[langdon]

when say in our case our 3 pigs go of for slaughter does the flock/herd no. change again
or do we have this same no. for all of our future pigs?
thanks for any replys to this

[smiffy]

same herd number for all pigs

[Farmer]

Ditto Smiffy...Like your CPH No. your Herd & Flock numbers refer to your holding and any animals you keep or breed...they only change if you move premises.

Farmer, 

[langdon]

ta farmer for repy where do you get the ear tags for pigs and how do you put
no. on? as you can see we are new pig keepers.
ta langdon

[Hilarysmum]

Langdon, check this in case its different in UK - we dont use tags for pigs under 1 year of age, when going to slaughter we slap mark them (tattoo) on each shoulder and rump each side. 

Double check that each side has your number on it when you collect your carcasses as mistakes can happen.

[JulieS]

Definitely worth checking what is needed in your area.

Here they need to have metal tags to go to slaughter.  I slap mark as well.

[Farmer]

Hi Langdon...Julie and HM are right, you don't need to ear tag pigs under 12months of age...double slap marking (usually one on each shoulder) is sufficient for slaughter...this is a tool which carries your herd No. that is dipped in ink and then applied (with only a slight amount of force). The tool has sharp nail like spikes, which penetrate the skin sufficiently to leave an imprint even after the carcass has been cleaned and de-haired (it does not hurt/harm the pig). the tool and ID number inserts can be purchased from a number of suppliers...I suggest you google for a local supplier or alternatively contact your local Animal Health Office and they will advise you.

Hope this helps

Farmer, 

[langdon]

thanks farmer that is great, as im on ere do you need to worm pigs that are just been reared for slaughter
and how long can we keep pigs on the same piece of land before given it some rest.
at any time there will be only 3-5 pigs on it.
thanks once again farmer langdon.

[Farmer]

Hi again...yes you do need to worm all pigs...but make sure you are aware of any withdrawl times if you use close to slaughter time...

With regard to keeping them on the same piece of ground...it depends how big/good the ground is...can fence it off in sections to give it a rest...both the ground and the pigs will benefit if you can.

Off to check on calving cow...back later

farmer, 

[oaklandspigs]

On slaughtering in the UK you have two choices - slapmark which farmer describes in detail, or a metal eartag (metal as it needs to survive the scalding process which pigs go through after the kill to remove the hair).

Slapmark will cost you around £86
http://www.fearing.co.uk/product.cns?folder/=&cID=14&element129=3&pID=562
but will last a lifetime.

Eartag pliers will cost around £26
http://www.fearing.co.uk/product.cns?pID=577&cID=14
with tags around 56p
http://www.fearing.co.uk/product.cns?folder/=&cID=14&element129=2&pID=576

So you can do off 100 pigs before the slapmarker works out cheaper (at 6 a year that's a long time!)

Both have your herd number on eg AB1234



With slapmarker, you will either see both halves marked, or if the abattoir cuts for you the shoulder joints should have the mark on them.  With an eartag, if you take halves, then one half will have the head on with the tag and the other will be from neck down.  You can however clearly see that they match.  If the abattoir cuts, then you will not know.  Now abattoirs do care about you getting your own carcass or meat back, and whilst mistakes can happen, this should be very rare, and we did not worry about this when we used eartags in our early days.

As for worming, if you got them wormed (and you should ask the breeder when you buy) the you would typically worm every 6 months, so if taking them off at 6-8 months they would be due when they are ready to go, so no point.  If they were not wormed or if you keep longer would be worth worming, but a Farmer says check for the withdrawal period (the time between giving it and when they can be slaughtered - the packet will state this).

As for resting your ground - if it did not have livestock and your weaners were wormed before you got, and you don't have other livestock very near, with 3 weaners I would not be worried about resting for worms, but would be good to maybe use two halves to allow one half to regrow - as Farmer says it (the ground) will benefit from rest.