10 replies to this topic

[ospre]

Hi

We have 15 acres of grazing land and want to rear wild boar, can anyone help with any of the following;

1. Any books on wild boar rearing?

2. They like wooded areas, so would they live alongside Xmas trees?

3. What do they need on the land if we dont have trees?

4. Anyone know of anyone who supplies stock to start the herd?

thank you

Geoff and Rosie

[Cornish Gems]

Nice idea, however firstly there are NO WILD BOAR in england as the species were wiped out long ago. This has recently been the subject of a court case a farmer was accused of having wild boar and they were roaming through his woodland without licence, this is against the law as you have to have a licence to keep wild animals, the court ruled that there are no wild boar in the UK as the boar sold in the UK is from domesticated boars.

Yes they do like woodland however the like to grub around for acorns and other wild fruit they would probably take the bark off of the young xmas trees and they prefer to be under the tree canopy with xmas trees you would not give them the canopy that they prefer.

Hope this helps.

Phill

[ospre]

Phill - thanks - we know of the need to buy in stock, and have the wild animals licence. Thansk for the advice, we need to find resilient trees to plant. Geoff

[Cornish Gems]

Geoff, you do not need the wild animal licence as the boar are not wild but domesticated. that ws the result of the court case.

All the best.

Phill

[happymanoftheworld]

Geoff, you do not need the wild animal licence as the boar are not wild but domesticated. that ws the result of the court case.

All the best.

Phill

Just one point Phil - that judgement was in Scotland and has yet to be tested your side of the border - however the same expert evidence should produce the same result. If I know anything about council officials I can guarantee most will say that you need a licence.... which ain't neccessarily so.



Can I suggest that it is all in the perception..... i.e.simply drop the word "wild" and substitute "domestic" i.e. "domestic boar". I would guarantee that 95% of said officials would just think "pigs"!

Good luck.

[Greg]

Geoff & Rosie firstly you will need a DWA licence or no one will sell you any stock, until the legal position changes this is solid .

as you will find out there are not many wildboar farmers who will part with live stock as demand has gone up . and the cost is going up faster

how many animals have you thought about on your 15 acres.

xmas trees are fine , they give good cover from the sun and will grow in almost all soil types

what type of land do you have .... whatever you got they will strip in bare in a short time , as we say welcome to a world of mud.

what part of the country are you , i may be able to give you the no/ of a WB farmer thats close

all the best Greg

[Greg]

Geoff you may need to re think your numbers or you will be over run before you start to market the animals.

with 20 sows you would need 3 good boars to cover them

working on a 64% rate with a ave 4.5 boarlets first season you would be looking at around 59 boarlets , now these are going to be with you 18-20months

in 8-9 months they would be ready to birth again ( 3 litters in two Years )
so if you had the same result your now up to 141 head
and on the third litter the first litter will be ready to breed so if half your litter is female and working on the same ave figs head count would be around 229


forgive me if it sounds way out .. its not these ave figs are wot im having now ,

if you like a chat email me your no and i ll give you a buzz
greg

[Piglet]

Hello Geoff and Rosie

Not 100% sure yet but we may well have some wild boar to start you off in the near future. Depends on how things go for us over the next few weeks and how quickly you need some. We are in Somerset. Rachel x

[Piglet]

By the way, we are in Somerset and our council have stated that we must have a wild boar licence. x

[happymanoftheworld]

Hi Rachel - if I may try to help by saying when speaking to the planners do not use the term "wild" ---- quite simple - you are keeping domesticated boar. If they challenge this show them the print-out from this link. If they say that is Scotland, call their bluff and say that you have experts to say that they are domesticated and do not need a licence. I am sure that if you write to Dr Macdonald at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School in Edinburgh explaining your situation he would be delighted to clarify the situation with a simple letter. When confronted with that the planners will know that if they go to court they are on a hiding to nowhere!!!
Link - http://news.bbc.co.u...and/4744538.stm ....I think it is amusing that the guy's name is Hogg!!!

[Piglet]

Actually we are trying to get an expert to say that they are wild boar lol ... We already have a wild animal licence...it is because there is a premium on Wild Boar meat as opposed to pork x Rachel