Getting pigs

Dusty87

Iv thought about this for years, but im in the position to do it now.
Im going to get two pigs and fattenen them. At about 6months they will go to the pig pen in the sky.
Do i need a herd number to for two to get them butchered?
I thought so, but the butcher said the farmer i buy them from can give me a 'green' letter and they fill it out and thats it???
Sounds very simple that way.
Also whats the best meal for them?
Thanks

Jed_Bartlet

Dusty87 wrote: »

Iv thought about this for years, but im in the position to do it now.
Im going to get two pigs and fattenen them. At about 6months they will go to the pig pen in the sky.
Do i need a herd number to for two to get them butchered?
I thought so, but the butcher said the farmer i buy them from can give me a 'green' letter and they fill it out and thats it???
Sounds very simple that way.
Also whats the best meal for them?
Thanks

If you want to stay within the law, then you will need to get a pig number (similar to a herd number - in your case it would be a ZS number.) You'll have to hav an inspection carried out by a Veterinary Inspector from the Dept. but it's no big deal - they'll just want to make sure that there aren't any tethers in the holding pen (they're considered cruel) and that the size of the pen is adequate and one or two other things - nothing major.

You can find an application form here.

Just fill it up and send it back to:
Pig Herd Registration
Animal Health & Welfare
4 Centre - Agriculture House
Department of Agriculture & Food
Kildare Street
Dublin 2.

Any questions, get onto your local DVO and ask to speak to a VI. Hope this helps.

Micheal H

We got two pigs last year to try out for the freezer. As Jed has said, there's nothing too rigorous involved in getting your number.

We kept ours indoors for the first two months or so and then let them outside to their pen. Used about a 20m x 20m square, which was definitely adequate, but next time we'd probably allow them more space as they managed to completely decimate that area in about 2 weeks -- they sure love to root!

They were fed mainly with barley soaked in water, and the odd few organic scraps from the kitchen. Whether this was the best feed to fatten them up, I couldn't say, but it definitely worked for ours!

Also, you should be prepared to get quite fond of them. They're very sociable and intelligent animals and I must say it was a joy to have them around. Twas a little bit sad when we had to send them off to the pig pen in the sky

what happen

hi dusty87 we had three pigs two female and one male. the females were yorks with ears standing up and the male was a landrace a big long pig. the plan was to breed them.the plan didnt work out .the yorks were very wicked and would never shut their mouths.we could not walk up the yard but they would hear you and cause a riot.we then put them outside into a fenced field with a shed.it was some job dosing them for worms. no better outside so we put them out to the outfarm. we then said we would put them into the freezer.we fed them barley /bread and household scraps .dont feed your pigs eggs .we got the local butcher to kill them and we put them in a pen in the slatted house for two days and give them only water .it leaves them with less fat and you will have better end results.we hung them in the slatted house for 3 or 4 days. then the butcher came back and choped them up on a table and we put them into freezer bags and into freezer. butcher got 30euros a pig .sold the boar bucther said each pig was worth 170 euros to a bucther.good luck no yorks.