Hi all
my father in law has about 5 acres of land well over run and in need of a good clean up use to be a nursery and still has about 8 polytunnel frames standing. We would like to get some pigs just the 2 to start but not sure if you need to be licenced to have them and how to go about getting them slaughtered etc.
All so thinking about using one of the old tunnels to rear turkeys for next year....
Any advice would be very helpfull or ideas for use of the land(we do have a freind moving 12 beehives in next year aswell)
Thanks
Steve.
I think you have to register with Defra, and I think each pig has it's own paperwork so they know what is where.
As far as slaughtering I'd contact your local abbatoir.
I get some of my pork direct from a breeder and it beats the supermarket stuff any day.
You can find the Defra guide for new pig keepers by clicking the link below
http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/movements/pigs/documents/new_owner_guide.pdf (http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/movements/pigs/documents/new_owner_guide.pdf)
(Info swiped from the River Cottage pigs forums. http://www.rivercottage.net/forum/ask/pigs/ (http://www.rivercottage.net/forum/ask/pigs/))
Thanks for the replys the link was very helpfull
;)
I hope your friend knows what to do with 12 beehives in one location...hopefully they have plenty to forage in the area or you and your friend might have some problems in hand..generally there is no problem with having pigs and bees ..but if those bees are short of forage..'temperature' may rise and pigs with few stings in them are not happy bigs :-X
Make sure that the hives are well apart from the area where pigs are kept and that the pigs will not have access anywhere near the hives..pigs could easily turn hive over with result for disaster :o....neither any turkies jumping on hives would do any good for the bees...
If the area's intensively farmed, bees might have a problem, otherwise they should be OK. The main things they need are acess to forage all season, and a water supply. If you can site them in a sunny, sheltered spot near willows, that would be ideal. 12 in an apiary is a lot by current British standards, but not by Victorian or US standards. The average Association apiary will have more than that, and there's no record of any particular problems.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on November 13, 2010, 19:46:5012 in an apiary is a lot by current British standards, but not by Victorian or US standards. The average Association apiary will have more than that, and there's no record of any particular problems.
but, 4 strong colonies of bees will gather as much honey as 12 colonies on a permanent apiary site. (only so much forage in any given area, and more colonies need more forage just to exist)
Depends how much forage is available. I'd be looking for a second site myself.
Even in reasonably good area I would not keep more than 6 hives if honey is the main reason for it. But if maximum yield is not the reason and for breeding etc..then that is different thing entirely, then I can see dozen hives located in one 'apiary' or side of the large rapeseed field..but that would be temperary thing.