[MR C CHICKS]

New to pig keeping and could do with some advise please. We currently have 6 gos boars which are 4 months old and will be going to the abattoir when ready. Have read on this forum about people taking about giving injections and treatments to their pigs . Our pigs are very healthy at the moment but should we be giving  them some form of treatment or is this only required when breeding. If so what should we be giving them?   Also have heard stories that when you take your pig to the abattoir you don't always get YOUR pig back, how can i avoid this happening. Cheers for any help

[JulieS]

If your pigs were wormed by the breeder before you got them, then if they stay healthy then there shouldn't be any need for any injections or treatments while you have them.

A good way of making sure you get your pigs back from the abattoir is to slap mark them.  There are a few threads on here about marking pigs.  Check with your abattoir how they need to be marked, probably a metal ear tag, and then you can slapmark them too.

Hope this helps.

[oaklandspigs]

Agree with Julie S - esp as they are now 6 months old, no need to treat for anything at this stage - a wormer would only kill what's inside - it is not a preventative, and if you are about to take them for the chop then worming would be of no benefit - if they have them already killing the worms a couple of weeks before the boars will not improve the boars unless they are looking really thin they probably don't have any serious no. worms anyway.

With modern meat hygiene service present, and lots of checks at Abattoir, it is highly unlikely that you will get the wrong pig back, stories of this tend to be older, and whilst i am sure it does very rarely happen through cock-up, I would not worry about it.

If you are collecting as half pigs to butcher elsewhere, if you slapmark, you can see your mark on the shoulders of both halves and this would show it is yours - the pig is split in halves, one half has the head on, the other not!

If you are tagging, then one half with the head will have the tag on, and you can easily see that the other half fits ! even with a number of pigs matching is easy.

If the abattoir is butchering, slapmarking would only prove that the shoulder joints are yours. Tag, and  it will only prove that an ear is yours!

By the by, I suspect you will not want to take all 6 at once, as you will end up with a significant amount of meat. If this is your first time, then take two max on first trip and see how much you get back before taking more - you get an fantastic amount of meat from your pigs, and finding a home for 350 bags of sausages (6 pigs worth) may take some doing!

[MR C CHICKS]

Cheers for that advise. Glad we are doing everything right so far . There are three of us who keep the pigs , and we plan to take only three to the abattoir at first to find out what happens and fill our own freezer . The other three will then be taken and sold to friends to help pay for the running costs. Well thats the idea anyway. Our pigs have a tag that was put in when We bought them,but i will have a look into slap marking them.  Many thanks for your helpful advise.

[JulieS]

The tag they have from when you  bought them will have the breeders details on.  To go to the abattoir they will need a metal tag with your herd number on.  (That's if your abattoir wants a tag).  The slapmark will be your details too.