The missus wants to buy a pig

[bigglesmk2]

It all started when i said i want some lambs next year so i can tame them and have them as pets.

 

But now she gone all self sufficient and wants to get a pig to raise and then send for meat when its old enough

 

I know it makes sense in my head but i dont think i could send it for slaughter after raising it from a piglet

[Fishtailparka]

You have to have a lisense for a pig, and you are strictly not allowed to feed it any waste food from the house whatsoever. This is for a good reason, the risk of nasty diseases being started and spread this way is too great. The Foot and Mouth outbreak about 5 years ago is thought to have been started this way.

If you do feed it kitchen waste it will be impossible to find anywhere that will kill and butcher it for you.

 

Having said all that, if you have a supply of food such as stale bread from a bakers, or waste apples etc go for it. They are nice animals to keep and taste delicious

[caprinerd]

bacon sarnie mmmmmmm

[accord83]

My missus reckons she married one.

[tazrocks88]

dont do it ull never get rid my mate did it with all good intensions then couldnt do it as his mrs said no its the same with his sheep, pigs, chicken and turkeys u would think he would learn

[gearbox100]

Done it a few times now , and the pork tastes so different to shop bought stuff , well worth it

[peranapete]

My freind who lives in a little village has got about 20 familys together and they farm 20 pigs, they take it in turns for each family to look after the pigs for a day, when they are big & fat enough they slaughter them all and have a carve up. They have been doing it for 2 years now and its a great sucsess.

Thanks Pete

[bigglesmk2]

I dunno,its gonna be tough.

 

I dont think i could have it slaugtered when the time comes,the missus recons she could do it but i bet she cant .

 

Am gonna end up with a pet pig arent i

[Pipster007]

Why am I thinking of Bricktop from Snatch

[caprinerd]

did you know by law its not legal to keep pigs in your front garden in london just thought id share that info with you useless i know but there you have it

[GJUK]

Sounds like a brilliant idea. I love the sound of that

 

Raise it, care for it, know what it's eating and once its had a good life, kill it.

 

Full circle. Don't kid yourself. The meat you buy in morrisons in plastic wrapping doesnt start life as that (obviously you know that!).

 

I'd love to have the space for this kind of stuff.

 

Jon

[Mad Mex]

Why am I thinking of Bricktop from Snatch

 

"Never trust a man who keeps a pig farm" legend

 

My missus would have every animal going but would never kill them lol

[caprinerd]

Why am I thinking of Bricktop from Snatch

 

"Never trust a man who keeps a pig farm" legend

 

My missus would have every animal going but would never kill them lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HAQ3pNHwj4

[jimbo]

I dunno,its gonna be tough.

 

I dont think i could have it slaugtered when the time comes,the missus recons she could do it but i bet she cant .

 

Am gonna end up with a pet pig arent i

 

If you get yoursleves a sow to breed from, you can keep the sow as a pet (name it and everything). Then you can raise the piglets she produces for meat. Just don't name them

 

Got friends in Dorset and Devon who both raise their own pigs (and lambs).

Best meat I ever get to taste

[FredTransit]

Sorry but how, if you feed your pig your own kitchen waste, would a slaughter house (not a butcher) know what you have fed it, if you don't tell them? The problem that arose with BSE was because animals were fed their own kind, meat in it's raw state (though it was processed). Common sense tells you that's not a good idea. Pigs have been fed food waste for hundreds of years before that, but it was the greedy food manufacturers that decided using animal carcasses was a good idea.

Pigs are omnivorous animals, they are designed to eat anything (though in the wild that's mostly plant based). It was mostly cows that developed BSE (actually only cows, as the B stands for Bovine) as they were fed beef by-products. This is a bad idea in the first place, cows are vegetarian.

I don't think you need a license to keep a pig, as pot bellied pigs are popular pets, but you may need one to keep pigs that are intended for slaughter.

[Fishtailparka]

To keep pigs you need to have a holding number to register the land to you. You need a herd number and to move pigs you need a movement licence.

 

If you fed them kitchen waste and didn't tell anyone, nobody would know unless there was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth resulting from it. Which although the risks are possibly on the low side, it might happen. In which case you are in seriously deep s**t! Not only that, but you would be responsible for all the neighbouing farmers having their entire livestoch killed, put into a big pile and burnt. Not worth the risk in my opinion, and extremely irresponsible. Same as any crime really, unless you are found out, you can get away with it.

 

I don't quite see what BSE has got to do with pigs. Pigs will eat pretty much anything put in front of them, including each other at times. Many a time I have gone into a pig pen and there is one missing. The only thing left is usually the tip of a nose, an ear or a foot. Nothing else whatsoever.

[Fishtailparka]

Here you go, the official rules and regulations.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farman ... _guide.pdf

 

For anyone new to pig keeping they will seem very daunting, but if you are serious, it isn't as bad as it seems.

The rules and regulations are there for very good reasons. Don't break them as it puts everybody elses livestock and livelyhoods in serious danger.

[FredTransit]

To keep pigs you need to have a holding number to register the land to you. You need a herd number and to move pigs you need a movement licence.

 

If you fed them kitchen waste and didn't tell anyone, nobody would know unless there was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth resulting from it. Which although the risks are possibly on the low side, it might happen. In which case you are in seriously deep s**t! Not only that, but you would be responsible for all the neighbouing farmers having their entire livestoch killed, put into a big pile and burnt. Not worth the risk in my opinion, and extremely irresponsible. Same as any crime really, unless you are found out, you can get away with it.

 

I don't quite see what BSE has got to do with pigs. Pigs will eat pretty much anything put in front of them, including each other at times. Many a time I have gone into a pig pen and there is one missing. The only thing left is usually the tip of a nose, an ear or a foot. Nothing else whatsoever.

 

I mentioned BSE cos cows caught it through irresponsible feeding. I do understand pigs don't get it (though they could have a form of Spongeform Encepholitis, just as humans get thier own version).

 

As foot and mouth is killed during the cooking process (so MAFF told us during the outbreaks, so we would carry on buying meat) I don't see how feeding your own pig your own kitchen leftovers would pass Foot and Mouth on to it. If I kept a pig in London W3 to my knowledge there are no livestock within 30 miles, which was the exclusion zone for suspected foot and mouth wasn't it? Unless of course other people are keeping pigs in their back gardens and not disclosing it either.

 

What if you have a Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig as a pet? There must be some allowances for domestic pets, as there is never any mention of any license for keeping pigs as pets whenever they are mentioned on TV or in the papers. They are/were supposed to be a 'fashionable popular pet', how would they get popular if they had a lot of legislation related to them? Mind you, lions and tigers are still turning up, so I don't suppose it would stop some people.

[Fishtailparka]

From the DEFRA site

"Following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in 2001, the first case of

which was found to be at a farm where unprocessed waste food was being

fed to pigs, the Government carried out a review of the practice of swill

feeding. The outbreak and subsequent review led to legislation banning the

feeding of catering waste to any farmed animals or any other ruminant animal,

pig or poultry. This is now reflected in EU-wide legislation.

It is illegal to feed any pig any catering waste (including used cooking oil) from

restaurants, kitchens (both household and central), and other catering

facilities even if those establishments cater solely for vegetarians."

 

The 2001 outbreak resulted in 4,000,000 animals being slaughtered in this country and cost us £8,000,000,000.

Yes, the rules apply to pot belly pigs.

How many restaurants are there within a 30 mile radius of London W12? and how many of those cook the food 100%? How many of them are using dodgy meat from dubious sources? How many don't really control their waste and allow foxes, rats etc to rummage in the cooked and uncooked waste? How many of those foxes wander through peoples gardens, some of which might have a pot bely pig?

The risk is enormous and the consequences dire! Ever seen a pile of 30 odd cattle burning on a stack of railway sleepers? Ever smelt it? I have, and I won't forget it ever.

[FredTransit]

This is obviously a subject close to your heart, and I don't want to get into an argument about this. The foxes and rats could still transmit Foot and mouth, whether or not there was a pig in a domestic garden.

[caprinerd]

when the foot an mouth out break came out in the open all hell broke loose round here, i live in norfolk, half the banger track were shut as alot of the banger boys use farmyards to prep and store there bangers so this was a way(they thought) it would help prevent spread of it, its norfolk fgs its in the middle of a forest with 1000`s of deer foxes badgers and all sorts of wildlife running around to spread it

[Fishtailparka]

This is obviously a subject close to your heart, and I don't want to get into an argument about this. The foxes and rats could still transmit Foot and mouth, whether or not there was a pig in a domestic garden.

It is very close to my heart, no doubt about that, and I wasn't arguing, I was just telling you that you are wrong.

Foxes and rats can't actually catch F&M, so they can only transport it to animals that are susceptable, such as pigs kept in gardens.