[P6te]

Next Tuesday we have our vet booked to come and castrate the 3 boars that Lucky had. On Tuesday they will be 20 days old.  I am planning on taking them well away from the ark and run out of earshot of Lucky!

My question is how do you recommend removing them from the run without alarm bells ringing and all hell being let loose??

[Marches Farmer]

When we ear tattoo our pedigree GOS we block the piglets in the sty and tempt Mama up the ramp into the livestock trailer with a cunningly laid trail of apples.  We keep her busy with a scoop of feed thrown into the straw.  We give her half rations for the preceding feed, to make sure she's hungry.

[P6te]

Thank you for the suggestion ... unfortunately its not an option to remove Lucky.  In a previous post I mentioned that she had a just got over mastitis and the way out of the run is through thick sludgy mud and I don't want her dragging herself through it so for that reason as much as any other I need her to stay in the run and I'll remove the 3 boars .... that's the problem!

[Daisys Mum]

Why are you castrating the boars? I try if possible to obtain boars to rear for meat as there is no temptation to keep them past 6 months.

[P6te]

Hi Daisys Mum,
There are three reasons why we are getting them castrated. 
Firstly we wish to keep one as a castrate to be a companion pig. We want a pig that can go with our boar or sows so they can always have company.
Secondly, it will be easier to keep all the gilts and boars together without risk of the gilts getting in pig to their brother! (It will not cost any more for the vet to do 3 than just one anyway).
Finally I for one do not trust them not to be sexually active at 6 months .... and we normally keep them to more like 7 months anyway.

[Daisys Mum]

Ah! Well good luck hope it all goes ok. Had a look at the pictures they look great.

[Berkshire Boy]

Pete I always find the simple way is best. Feed everyone and walk in and pick up a piglet and walk out. My sows will raise an eye at worst a grunt its all about trust.

[P6te]

Thanks BB .... on some occasions we have picked them up and not a squeak, another time (on Sunday) when one got under the fence I picked it up to put it back in the run and you'd have thought I was torturing it!! I quickly put it back in the run but Lucky was not happy!! (Mind you, she was still resembling a pin cushion and only just starting to trust me again!)

No one has suggested this so far but I was wondering about a stout box with a well fitting lid (with ventilation of course) with straw in and swiftly put a piglet in and then remove it from the area. Would it squeal when placed in a darkend box?

[shygirl]

Pete I always find the simple way is best. Feed everyone and walk in and pick up a piglet and walk out. My sows will raise an eye at worst a grunt its all about trust.

id run     mine would scream blue murder and the sow would charge    mind you a cattle bale-ring comes in handy for protection 
is you sow laidback Pete?
can you catch them by the back leg (then scoop em up) then lift them over the fence to someone else to carry off?

[HappyHippy]

We put plenty food down for mammy pig and lift the piglets (using the back legs - both together if possible) out of the way. I think they squeal less getting picked up this way than round their bodies.....but it sometimes takes a wee bit of practice to get it right.
20 days is quite a fair age for castration - although the vet legally isn't required to use anesthetic I'd be asking him to give them something to relieve the pain, poor wee buggers 
Good luck - hope it all goes well 

[P6te]

Hi Shygirl,

Thank you for your reply. Firstly, yes Lucky is very easy going, the best natured pig we could wish for. However, a piglet squealing would (as I have seen) set her alarm bells ringing. I do want to have all 3 castrated, if it were just one I might get away with it but by the time number 2 and 3 raised the alarm I think she would have rumbled me. 
At the moment I'm thinking of a trial run on Saturday to see how they react .... but a box to carry them in feels a reasonable option?

[P6te]

Thanks Karen .... I'm aware that 20 days is on the limit, the vet said between 10 and 21 days is their 'ideal age range'

I'm ok picking up by their back legs, just looking for quickest / quietest way of getting them out! 

[HappyHippy]

We did our 'big' pigs castrations ourselves on day 3 - used to lead them into an Asda crate in the shed and take them 100 yards away (into our house) to do the deed - the more gates and doors between us and the sow the better for anything to do with the piglets......just in case they squealed and alerted mum 

A lid would be a good idea though, because yours will be bigger and more inclined to jump out (though not on the way back  ) A dog crate would work too, if you have one ?

[shygirl]

we used to send off the boys at 6mths then the girls a month or so later. entire boars grow faster than the gilts, so are ready sooner. i presume castrates will grow slower still. but i expect you know that.

can you tie a sheep hurdle over the entrance to the sows sty to keep her in for a few minutes??

im sure a sturdy box would be fine. an adapted tesco box maybe?

iv never castrated a pig - are they like ponies and have to be kept mud-free?

[HappyHippy]

Because ours were so young they were always still in the farrowing pens in the shed, so they were always dry and in clean surroundings  Most of ours were completely healed after 2-3 days though - maybe a fender on the front of the arc just to keep them in? I'm not sure whether they'll need to be kept mud free - our summer Kunekunes go straight back into the fields - but they get a closed castration............. Sorry I can't be of more help