Buying a couple of weaners - what should they have had?

Tommy_T

Member
I’m looking to pick up a couple of weaners this weekend. They’re £30 each and 12 weeks old. Someone told me this seems cheap? They’re not pure breed. They also advised to make sure the seller can get in with them and if not walk away - I guess because the could be aggressive.
Anyway, what should they have had - vaccinations? And should they have been wormed?
I only want to fatten them up over the summer so not keeping long term. Would I need to worm them again? I read a lot about not over-worming animals for the sake of it. Is this the same for pigs?
Thanks.
 

br jones

Member
Paper work is a doddle ,when you bring them in the previous owner will complete the movement papers,you have a holding number,and when you take to slaughter you complete a movement form, give to abbatoir.takes about 15 mins.no bother at all
 
I’m looking to pick up a couple of weaners this weekend. They’re £30 each and 12 weeks old. Someone told me this seems cheap? They’re not pure breed. They also advised to make sure the seller can get in with them and if not walk away - I guess because the could be aggressive.
Anyway, what should they have had - vaccinations? And should they have been wormed?
I only want to fatten them up over the summer so not keeping long term. Would I need to worm them again? I read a lot about not over-worming animals for the sake of it. Is this the same for pigs?
Thanks.
Ask the vendor what, if any treatments they have had. Ideally they should have had an iron injection soon after birth, which protects them from Anaemia, and have been wormed. At twelve weeks they are probably past becoming anaemic but if they haven't been wormed, then do them as soon as you can. It's no biggie, get some in-feed wormer from your Vet. Pointless trying to get pigs to grow when they're riddled with worms!
 

Old Boar

Member
Location
West Wales
There is an old saying "turn the sods out, or chuck a sod in". Meaning if the pigs are not out, chuck in a sod of turf, with soil attached, so they can get the iron they need.
My rule of thumb was feed twice a day, enough so they take 7 minutes to clear it.
Unless the seller can show you the wormer, I would worm them.
Be aware that if a pig looks ill, it is very ill. They tend not to show illness unless they are really sick. Ignore the puke when they travel though - most pigs get travel sick which makes cleaning out the trailer a joy!
Make friends with them, so that you can handle them at any time if need be. The best place for a gentle scratch is half way down the ribs near the front legs, when they will gently lie down and grunt in bliss.
Oh, and buy a chair so you can sit and watch them play. Cheers the soul no end! Good luck.
 

Paddington

Member
Location
Soggy Shropshire
Your vet can give you a couple of doses of Ivermectin etc for a few pounds to give peace of mind. We used to do faecal egg counts on our pigs several times a year, when we were selling weaners. They always came back negative (the timing of the tests in pigs can be critical), but our home reared weaners always seemed to do well and we never had milk spots etc on the carcases. Anyway we sold a couple of two month old weaners to a couple who had never had pigs before and had just moved to a place with a few acres. A week later we received frantic emails and phone calls - the pigs run was heaving with white worms, what had we sold them ? They wanted their money back etc. We checked our outdoor pig runs, bedding etc and found nothing and a quick faecal egg count again showed nothing. The new owners had got a vet out who recommended worming, would we pay for this ?
We asked them to do a bit of research, had the previous owners kept pigs ? No, but the owners previous to them had kept pigs for years on the same bit of land they were using and the ascarid worms had remained dormant in the soil for several years.
We were in the clear and they bought more weaners off us for several years.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,293
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top