Today has been a day for the pigs.
The Big Lad, the Wee ‘Un and I had an early start, taking the two Saddleback gilts to the abbatoir for slaughter.
I was up first and the preparations we made yesterday for loading the pigs paid off, as all I had to do was to connect up the light inside the trailer, sprinkle some food on the floor and then open the gates into the pen.
The two gilts, who were already up and about thanks to the activity, quickly spotted the food in the light and trotted up the ramp for a quick munch while I shut the gates and pulled the ramp up after them.
Then it was time to move the Land Rover and trailer around to the side of the house, where the Other Half loaded the boys into the car.
Going to the abbatoir is always a big event for them as they get to wear their overalls over their pyjamas, get a piece of fruit and a drink apiece, and then go for an adventure in the dark!
On arrival at Scotch Premier in Inverurie, I was a bit disappointed with the way the pigs were handled this time.
The normal bloke on lairage lets the pigs take their time coming out of the trailer, keeps any manhandling to a minimum and, while firm when he has to be, isn’t cruel or brutal.
Today, I’d got behind the pigs and they were starting to amble down the ramp of the trailer and up the ramp into the abbatoir when a different bloke came stomping out, cursing and muttering with the light behind him so he was a large, silhouetted presence.
The pigs promptly fled to the back of the trailer.
With more cursing and stomping, the lairage man then tried to haul the pigs out - depsite my remonstrations - and even grabbed them hard by the ears and twisted. Now, it is occasionally necessary to “steer” a pig using its ears but it’s a last resort and there’s no need to be brutal.
But while he was concentrating on one pig, I managed to nudge the other out of the trailer by keeping my legs pressed against her bum so she could only go forwards and not back. With her trundling into the abbatoir (and apparent safety from the “nasty man”), the other pig decided to lunge after her sister, too.
It’s one of the things I don’t like about abbatoirs - too much is down to the skill and attitude of individual workers and while I’ve always been happy taking the pigs to Scotch Premier before, it does make me wary of using them again in the future.
I’ll raise it with the management, but I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing happens.
Once we’d returned home, we had just enough time to have breakfast with the OH before the Big Lad went off to school.
And as we’d started the day, so we finished it - this time with pigs arriving instead of departing.
We’d bought two Tamworth weaners, both gilts, from Willie, the farmer who sold us the boar Ginger. He arrived with them just as we were sitting down to eat dinner - rost pork of course!
While the OH kept the boys eating and popped my dinner in the oven, Willie and I went out to unload the pigs from his pickup.
As they weren’t tagged and will be going for slaughter, the first job was to tag them as they came out. While Willie held them, I used the tagging pliers to apply a PET metal tag to their left ears.
The gilts were not at all pleased by this but quickly settled once they were released into their pen and given a feed of barley and potatoes. I also stirred some worming pellets into their feed as a precaution.
Finally, at 9pm I was able to sit down to dinner - having been up and about on piggy business since 4.30am.
And here they are…
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