[toaster]

Our pigs are due to go to slaughter tomorrow.

They are confined to a large and pleasant pen currently, my husband has been persuading them through the gateway with food regularly so exiting them on their last day would be easier (the last pigs wouldn't step over the threshold because we had electric fencing last time)

We have reversed our lorry up to the pen and made a space to coax them in to before they go up the ramp

A test this evening resulted in the pigs refusing to exit the pen and I am worried that tomorrow we won't be able to transport them

Does anyone have any tips for moving the pigs from pen to lorry please?

We have just bought fairy cakes in case pig nuts fail again !

[SallyintNorth]

You'll be hungering them overnight, as they're off to slaughter tomorrow, so they should be hungry enough in the morning...

I usually get my pigs into the trailer the evening before and leave them bedded in there overnight.  They sleep well, and so do I, and there's no stress in the morning.

[Marches Farmer]

What time are you taking them in?  No breakfast generally works for us, with the addition of putting some of their own bedding in the trailer (so it smells of them), making sure the ramp is steady and not too steep (pigs hate unsteady /uphill ground), a trail of chopped up apple up the ramp and a sturdy person with a pig board the width of the ramp helping to keep their minds on moving forwards.  They also hate being loaded in the dark and if the ramp is wet.

[greenbeast]

I echo Sally, we load ours the night before, leave them some water and they're fine.
Then it's just hitch up and off in the morning, much less stressful.

Also try to disguise the old electric 'barrier' by spreading straw down from pen through to the lorry

[pharnorth]

Pig nuts or apples by the gate for 2  or 3 days, then on D day -1 park up trailer, with a small contained by hurdles so when the gate is opened on D day they are keen to come through, shut gate behind so only way is forward and roll a couple of apples into the trailer.

Main thing is keep calm they will sense your nervousness a mile off. 

[toaster]

Thank you all

The plan was if they went in this evening they would stay in for the night but alas was not meant to be! Yes we are starving them overnight - as you say hopefully that will help

The ramp is quite steep as it's a lorry rather than a trailer unfortunately but we will have a play about with angles and the sloping ground to see if we can lessen the angle

I didn't realise that the dark was a problem, we will wait until it's light then and the bedding/straw idea is genius

[greenbeast]

they will want to investigate the straw but try not to rush them

[SallyintNorth]

If you prop the ramp onto something to make the slope less acute, be sure it doesn't wobble or feel notsolid - they won't like that.  They won't like a steep incline either 

If you have some old carpet you can put on the ramp, that seems to work well.  Make sure it won't slip, of course, and still sprinkle some straw on it, but it's less alien under their feet, not slippy and gives a good grip.

Best of luck. 

[devonlady]

I hope all went well! If not book them in for next week, the abattoir will understand that they wouldn't load, and feed them twice a day in the lorry. If they're reluctant just put their feed and water in and leave them to find their own way in .They will, eventually.
We've all experienced that gut-wrenching anxiety the morning of slaughter and your pigs will pick up on it.
If all went well you'll be feeling SO relieved and looking forward to a packed freezer and lots of tasty meals to come.

[SallyintNorth]

What devonlady said! 

[Anke]

You may have no lights left on your trailer if you leave them accessible to pigs for a wee while... when we loaded ours recently they did investigate the lights and wheel before they did load successfully. We always load the afternoon before, they are starved that day (no breakfast) and usually load fairly easily. Then sleep in the trailer overnight, as it is usually a 5am drove-off to the abattoir 75miles or so away. A large bottle of the cheapest cider you can get also helps them to nod off...

[Buffy the eggs layer]

My little guys have had to be relocated about the farm under cover of darkness on a number of occasions (dont ask! ) and have got used to following the pool of light created by shining a torch on the floor. Infact they get really excited about it.  Like little kids having a moonlight adventure. Bless 


I do think that moving animals in daylight is defiantly the best way to do it but sadly my life never goes to plan. So my helpful little critters do their best to oblige. In terms of coming out of a pen which is electrified, if the wire is clearly visible then I have found that sheep, horses and pigs feel safe to move outside their boundary when they can see that the electric fence has been moved aside. Is your fence clearly visible when it's on?

[devonlad]

 Hope it all went well
 Our first lot were buggers to load and even though we fed them in there for almost a fortnight they were never happy and loading morning was fairly fraught. Our most recent lot, we decided to start getting them gradually used to it a month before and they simply trotted up the ramp immediately with no fuss on day one. So we stopped trailer training till nearer the time. It may pay in future to check what they're like early on and then adjust accordingly