Course Content:

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Getting Started:

Everything you need to know about the legal stuff - registering to keep pigs, tags and movement licenses.   Choosing a breed, buying pigs.

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Housing and Fencing:

How to provide your pigs with comfortable accommodation, and keep them where you want them to be!

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Handling:

Moving pigs, handling for tags, injections etc.  Loading and travelling.

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Feeding:

Selecting the right diet, avoiding over-fat pigs, and the law on feeding pigs.

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Pig Health:

How to recognise a healthy pig, and identify common problems.

Worms, vaccine and common health issues.  Injection sites.

Creating a simple Health Plan.

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Breeding and Farrowing:

Keeping a boar.  AI - you can do this!  Timing and technique.

Farrowing sties, care of mum and newborn piglets.

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Pork:

Finishing pigs for pork.  Preparing for the abbatoir.

How much meat from a pig, what cuts to ask for, sausages and curing for ham & bacon.  Selling your produce - regulations.

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Lunch:

A delicious homecooked lunch is included, featuring fresh produce form our smallholding.  Plenty of tea, coffee and cake throughout.

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We want this course to be as useful to you as possible - so if there are specific topics you would like to see covered, please feel free to mention these when booking.  There will be time during the course for discussion and questions.