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Well a quick update on my pigs , she has just been served for the fourth by my boar and just before i made 1000 sausages i called in a friend who used to keep 2000 pigs and have been advised that my boar and sow are some of the best pedigree berkshires they have seen in a long while and show winning standard , so no sausages but i have been told to let them give it one more go and then try A I .
Shepie
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pigs
Started By
shepie
, 22 Jun 2011 19:32
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#2
Posted 22 June 2011 - 22:28
meekle
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- Members
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- 29 posts
Duckling
- LocationRhayader - Mid Wales
Are they registered with the BPA or RBST? if so, then the piglets can be registered and will be worth more to you as a cash asset than as sausage! any poor doers can be sausage by all means, but a pedigree pig with papers canbe worth more alive than on the slab.
if they arent registered, then the value as sires and dams is negligable, however they will produce excellent weaners for the weaner trade. the berkshire is a fantastic outdoor pig and i love them to bits. they tolerate most weathers very well.
if they arent registered, then the value as sires and dams is negligable, however they will produce excellent weaners for the weaner trade. the berkshire is a fantastic outdoor pig and i love them to bits. they tolerate most weathers very well.
#3
Posted 23 June 2011 - 08:06
shepie
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Lord of the Manor
Hi Meekle
They are registered with the B P A i just need to get them put into my name yhat is if they ever have piglets of course !!!!!! what price would you put on a registered piglet ?
Shepie
They are registered with the B P A i just need to get them put into my name yhat is if they ever have piglets of course !!!!!! what price would you put on a registered piglet ?
Shepie
#4
Posted 23 June 2011 - 14:34
meekle
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Duckling
- LocationRhayader - Mid Wales
Shepie
Standard birth notified, but not registered (suitable for meat not breeding) average about £45-55 per weaner at 8 weeks around here, if they were birth notified to the BPA and REGISTERED so that they can be bred from, then you are looking at a minimum of £55 for boars, and usually around £85 each for the gilts. For a perfect breed standard, you might push your luck a bit and ask £125! these are weaner prices, as adults you could easily ask £150 - 200 for a pedigree registered boar for breeding, and similar up to £250 for a registered sow.
If you were to hand rear a piglet (for whatever reason) we did this with a saddleback and it sold (as "pet" quality) for £150 at 8 weeks.
Standard birth notified, but not registered (suitable for meat not breeding) average about £45-55 per weaner at 8 weeks around here, if they were birth notified to the BPA and REGISTERED so that they can be bred from, then you are looking at a minimum of £55 for boars, and usually around £85 each for the gilts. For a perfect breed standard, you might push your luck a bit and ask £125! these are weaner prices, as adults you could easily ask £150 - 200 for a pedigree registered boar for breeding, and similar up to £250 for a registered sow.
If you were to hand rear a piglet (for whatever reason) we did this with a saddleback and it sold (as "pet" quality) for £150 at 8 weeks.
#5
Posted 10 July 2011 - 10:48
shepie
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Lord of the Manor
Well my sow was coming into season again friday so i put her in the box and took her for a long drive round the bumpy country lanes to shake her up a bit , old wives tale or a genuine old pigmans trick i am willing to give anything a go , we arived back and she did to say the least look a bit anoyed , not shure if it was the journey or the fact that she had ended up back where she began with super jaffer , straight in the wallow she went and the next morning all was quiet and calm , watch this space !
Shepie
Shepie
#6
Posted 13 July 2011 - 00:07
KChally
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Farmer Giles
Hi Shepie,
You could try putting her on a diet if she is overweight. If she has put on too much fat round her ovaries you may have trouble getting her back in pig.
Good luck
KChally
You could try putting her on a diet if she is overweight. If she has put on too much fat round her ovaries you may have trouble getting her back in pig.
Good luck
KChally
#7
Posted 13 July 2011 - 08:38
shepie
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Lord of the Manor
Hi Kchally
Thanks for the reply , she cane into season on monday as she should have done but after watching for two hours it`s now clear that she just wont stand long enough for him to mount and complete his task , she just keeps moving forward or lying down although she will stand firm when mounted from the wrong end !.
Looks like i will have to AI which is a great shame as i have the boar or get him a new woman and make bacon .
Shepie
Thanks for the reply , she cane into season on monday as she should have done but after watching for two hours it`s now clear that she just wont stand long enough for him to mount and complete his task , she just keeps moving forward or lying down although she will stand firm when mounted from the wrong end !.
Looks like i will have to AI which is a great shame as i have the boar or get him a new woman and make bacon .
Shepie
#8
Posted 13 July 2011 - 17:32
KChally
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- Book Owners
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- 371 posts
Farmer Giles
Hi Shepie,
Have asked hubby for advice re your problem, he said he has had this problem too. What he did was:- when the sow came into season he put her in with the boar and left her with him for 3 WEEKS until the next season. At the end of this 3 weeks, leave it another week and if she doesnt come into season again then she is obviously in pig. Hubby said he just left them to it and didnt keep moving her in and out with the boar. It worked.
If she comes back into season after all this then one of them must be barren. He also said that the heat can also cause problems with the boars fertility as they cannot regulate the temperature of the sperm. You could do with knowing so maybe you could try the boar on another sow/gilt, and another boar with your sow.
I hope this may help you
KChally
Have asked hubby for advice re your problem, he said he has had this problem too. What he did was:- when the sow came into season he put her in with the boar and left her with him for 3 WEEKS until the next season. At the end of this 3 weeks, leave it another week and if she doesnt come into season again then she is obviously in pig. Hubby said he just left them to it and didnt keep moving her in and out with the boar. It worked.
If she comes back into season after all this then one of them must be barren. He also said that the heat can also cause problems with the boars fertility as they cannot regulate the temperature of the sperm. You could do with knowing so maybe you could try the boar on another sow/gilt, and another boar with your sow.
I hope this may help you
KChally
#9
Posted 13 July 2011 - 21:14
shepie
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Lord of the Manor
Thanks the boar has been in with her for 9 wks and no success , 2 days before coming into season she is all over him trying to mount him but when it comes to the day she just wont stand , i will AI her next time and get another sow for him too then i will know whats going on , just as well it`s all practice for the three of us ha ha .
Hope all is going well with you so far this year .
Shepie
Hope all is going well with you so far this year .
Shepie
#10
Posted 13 July 2011 - 22:56
KChally
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Farmer Giles
Doesnt sound like you have much choice then as you have done all that is required really. Have never done AI so will be interested in how you get on, please keep us informed.
We are still thinking of getting a few sheep and have just purchased a beginners guide book. It does seem quite involved and it is making me rather nervous. Any tips you could provide would be very helpful. I think it likely we may try some Shropshires, what do you think? We will only get maybe 3 or 4 to start with. Would it be better to buy ewes that are already pregnant? I worry that the transporting of them may make them lose their lambs. This can happen with pigs - they absord the embryo if they get stressed, can this also happen to sheep?
If not Shropshires, what would you recommend as being easy to do and good for providing meat.
We are still hard at it and probably by late this year or early next year we should know what our fate will be. Hubby says we are NOT moving off our land under any circumstances, so god help the planning department lol.
KChally
We are still thinking of getting a few sheep and have just purchased a beginners guide book. It does seem quite involved and it is making me rather nervous. Any tips you could provide would be very helpful. I think it likely we may try some Shropshires, what do you think? We will only get maybe 3 or 4 to start with. Would it be better to buy ewes that are already pregnant? I worry that the transporting of them may make them lose their lambs. This can happen with pigs - they absord the embryo if they get stressed, can this also happen to sheep?
If not Shropshires, what would you recommend as being easy to do and good for providing meat.
We are still hard at it and probably by late this year or early next year we should know what our fate will be. Hubby says we are NOT moving off our land under any circumstances, so god help the planning department lol.
KChally
#11
Posted 14 July 2011 - 09:04
shepie
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Lord of the Manor
Hi Kchally
You certainly have picked expencive sheep there , they will not have the same problems with transpotation in the 2-4th month of pregnancy although you may be best to buy ewes with lambs at foot in the spring as then at least it will give you time to get used to them before you get involved with lambing etc.
Poll Dorsets are great mothers and milky too their lambs grow fast and to a good weight , the dorset will also lamb early or late as they get in lamb nearly all year round ,as you know i have shetlands and now also ballwen they are a bit scatty and although being hard to catch and their pedigree lambs being very tasty but small , i have had 23 lambs from 6 ewes in 2 years and as they are now crossed with my dorset ram there lambs will be big and tasty .
I have yet to hear of anyone that is farming with a real heart for it, getting kicked off their land , you will be fine.
Shepie
TIP do not temporary put incubator on window ledge as my one reached 41.2 deg c yesterday afternoon that will be all my chucks fried then !
You certainly have picked expencive sheep there , they will not have the same problems with transpotation in the 2-4th month of pregnancy although you may be best to buy ewes with lambs at foot in the spring as then at least it will give you time to get used to them before you get involved with lambing etc.
Poll Dorsets are great mothers and milky too their lambs grow fast and to a good weight , the dorset will also lamb early or late as they get in lamb nearly all year round ,as you know i have shetlands and now also ballwen they are a bit scatty and although being hard to catch and their pedigree lambs being very tasty but small , i have had 23 lambs from 6 ewes in 2 years and as they are now crossed with my dorset ram there lambs will be big and tasty .
I have yet to hear of anyone that is farming with a real heart for it, getting kicked off their land , you will be fine.
Shepie
TIP do not temporary put incubator on window ledge as my one reached 41.2 deg c yesterday afternoon that will be all my chucks fried then !
