[ppd]

Hi 
I have just phoned the abbatoir today to check on what I need re pigs ID and either ear tag or slap mark will be fine, so went ahead and ordered a slapmarker. Now they are not cheap when you are as small scale as me, but as I indend keeping pigs for a good few years yet I thought that it was a worthy investment. But what I didn't know or have never seen discussed on here is that some abbatoirs will slap mark your pigs for you (they offered this to me). So if you were only raising a handful of weaners to clear ground etc. and thought that the expense of buying one was a bit much then you could see if the abbatoir had the facilities to do it for you. The one thing that I did wonder is how would they do it and would it make the piggies a bit stressed just before salughter
Anyway it may be worth any small scale pig keepers to find out and maybe save a few pennies

[secuono]

Ear tags are cheaper, why not do that?

[ppd]

It is my first time raising weaners - but - once the head comes off what's to say which carcass is yours?

[Blinkers]

Hiya - personally, and this is only MY opinion....I would invest in your slap marker.   If you feel its something you're going to do several times....and rearing pigs is highly addictive  , then its worth it.   You can then slap them a couple of days before they're due to go.  Do it whilst they're eating and they barely notice...although they might glare at you for a second or two .... and then the job is done and you know that your 'meat' is going to come back with your herd mark on it and be easily identifiable.   

[ppd]

Blinkers exactly my thoughts too, would rather it was me doing it over a bucket of lovely feed and I can already picture 'The Glower,

[robert waddell]

have they told you you wont get the head back

[ppd]

Hi Robert
Yes, I can get the heads back, but would prefer to get the 'right' body rather than the 'right' head 

[princesspiggy]

stick to tammies, then u can see the ginger hairs. 
did u get the tammie sow u mentioned a while back?

[ppd]

Hi ppiggy
She is coming once the boys go in a couple of weeks! Fencer hasn't got back to us so only one field piggie proof at the moment and hope to fit in a couple of weaners before abbatior deadline for christmas!
 

[robert waddell]

just get them to leave the head on the body plus there should be some hairs left to identify the pig

[princesspiggy]

slapshot is v quick, id say less stressful than a tag.


did u find some weaners in the end? we have tammies gilt weaners ready at end of august.
my sows share with youngsters, just some get fed separately if needed. once they sort out whose boss, they r fine. we have giant sty and they all all pile in together.


i dont think ud get ur carcuss swapped on purpose, unless u had it in perfect low fat condition, if u r a pig beginner then i doubt itl be a perfect carcuss, takes time and experience to get it right and butchers r fussy, so i wouldnt worry. we did get sheep lost once at abattoir tho but that was an accident.

[oaklandspigs]

Can you let me now which abattoir is offering this, they'll need a complete slapmark kit and a couple of minutes to set yours up.  Pigs are slapped with the abattoir's number as part of meat hygiene inspections, was this possibly what they meant?
 
The wrong pig back is very rare, and yes there are examples of it, just as there are examples of people walking out of their house to be immediately hit by a lorry, but you still step outside. Slapmarking does give better confirmation (esp if the abattoir is going to butcher as well), but this is a choice.
 
On stress, slapping just before slaughter should not add stress unless very badly done, most pigs just react for seconds to the slap.
 
Technically it would be illegal under PRIMO 2011 to move the pig to the abattoir wihtout either a slapmark or a tag.
 
Final thought is that if several people left their pigs at the abattoir for slapping this would increase the risk of your pig getting the wrong number, and you getting the wrong pig back.
 
 
 

[Sylvia]

Your slap marker and ink will last you for years if you're only sending a couple of pigs off at a time so cost wise won't be expensive at all. I slap bums and shoulders so am sure of getting my own pigs back and the pigs have jumped a bit but carried on eating lovely treats so I'm sure it is no more than a slight irritation to them.
I got my slapper and ink from Supplies for Smallholders and can't rate them highly enough!
 

[supplies for smallholders]

Thanks Sylvia - The slapper you have is the type used commercially at all the major pig units in the UK and Ireland - so should last you a lifetime!

On the subject of stress - I would certainly recommend slapping before travelling to the slaughterhouse, as the journey / unloading etc needs to be as easy as possible.

The very very large slaughterhouses do everything possible to reduce stress in pigs, they dont use electric shocks to render the pigs unconcious - another method is used. And last time I had a conversation with my contact he told me they were carrying out trials with filling the air with a citrus (oranges) odour, as it was felt that waiting pigs could "smell" the slaughtering process and their stress levels increased because of this.

[princesspiggy]

Supplies for Smallholders - can't rate them highly enough!

same here 
got my tags in 2 days, well impressed!