses in a deep pit of Quicklime), are paying the price!

Is it just me, or does that remind anyone of the current economic crisis?

Equal rights for all, ?   I think not!

Donard

[Mr Pig]

'I approached a smallish supermarket chain, that is renowned for its ethical practices, to get the out of date fruit and veg, which all goes in the bin.  The answer was "our policy is to throw all vegetable/fruit waste away."  When I tried to question them about it I just got the same sentence over and over and over!!  Everybody is just too nervous!!'

The supermarket chain almost certainly couldn't care less about disease control (if they were they wouldn't be importing meat from some very dodgy countries) but scared stiff that you might dispense their out-of-date fruit and veg to people who might otherwise shop there. A friend of mine used to get lorry loads of potatoes delivered free from a producer contracted to one of the big three. His potatoes were surplus to requirements - perfectly saleable - but he couldn't even give them to an old people's home - he was forced by the contract to supply them as animal feed and my friend also had to sign a contract that they would only ever to fed to livestock.

[otto]

Pleased to say that piggies all happy and healthy now that they have settled down. Interestingly, the Tamworth is far more friendly and open to human interraction and touch than the supposedly more laid back GOS. One thing that I haven't overcome is getting them into their arc.  Last evening was pretty chilly with a strong/gale force Easterly, but they still hunkered down in a hollow.

I have a possible theory that the more experienced among you may have an opinion of.  When I was building the arc, one of the wooden panels got a big lump of dog poo on it (as did my boot!), as I suspect that my dogs had had a couple of dumps down under the oak tree where I positioned the arc. I know that pigs are suposedly very clean and only poo in one place, but for the first few days my boys were pretty free and easy about that! However, I now notice that their main dumping ground is around the arc.  Is this my problem and do you think they will adopt it [the arc]as their boudoir if I move it to the other end of the run?

As a learner, all advice and experience gratefully received.

[pegusus pig]

Glad to here alls well now. I had the same probs with mine and them sleeping out doors, They'd made a lovely little hole to sleep in right in the middle of the pen. I moved the ark over there sleeping place and they do now sleep in it, although they will sleep outside when the weathers nice. One thing i do know is mine do not like a soiled floor in there ark. 

[MiriMaran]

That was exactly what I was thinking - remove the floor of the ark and put the ark over the hollow.  Is this feasible?

[Ginny B]

Hi there, we had the same problem with ours not using their lovingly built ark and after 3 days decided to take off the back panel so they could see right through, worked a treat they were straight in and the next day we put it back on with very happy Piggy's inside
Ginny