Hello
We are fast approaching our first year on our very own small holding & we'd like celebrate by getting our first ever weaners
We just want 2 to fatten for the freezer this year & see how we get on. We live quite high up in the North Wales mountains, overlooking the coast, so weather can be a bit extreme.
I have done research into various breeds & had thought that OSBs would be a good first breed for us, until we get the hang of things & then maybe move to Tamworths, but it's just not meant to be. There don't appear to be any OSB breeders in the area at all. However, I have found some Saddlebacks & British Lops. Lops available now, Saddleback weaners won't be ready for another 8/10 weeks or so. I'm concerned about sunburn (assuming we get a summer this year). We have built an ark & will provide a wallow, there is a lot of gorse in the field (one of the reasons for the pigs as we want it rooted out) for shade. Should I be concerned about a white pig? I don't mind putting a bit of sun screen on their ears on really sunny days (I have to do the horses noses anyway), but I don't want them to suffer. Which would you go for?
We aren't worried about how much mess they make as the field is really badly poached & full of gorse & stones.
Also the field is about 2 1/2 acres with dry stone wall boundaries on 3 sides. Are the pigs likely to push their noses through the wall & bring it down? Would we be better running electric fencing round anyway? It's not too much of a problem as the 4th side is mains electric fencing, so we can just run it off there.