Sedating a Pig

[Boots]

Phew...

Ok... at my wits end here. Have a sow that will NOT under any circumstances travel the loading ramp. To say it is giving me the utter sh*its would be an understatement.

Local abbattoir only accepts privates on Sunday. Have spent the last 3 Sundays coaxing, pushing, boxing, butting, screaming, swearing and generally getting nuttier and nuttier.

Tried getting a mobile butcher out, but they are all booked up 3 months ahead. Been straining the brain, trying to work out how on earth I am going to get this extremely friendly, extremely intelligent and extremely infuriating porker onto our plates.

Am thinking drugs....

Now I am soooooo ante chemicals, it isn't funny. So that should communicate my desperation!

Whatcha reckon Stoney? Dope the bugger and load her on stretcher and let her wake up in the processing stalls or what?

[Wombat]

The most effective drug I know under the circumstances comes in a number of flavours, Boots but .22 is probably the best!

Nev

[Boots]

mmm.... don't think that hasn't crossed my mind!

Problem is butcher has no kill floor, which means pig must go through regulated (and humane?) kill process... ie... via the abbeys stun gun.

[Cheezy]

I have absolutely no live stock experience so forgive me, but I got to thinking about the drugs, which I would agree would be a shame to do.

What about alcohol? Would the pig drink beer?, or better still cider at least it might relax it a bit , and you might get some flavour into the meat!.

[Martin]

I've heard of beer being used - they love it! - just hope it's a friendly drunk!

[Boots]

Actually raised a pig on beer... Our first pig was named Six pack because you had to take a Six Pack of Homebrew Tallies with you when it got out into the sugar cane! That was the one thing that would divert it from rooting about in the sweet cane and come back in!

Many a time I found the pig and my ex hanging out in the sugar cane guzzling away together....

It was good for leading it, and might very well be worth a try... Not sure how workable that is though... Our farm is something of a rehab!!!

ROFLMAO

[Jessica]

Hi boots, did you try putting the pig box in there run or gate and put bucket of pig nuts or lettuce up in box and put staw up the ramp floor, thats now i got my 2 pigs in that are in freezer now. good luck they will do anything for food and they can be pig headed too. cheers jessie.

[Stonehead]

I'm with Jessie - don't feed the pig for 24 hours, put the trailer in the run (or backed up to the gate, with the gate and trailer open) and then put the feed at the front of the trailer. You could also move the pig's bedding from their hut or shelter into the trailer.

I've also found that tipping a can of beer into a bucket and putting that at the front of the trailer is pretty enticing for most pigs.

If you do sedate the pig, you may find that you can't slaughter for a week or more.

Also, another resort is the rope pig snare - you place it in their mouth with the snare looping over their snout and set behind their teeth. It can't be used for very large pigs, but it can be very effective and humane in the hands of a skilled and careful user.
Use a long piece of rope and secure the loose end to the inside front of the trailer before snaring the pig - then each time the pig moves forward, take up the slack in the rope (my trailer has a very strong eyebolt next to the front access door so you can pass the rope through the eye and then out the door where you can secure it to something solid). Do NOT try to pull the pig - you're merely stopping it going backwards. It's a bit like playing a fish on a line and can take a while, but is effective. (Oh, and tie the snare with a quick release knot.)

As a very final resort, set up a narrowing chute or race with a series of gates that close off each section as it narrows and use an electric prod to get the pig moving. You can make one easily from a battery door bell. However, this is very much the absolutely last resort and I'd prefer not to use it myself. (Also, you can generally only use the chute/prod trick once or twice as pigs are smart and get wise to this. And don't do it with other pigs watching either.)

[Boots]

Have done a bit of re-housing to accomodate her for a tad longer and booked the mobile guy. Really felt drugs were the only other way, and just couldn't stomach the idea. Trouble was the more failed attempts the worse it all became.

So she is now 'composting' in confinement, and I can't believe how quickly she turned to digging when confined!

This one was a very slack plough... far too reliant on hand feeding. But you would never think so now. She is determined to dig to china, I think! Had no idea how good the soil was in there!

[ina]

So at least something good has come of it...

But Stoney is right - doping isn't an option, if you are taking the pig for slaughter. You can, of course, kill it then, but the meat would not be "fit for human consumption". Even if it doesn't show any signs of being sedated anymore, it still has traces of the stuff in the meat - you could end up veeeeryyyyy calm after eating your pork chops!

Mind you, that might be an acceptable side effect, especially on kids.

[Boots]

Just an update with this... in case anyone ever wonders about it or finds themselves having a blonde moment and asking the same questions. (now that's not very likely, is it?)

Mobile butcher decided he was booked out til X-mas. Said he had looked up where I was, and couldn't possibly get to me before then. Didn't believe him really.

Rang the vet and Ina was spot on. Sedatives take between 7 and 21 days to leave the system, so I was beginning to have visions of a giant sow taking over my house.

Some friends arrived and were more than happy to come to the rescue. One was an ex farming lad who was not at all intimidated by the ol girl and he led the mission. Together they tied her in a mock harness (she had outgrown the one I had) and he led her by the EARS while the others strained against the harness to stop her now habitual bolt around the place. The road captain was waiting near the ramp... huge guy... with a woosh she was up and in! Big cheers all round and off she went.

Amen.

[Stonehead]

Good news!

I hope our two are easier tomorrow. We have two 26-week old Saddleback boars going to slaughter (all we need is four days notice).