The Poultry Keeper

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 499 Location: gwent

somebody please give me more info on these animals which ones dig?how much do they cost to keep?and how much paperwork is involved if they are only bought and kept in the same place?we are really thinking of getting two pet pigs to clear the ground before we put goats on it can i use electric fencing with pigs?thing is the bracken we have is much worse than we first imagined and i would not dare put goats on it but read on the net that pigs can have thiamine injections to prevent bracken poisoning and that the pigs will uproot the rhizomes and kill it hence leaving it clear for when we get our goats.also how easy is it to make a pig ark? Question

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7367 Location: isle of lewis

pigs distroy things ,you might be able to buy second hand you could always make a straw house ,
they are lovely ,do you want them to just graze or dig up the roots
you can get a walking licence and take them for walks Very Happy

Tensing · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:02 am Post subject:

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 7367 Location: isle of lewis

i phoned defra about the movement of animals
because you can take llamas for walks and packing ect but not as far as i was concerned goats ,we used to walk ours years ago in kent in fact there's a funny story conected with that sort of
anyway back to the piont i asked about walking the goats and was told it's fine as long as they are on a lead and don't go wondering on anf off other holding numbers ,she said beforeshe said that that she thought it was fine if people can get walking liciences for pigs i might need one for goats but she'd never heard of one and asked her manager
i asked to find out about the pig walking one at the same time
and it turns out that you can ,i think you get in touch with defra ,and they give you a list and you give them the lists of walks you'd like to do you get it aproved by your vet as in you are not alking though fields of other pigs ect
but give them a ring they where quite helpfull ,i thought those days where over ,but they are not i can walk my goats again although they don't aggree Twisted Evil

skye girl · Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 638 Location: Isle of skye

I was a kennel maid 20 years ago and on of my duties was walking the goats ( I hated it) I am only now just coming round to goats again and thinking of getting a couple of pygmy and got a book on them Smile

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 499 Location: gwent

i have seen the pig arks in the back of country smallholding mag they look pretty easy but how big are they?what sort of height?we are still working on getting the fencing in but as soon as that's done i can get something up there am contacting somebody to get some plans done soon too as next door just had his planning granted for his stables etc so hopefully when we apply for ours we should not come across too many issues we want to put the goats in them and maybe one day when i have a little bit more time get a horse again too but until then a few pigs will do as we need to get the ground cleared without the use of machines i don't know why i did not look into pigs in the first place,am going to get some books back out from the library if they have any there (all usually booked out)as still need to know whats the best breed for digging and general cost of keeping them too Question

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 499 Location: gwent

regarding the paperwork of keeping pigs could somebody tell me what exactly i would have to do .i have a cph number but where do i go from there if we were to buy some do i have to get a record or something there is a market in abergavenny that oi would imagine would be where we would go to get them we only want two do we need to buy ear tags and things too?

Issy · Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 371 Location: somerset

Hi,

You need to contact your local Animal Health office who will issue you with a pig herd number and send you movement forms etc and medicine/movement book. If you tell defra you will be keeping pigs they will send you a book with all the rules and regs in or you can look at the web site. if you want specific info I can look it up for you.

Regards. Issy

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 499 Location: gwent

thanks issy i will do that i like to be prepared and plan ahead things are starting to come along quickly now and it will not be long before all the overgrowth dies back and we are able to access the boundary to do the fencing as soon as that's done cant see why we can not have the pigs up there.thanks

Issy · Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 371 Location: somerset

I do warn you - like chickens, pigs are adictive Laughing

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