The Sandy Pig - Issue #1 Summer 2022

The S ndy Pig Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Group Foundation Charity Magazine

Photo by Eugenia Porechenskaya

Issue 1 Summer 2022

e: p i c Re ini M ch t Sco gs Eg

G n P o B i S bit e O hi al S x E &

Magazine Going the whole Hog

10,266 miles and counting

The New OSBPG App

In This Issue Lets rootle…….......................................03 Going the whole hog….........................04 OSBPG Farrowing Update....................06 OSBPG Exhibition & Sale.....................07 OSBPG PIg Haulier UK…………………08 OSBPG Awards 2022 ...........................09 Fundraising Update…...........................10 Pigs In Summer………………………….11 Coming Autumn 2022 ..........................14 Farming through the eyes of a child...15 GSA - The Journey so far.....................17 Feeding Our Pigs…...….……………….18 Vet Chat - Vaccinations..……………….20 Your Thoughts ……………….………….21 Recipe: Mini Scotch Eggs....................23 Upcoming Events & Replays...............24 Breeders Directory……………………...25 Win a Prize - Wordsearch ....................29

Photo by Kathleen O’Shea

We must all be mindful that with feed prices rising that we do not turn to unconventional feeding regimes, kitchen waste is still illegal to feed to our pigs. The Charity is working with a pig nutrition company that will help solve our issues and offer a healthy option. Keep your ears and eyes open when we will update further on the Charity forum and website.

Times are changing and technology is improving and as a charity we are mindful of what we can do better to help you, our supporters.

Lets have a good ole rootle Photo: Aimee Edmond Welcome to our first edition of "The Sandy Pig" magazine.

Louise Blenkhorn, our resident pig vet will be covering medical topics of interest. We are announcing our Exhibition and Sale, yes it is back this year with new venue.

Andrew reports on our geographical locations of our bloodlines with the help of our popular Genetic Spread Allowance, we have a recipe section and a little quiz section and there is more. Have a rootle around and enjoy.

There is no getting away from it, we are experiencing unprecedented and difficult times. Your resilience to the increasing sustainability concerns that we experience has not wavered. The level of pork being produced and sold has grown and the market for meat weaners and breeding stock has held steady in the last quarter.

Therefore our breed is showing a steady growth, both in terms of bloodlines and meat production. Keep up the good work everyone the OSBPG Charity is very proud.

Reducing our carbon footprint is very topical and is being vocalised wherever we go, we want to harness this and as such the OSBPG Foundation Charity has turned to hosting our talks via zoom, it has been a popular move. With fuel costs as they are, we have seen that it is far more cost effective to stay at home and take an hour and half out of our day to sit in front of our devices at a time when all our chores have been done. Rather than organise someone to look after our livestock, jump into a car, drive to the destination to attend a talk and drive back. Which in some cases can take a whole day for some of us.

Our Genetic Spread Allowance is increasingly popular helping you to source your bloodlines with the Charity donating GBP175.00 to help towards costs for fuel.

Our Breeding initiative programme is also proving to be a concept that initiates a good geographical spread whereby the Charity is grading potential stock to be relocated to parts of the UK. We have put our bloodlines in Scotland, introduced new lines in Devon and Cornwall, we have put new lines in the North of England, West of England and East of England. We are working hard to help our supporters and we are listening too. Rest assured we will continue to listen.

Thank you for your support as together we are creating a better future for our breed and its breeding potential.

Always remember that the charity is your charity and with your kind donations and becoming a friend you give us the impetus to strive forward. Thank you!

Going the whole hog What’s a smallholder to do?

I know what a wonderful product we have with our OSB pork, I think we can all agree on that!

I know many of us are eager to share this amazing produce with the public. I also know, however, that some of us find selling direct to the public somewhat …….tricky!!

In order to sell to the public there are quite a few hoops we have to jump through, and all of which have to be passed by your local environmental health officer (EHO). There is nothing stopping us from selling our produce direct to the general public as long as we have a trusted butcher who will pack and label everything up and we can then deliver direct from him to our customer. Alternatively, we can comply with additional rules and regulations, be inspected by the EHO and store the prepacked and labelled meat in freezers at our homes to be sold to the public frozen.

The trouble we have encountered is not the rules and regulations opposed on us by the EHO, but the ‘find a trusted butcher’ bit! And I don’t think I’d be far wrong in guessing that most of you are thinking the exact same thing right now? We thought we had found a trusted butcher, and we used his services for 3 years.

Yes sometimes our sausages came back different weights or sizes. Yes sometimes our burgers weren’t quite labelled correctly and I had to hang around while he or his staff relabelled them. Yes sometimes he left a leg of pork whole instead of cutting the dinosaur leg into joints. But on the whole he allowed us to sell our meat without upsetting the EHO and so we could overlook these little inconveniences.

Unfortunately though, just before Christmas, our butcher decided he no longer wanted to offer us the service of packing our produce. He was more than happy to continue to butcher, but the packing bit is time consuming and isn’t very profitable for him so we found ourselves in a bit of a dilemma!!!

It had always been in our long term plan to have an onsite butchery, emphasis on the words ‘long term’ however was now really the right time? We haven’t really got the flock/team size at the moment to warrant one, that’s for sure, but on the other hand we wanted to continue to sell our produce to our local community rather than sell live animals to market. It was time to do some serious thinking and soul searching to come up with a plan. The thought of trying to find yet another butcher (we’ve had three) just filled me with dread; the idea of clearing an area in the kitchen and dedicating it solely to a packing plant also was not a viable option.

Then one afternoon, out of the blue, I saw

Butchery unit & chiller loaded and ready to go

The advert was for a second hand butchery unit!

It was a mobile one meaning that everything from electrics to drains was ‘plug and go’!!

Within a week of the advert I had persuaded Mike that it was a great idea, in reality it didn’t take much, and we became the proud owners of a beat up butchery unit complete with a 14’ chiller!

an advertisement on a WhatsApp group I’d become part of and my heart began to race!!!

Inside of butchery unit

So our plan is two fold…

Butchery unit

The advert was for a second hand butchery unit! It was a mobile one meaning that everything from electrics to drains was ‘plug and go’!! Within a week of the advert I had persuaded Mike that it was a great idea, in reality it didn’t take much, and we became the proud owners of a beat up butchery unit complete with a 14’ chiller!

Firstly we renovate the unit and get it passed with flying colours by our EHO! Then we butcher and package all our own produce just as we want it, using environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic.

Secondly, we also want to offer a bespoke butchery service to other small holders in the area who are rearing amazing produce but just can’t find that ‘trusted butcher’!

Jayne and Mike Carter live and run their family working farm, Ryecroft Rare Breeds in Lancashire. Visit www.ryecroftrarebreeds.co.uk or www.instagram.com/ryecroft_rare_breeds or www.facebook.com/ryecroftrarebreeds

OSBPG Farrowing Update

As of May 31st, 2022 the Charity has recorded 69 litters from our members producing 297 Gilts (47.53%) and 328 (52.48%) Boar weaners. The Cynthia Bloodline is still top of the farrowing charts with 15(21.73%) recorded litters, next to Clare at 12 (17.39%). The Alison only has one recorded litter this year so far, but hoping that will change as the year goes on. The Boars had previously had a pretty even balance of sired litters, with Alexander just topping the chart with 20 (28.98%), but the Clarence has a temporarily lull with just 12 sirings (17.39%).

With the higher density of breeders in the southwest it's hard to push them off the top spot, but great to see scotland at number 2 with 13.04% of the litters recorded If you have a farrowing to record with us please reach out to Kim or Andrew

OSBPG 2022 Exhibition & Sale After 2 years, the OSBPG Foundation Charity is pleased to host its first in person event with our 5th Annual OSB Exhibition and Sale. The event is being held on Saturday 1st October at The East of England showground (Peterborough). Pigs to be penned by 10:00 hrs, showing commences at 11:00 hrs, Lunch at 12:30 hrs with Auction at 14:30 hrs. Lunch will be a hog roast cooked by Nigel Goodchild.

After lunch we will have the pig sale, so don’t forget your trailers. If you wish to exhibit/Sell a pig at the event, the cost is £3 per pen. For more details keep an eye on our website and the charity facebook group. Any enquiries can be emailed to show@osbpg.org.

OSBPG PIG HAULIERS FOR UK Qualified competent attendants Mike and Jayne Carter, long time supporters of the OSBPG Charity, are happy to lend a hand for those seeking transportation services for the movement of pigs.

● ●

Mike and Jayne have a 750kg trailer and are both qualified competent attendants and have breakdown cover for both trailer and vehicle which includes recovering of trailers including livestock.

In addition, Mike is also a HGV driver (retired from the Army and use to driving heavy vehicles) and travels extensively up and down the country.

The logistics would be as follows:

●

movement starts from Mike and Jayne (Wigan) to point of collection to point of delivery and return back to Wigan.

Trailer details is as follows:

● ●

Small trailer max 750kg = 1 large pig male/female, or two 6 month old pigs, or 6/8 weaners. This trailer can be partitioned into 2 sections to carry one of either sex of medium size pig and weaners.

Small trailer cost would be 50p per mile + VAT billed to purchaser. And if you qualify for the GSA you may also use it in connection with the movement.

Requirements

● ●

It would be advantageous to have an idea of weight of each animal being transported in the event of multiple pigs being moved..

Loading and unloading would be the responsibility of the vendor/purchaser. In addition to the above we have copies of Mike and Jayne hauliers licence and their driver/attendants certificates for movement of livestock Category 1 up to 8hrs.

If you would like to find out more or book Mike and Jayne, please visit our website here

2022 OSBPG AWARDS After the overwhelming support of last year we are now opening the doors again for our 2nd year .

It’s time to vote It is our importance we give to natural behaviour, welfare of our pigs, how we

A chance to nominate our independent producers, breeders and keepers of the Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Group Foundation Charity.

value what we do and how

Closing date for nominations is 30 November 2022

individuals and let them

we harness the appreciation of OSB pork and its versatility.

Lets celebrate these know they have been noticed.

The Awards are: OSBPG 2021 Awards went ● ●

OSBPG Pig Excellence OSBPG Pork Producer

to Kathryn and Martin Smith for Pig Excellence. Kieran

Email your nomination to:

and Catherine Roseblade

OSBPGAwards@osbpg.org

for Pork Producer. Winners Showing recognition and

were awarded GBP200.00,

appreciation is an uplifting

OSBPG Plaque, Richard

form of gratitude and it is

Bramble plates and OSBPG

indicative of the importance

fleece.

we all hold dear.

OSBPG Fundraising Update Our fundraising programs are producing wonderful results for us thanks to you. We launched Amazon Smile in September 2020 and so far thanks to your support we have received over £410, following the success of Amazon smile we launched Facebook Fundraisers in March 2021, which has been a huge success bringing us almost £1,600 with your online fundraising events. It was Lisa Cocoran who ran the London marathon supporting us and raising over £400 - thank you, plus many of you bringing in

Andrew O’Shea As you can see it is our

supporters generosity that allows us to deliver all we can.

BIG OSBPG THANK YOU !

monies for us. We are very thankful and grateful to you all.

This past month we registered with easyfundraising, which means you can help us for FREE. Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself! All you need to do is sign up and remember to use easyfundraising whenever you shop online. It’s easy and completely FREE! These donations really mount up, so please sign up to support us by registering using logos below

Pigs In Summer

We all love Summer, providing we, as humans take the necessary precautions; sun hat, sun screen, shade and keeping hydrated. The requirements are not that dissimilar for our beloved pigs. The Summer months bring the hot weather which can affect the growth on our fattening pigs as it suppresses their appetite. Hot weather can also reduce farrowing numbers by as much as 25%.

Not forgetting it can be detrimental to the production of sperm and working ability of our boars. There are many things that we can do to help our pigs enjoy the summer months here are some pointers to help both you and your pigs have a stress free and enjoyable summer.

1. Water Ensure that all drinkers are free from debris, is clean and fresh and there is a regular supply at all times. For those of us that bring in our sows for farrowing ensure again there is sufficient drinkers in place and ensure that they are flushed to clean out the pipes before offering it as drinking water. You wouldn’t drink out of an old mug that you had found in the greenhouse which had been left for several weeks.

2. Ventilation Again, for those of us who bring our sows inside for farrowing. Fans are a nice way of cooling the sow and ensuring air flow is distributed evenly, but do ensure that they are cleaned and check that wires have not become threadbare and are securely fixed in place.

Painting your pig arks white will be a welcome, as this will reflect the sunlight and reduce the heat by 4 degrees, which if accommodating a sow with weaners will be greatly appreciated. Insulation in the pig arks is an added bonus and those of us who use farrowing arks that have a back door/vent do open this as this will create a through breeze.

Pigs In Summer 3. Wallows All paddocks should have good sized wallows that will allow enough room for all to enjoy. Being able to provide pigs with a nice layer of mud to keep cool and repel biting insects. If your wallow is to entertain a sow with litter ensure that the wallow is not deep but shallow and wide.

Again if indoors, because we are farrowing, a wet concrete floor or, if you are able, water sprays/misters, that would be luxurious. Wet towels placed on pigs is a method often used to cool our pigs down, say, if at a show or in an emergency. DO NOT THROW COLD WATER DIRECTLY ON YOUR PIG IN AN EMERGENCY.

4. Shade We all get sunburn and this can be very uncomfortable for the piglets/weaners especially on their ears so a little sun cream will be appreciated..

Pregnancy failure is another common problem in Summer as is stress from not finding any shade from the sun.

Useful items often used is old bed sheets, parasols, shelters made out of fence posts with metal profile sheeting on top or even white plastic mesh and old sails. In all cases, ensure that they are secure.

5. Feeding Consider changing feeding times Cool mornings are a given in the UK and so there will be no problem feeding our pigs as normal, however as the day gets hotter even feeding at 16:00 hrs may be too early so try feeding at 17:00 hrs or when cooler.

Appetites tend to be very suppressed so it is advisable to feed later in the evening when the sun has has gone down and it is a litter cooler and any lactating sows will appreciate this routine as they need to eat to keep their production of milk up to feed their piglets.

BOARS Hot weather can be harmful to our boars in terms of the production and quality of semen, resulting of many weeks of poor quality sperm lasting about three-to-five weeks after a hot spell. It can then take up to eight weeks for the production of semen to gain quality again.

Ensure you are being vigilant on checking your sows/gilts if running with the boar to ensure that there are no returns. You may wish to check the quality of the semen but this should be checked AFTER eight weeks of any noticeable heat stress.

As you may also know, boars will not work in hot conditions.

AI If you are AI’ing it is best suited to do this in the morning and in the evening.

Pigs In Summer SOWS

GROWERS AND FINISHERS

Sows post-service Sows are most susceptible to heat stress seven to 14 days post service.

Keep sows cool with shades, wallows and sprinklers (a lawn sprinkler will work wonders) Dry sows Heat stress can also be responsible for a hormone deficiency that assists pregnancy. Therefore do ensure that at all times sows have a cool, shaded patch. It is also worth noting that warm bedding is not liked very much.

Those of us that finish our pigs indoors and to avoid heat stress is to allow the pigs to spread out therefore allowing them to have sufficient space, which will be cooler or enable them to become cooler by having access to more space and being able to lie on their own to cool down if they so wish.

Heat stress can also impact on the performance of litters as such weaners/fatteners. The reason for this is because pigs that have been born from a heat-stressed sow are reported to have a higher body temperature. Therefore the compounding elements will be; more energy required for maintenance which will result in lower protein downfall and higher fat downfall, all of which will cause the feed conversion rate to spiral.

Lactating sows To help keep sows cool, it may be helpful to wet the sows’ necks with cool water around the ears, under the chin and if you can wipe the underline occasionally but be cautious not to get piglets wet.

And it goes without saying clean, cool fresh water in abundance at all times will be deeply appreciated.

Harriet Gallagher

Visit our website for further helpful information here

Coming Autumn 2022 This Autumn will see the release of our first and free app. The app will give you access to your favourite tools and info wherever you are. The breed standard section will give you the key details at your fingertips whilst you're out with your piglets establishing which ones hit the mark.

The first release of the app will be available for android users only, and will be free to download from the play store. The screenshot to the left gives you an idea of what to expect, but more will be added before it is released this Autumn.

The charity is looking for supporters with android based phones to help test the app. If you would like to help and support the apps development please reach out to us via the email address below. Testing opportunities are exclusive to subscribers of our magazine.

apptesting@oxfordsandyblackpiggroup.org

This April we bought an Oxford Sandy and Black boar called ‘’Alexander’’. As you can see he is very handsome.

Farming through the eyes of a child

By Oliver Harry Pye and Isla Lily Pye

My name is Oliver and I am 3 ½ years old. I live with my Mummy and Daddy and little Sister Isla who is 19 months old in Arkholme in Lancashire.

My Gran, Grandad, Daddy and Auntie Sarah are all farmers and my Mummy helps on the farm too when she isn’t working at Nursery looking after other people’s children.

On our farm we have pedigree Jersey cows and pigs. Our herd prefix is Bayview Jerseys.

One day my Grandad decided to take me to the auction and he bought some Pietrain weaners for me and that’s when we started to keep pigs. Then we bought a British lop boar and then we soon had lots of piglets. Then piglets grew bigger and then off they went to be sold at the Auction. That same day Grandad brought back 4 Oxford Sandy and Black gilts for myself and Isla.

We named them ‘’ Minnie, Blackberry, Charm and June’’.

We like being on our farm with all the animals, playing on our ride on and pedal tractors around the farm and helping milking the cows and looking after the pigs.

We often watch Daddy working in the fields and often in Summer we will have a picnic.

We also show our pedigree Jerseys at Westmorland County Show in September.

Last year we took a heifer calf called Bayview Charity (Chaz) and I (Oliver) showed her in the ring with my Daddy.

When Oliver was asked what his favourite thing to do on the farm was he replied ‘’feeding the cows with the mixer wagon.

That is my job! ’’ When Oliver was asked what his least favourite thing to do on the farm was he said “nothing. I want to be a farmer like Daddy when I grow up’’

When helping on the farm we wear our wet wednesdays waterproofs, our boilersuits and wellies to help us keep clean and dry but this isnt always the case especially when we both like playing in the water at milking time!

When we aren’t at the farm, at Nursery, the childminders or Pre-school we like to play at home with our toy farm, tractors, animals and toy kitchen and we go out on ‘’adventures’’ with Mummy and sometimes Daddy to the beach, park, woods, on walks and days out to different places and attractions.

Genetic Spread Allowance As of June 5th, the charity has supported the move of 31 pigs all across the UK, adding key bloodlines to regions without or with low levels. Our supporters have clocked up a whopping 10,266 miles, this is the same distance as flying from London, UK to Brisbane, Australia which is staggering when you think about it. The pigs themselves have travelled 5,133 miles, The same as flying from London,UK to Tete, Mozambique(Africa). Our program has donated £2,975 to our members to support them with these key moves to diversify and conserve our beloved Oxford Sandy and Black.

Feeding Our Pigs

Kitchen Scraps

Garden/Allotment

As cereal prices increase by over double

over 2,000 UK infected farms and

since October 2020, i.e wheat was

livestock places. The cause of this was

£138/Tonne in October 2020 and is now

considered to be food waste fed to pigs,

£311/Tonne, the cost of our pig feed has

and the impact was heartbreaking to

equally increased. The company I buy my

farmers across the UK.

feed from (trade price) Sow & Weaner

It is illegal to feed any kind of kitchen

Nuts were £6.50/20Kg at the end of 2020,

waste (Domestic or commercial) to

this months order they were £9.48/20kg,

livestock. With African Swine Fever

a 46% increase. As pig keepers we are all

(ASF) getting closer and closer to the UK,

feeling the impact of the current climate,

it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN ASF

but that should not give cause to break

arrives in the UK and we all need to do

the government legislation on feeding

our part to manage the risk. As the ASF

kitchen and catering waste. Many will

virus is present in the carcass of affected

recall the Foot and Mouth outbreak in

pigs (African Swine Fever is not a human

early 2001, which lead to the slaughter of

health threat.), there is the potential that

over 6 million animals from

EU imported pork prepared in your

Source: VITT/1200 ASF in Europe

kitchen could contaminate your feed

However you can supplement a small

waste and thus feeding kitchen waste

percentage of their daily ration with fruit

significantly increases the chances of

and vegetables direct from your garden

ASF getting into our pig population. The

or allotment, but be cognisant of just

map above shows you just how many

how much you supplement.

cases and where ASF outbreaks are and how close to the UK its getting.

For more info of feed nutrition listen to our podcasts with Victoria Phillips;

So what can we do to supplement our

Feeding for Efficency and

livestock feed? Firstly its key to note

Sows, Pregnancy and Farrowing .

that concentrate feeds like sow and weaner nuts are produced to a specific

For more info and our FREE A2 poster

nutritional requirement to ensure a pig

on Feeding your livestock – what you

has all a balanced and healthy diet that

need to know! take a look on our

meets its nutritional requirements.

website here.

Moving away from concentrates can have a detrimental impact on the well being of your pigs.

Vet Chat Louise Blenkhorn, BSc(Hons), BVM&S, MRCVS, is an independent pig veterinary consultant and a pig farmers daughter. Louise's private life is just as busy. A mother of two to Emma and Ava. Louise and her husband Neil, run a successful herd of Limousin beef cattle.

Louise Blenkhorn Vaccinations Erysipelas and Parvovirus are two of the most easily controllable diseases which affected reproductive performance on pig units. On my commercial units 100% will be vaccinated and I suggest that your vaccination programmes should include these as a minimum. Please consult your vet for advice.

Erysipelas can present with red raised diamond skin lesions, septicaemia, arthritis and/or endocarditis. It can also lead to carcass condemnations at the abattoir. It is most often seen in older growing or finisher pigs but maiden gilts and naïve sows can be affected.

Pregnant sows may abort and lactating sows may lose milk production.

Erysipelas is caused by a bacteria Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae and is very responsive to penicillin based treatment. It is very good at surviving in the environment and often heat treatment of buildings is required to minimise challenge in the case of repeat outbreaks. The bacteria are spread via the oral route from faeces and saliva so is more frequently seen on straw based/outdoor systems in summer time when pigs often wallow.

Egan Brockhoff

Parvovirus is unique in its presentation of progressively small to large mummified piglets (the virus sequentially moves along the uterus killing embryos one by one). It can also cause stillbirths, low viable and weak piglets, embryonic death and infertility.

Pig333

Photo: Pig333

Erysipelas vaccines should be given every 6 months; Parvovirus annually.

Because of this combination vaccines are a very useful tool e.g.

Eryseng Parvo and Porcilis EryParvo.

There is a vaccine available which also covers for Leptospirosis (Porcilis Ery+Parvo+Lepto) however you should consult your vet before considering using this.

Gilts require 2x vaccinations, 4 weeks apart. Ensure that any vaccines are given at least 2 weeks before expected breeding to avoid any negative impact on conception rate. Thereafter, I normally repeat vaccinate sows during the first week of lactation (on a commercial scale this is twice a year).

Boars are included in the vaccination programme every 6 months for Erysipelas.

Vaccinations are very effective and safeguarding your herd will give you great peace of mind.

Your Thoughts

By Kerrie Chalmers

Farrowing for the unprepared In July this year we moved into our new small farm. We had planned to buy a couple of breeding sows after our first winter in the place.

Planning to get to know the buildings and land before embarking on our new adventure. The best laid plans…

We were gifted a couple of sows who would come to us via a visit to an OSB boar, but the catch was their move was imminent. We immediately started planning the farrowing barn, ordering gates from IAE to make the space work. We also ordered 2 larger 6’ x 8’ arks from Solway.

The ladies arrived in October having been living with Handsome Hamish for 8 weeks, and we had no idea when they would be due to farrow, only an 8-week window. I have a little experience of lambing, but absolutely no idea about farrowing. I read as much as I could on the OSB page. We borrowed the scanner from the charity, and on 11th November both sows gave a positive result. Using the optimal times for scanning I worked out we likely had till at least early January before piglets would appear. Oh, how wrong I was!

JP works offshore so is only here 50% of the time. By mid-December, the gates from IAE were still not here so I needed a plan B. I got one of the outbuildings cleaned and disinfected but ended up moving our weaners in there.

Your Thoughts Around a week before Christmas, I started to notice boobs developing on the sows, so sent a picture to Michelle who knows them very well. She informed me I had only a few days. Crikey....Called in the troops, and on 18th December after work, a squad of fit chaps turned up to help move the big (very heavy) arks. Only to find that we were too late as Eilidh was lying in the small ark with 9 piglets and 2 dead. I’m not sure whether they were still born or squashed. The day after Eilidh farrowed, I thought Morag was nesting. I got up a couple of times through the night to check, then at morning feed time I found Morag with 9 piglets and 1 dead. Both ladies farrowed without me. I’ve read all about checking for the 2 afterbirths, but I couldn’t find even 1 from either. Although I didn’t look too hard. Being on my own I wasn’t prepared to crawl headfirst into the arks with protective mum outside.

Two days after farrowing Eilidh was off her food and had a discharge.

Much to the disgust of my mother, I went for the sniff test. Having smelt a sheep with retained placenta, I was confident this wasn’t, but I still took a rectal temperature every 2 hours. Just in case. With a normal temperature, I could relax and after 24 hrs she was back to normal.

On one of my checks, I found Morag sitting on a piglet. I could see it gasping for breath but wasn’t too confident to go into the ark and get it. I used an electric fence post, poked Morag to move her then hooked the piglet. He was completely limp.. I have absolutely no clue what to do in this scenario, but again reverted to my sheep knowledge, and treated it like a lamb not breathing. Lucky save!

In the end Morag lost 3 piglets, and Eilidh 4. I will never know if I had been more prepared would we have less losses? If Eilidh had been in the bigger ark, would she have lost less? If the girls had been inside with a heat lamp, would they have squashed less? I was incredibly upset with the losses, but have 14 cheeky, chunky chaps, including the world famous “Oddball”, to keep my mind off it. Kim and Andrew have both been stars answering my endless questions. I think in the week covering the 2 farrowings I went through every emotion possible. Joy, heartbreak, frustration, worry, fear, and relief.

We now have the gates from IAE and our inside space will be built in the next few weeks.

Our first litters of piglets have been the most amazing experience, but my advice is…… Be Prepared!

Ingredients ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

6 quail eggs 200g OSB sausage meat 1 stp sage 1 tsp truffle oil Salt & pepper Chilli Flakes Vegetable Oil 2 Eggs 100g Gluten Free Plain Flour 100g Gluten Free Panko Breadcrumbs

Enjoy hot or cold.

Mini Scotch Eggs

By Kathryn Green

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Prepare a bowl of ice water. Bring a litre or two of water to the boil in a pan. Carefully drop the quail's eggs in and boil for 2 minutes.

Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and place into ice cold water. Once they are cold, peel and set aside. Be very careful when handling the quail's eggs - they will be soft and fragile Using your hands, mix the sausage meat in a bowl with the chopped sage, truffle oil and a pinch of salt and pepper and chilli flakes to taste.

Divide the sausage mixture into 6 equal quantities and press flat between your hands to form a thin sheet of the sausage mixture.

Carefully wrap each quail's egg in the mixture, packing the eggs solid and ensuring that there are no air pockets.

Cover the Scotch eggs with cling film and refrigerate for 5 minutes to set.

Whisk the hen's eggs in a bowl. Place the flour and panko breadcrumbs on 2 different plates.

Cover each Scotch egg with the flour, egg and then panko breadcrumbs, then roll again in egg and breadcrumbs, lightly coating each time. The second coating prevents any cracks when frying.

Heat the deep fat fryer to 175 C (or use a small saucepan to shallow fry) and fry the scotch eggs for 3 minutes.

When they are done frying, place the Scotch eggs on some sheets of kitchen towel and lightly pat to remove any excess grease.

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Replay our event with Dom

grabs for the winner

Nicola Gummery (AHDB)

Charman as her talks

which was kindly

on the eAML process etc,

exclusively to the charity

anonymously donated

and her colleague Lauren

about Factors affecting

to the charity for the

Dimmack as she talks to

meat quality on-farm and

quiz. There will be 6

us about the pig transport

in the abattoir.

rounds of questions on

regulations and

different categories, with

registration.

●

our regular auction

The general slaughter process.

items up for grabs

This is a Zoom event

●

Traceability.

between rounds.

which you need to register

●

Slaughter impacts

Auction prizes are being

for and will be held on 8

announced regularly on

July 2022 at 19:30.

the Charities facebook

on meat quality. ●

FSA rules and regs on setting up and

group, so keep an eye

Register for the event

operating your own

out.

here

butchery.

Grab your ticket now, its

Listen to a replay of the

just £3 an household.

event here

OSBPG Breeders Directory England Leanne Edwards edwardsandco@hotmail.com 07505011626 Bristol, England

Eve Atkins info@thethreelocksfarm.co.uk 07944522219 Buckinghamshire, England

Aimee & Stephen Edmond info@poppyfieldscornwall.co.uk 07968463599 Cornwall, England

Justin Newman tamartrades@gmail.com 07977249386 Cornwall, England

Hannah Coad hannah.coad@hotmail.co.uk 07453328162 Cornwall, England

Ian and Katharine Coleman stkittsfarm@hotmail.com 001840 214498 Cornwall, England

Lisa Corcoran lisaberry316@gmail.com 07826 051175 County Durham, England

Christopher Moss mossprecision@btconnect.com 07736150503 Cumbria, England

Julian Rice julianrice86@hotmail.com 07860352794 Devon, England

Charles Upham langallerfarm@gmail.com 07812 103448 Devon, England

Beth Hallam elizabethhallam1@gmail.com 07557803316 Devon, England

Maggi Gardiner maggigardiner@hotmail.com 07891524711 Devon, England

Kim Brook kim@kbrook.co.uk 01566783232 Devon, England

Lillie Smith smithlandandlivestock@outlook.com 07551256325 Dorset, England

Wowie Dunnings wowie@wolfhanger.co.uk 07799661266 Dorset, England

Katie Cooper klbrooks@hotmail.co.uk 07572965381 Dorset, England

Sarah Claffey sarah_claffey@yahoo.co.uk 07766408373 East Sussex, England

Lucy Middleton lucyparadiseproduce@gmail.com 07985732753 East Yorkshire, England

Nicola & Mark Johnson nicthomason@hotmail.com 07745003520 Essex, England

Emma Costley-White emma@scrubditchcarefarm.org.uk 07966255631 Gloucestershire, England

Mike & Jayne Carter ryecroftrarebreeds@outlook.com 07533410068 Greater Manchester, England

Jon york jonyork72@hotmail.com 07717696755 Hampshire, England

Natasha Powell natasha-j101@hotmail.co.uk 07866541088 Herefordshire, England

Clive Allcorn angela.pratt@watamu.co.uk 07805067114 Kent, England

Kelly wright cotleafarm@gmail.com 07775176403 Lancashire, England

Heber Hargreaves hargreavesheber@googlemail.com 07834986171 Lancashire, England

Kevin Jackson wilties@hotmail.co.uk 07973424833 Leicestershire, England

Andrew O'Shea Enquiries@slatehousefarm.co.uk 07590381188 Lincolnshire, England

Russell Gleeson russ.gleeson@gmail.com 07968769251 Lincolnshire, England

Lucy Kenney lucy.kenney@btinternet.com 07570137133 Lincolnshire, England

England (continued)

Andrew Rock rock.sunnyside@sky.com 07539038574 Lincolnshire, England

Jessie Chapman jessiechapman@rocketmail.com Loughborough, England

Jonathan Furber friarfurber@btinternet.com 07973257311 Minsterley, England

Keeley Reading keeley.reading@yahoo.com 07834591238 North Yorkshire, England

Sally Dunkley hello@thedoodales.co.uk 01653694530 North Yorkshire, England

Chris Jeffery chris@farmerchris.co.uk 07711185170 North Yorkshire, England

Scott Lynas scottlynas1990@gmail.com 07730391441 North Yorkshire, England

Darren Ashton darrenashton1@gmail.com 07368888422 Nottinghamshire, England

Harry Bowler littlewildfarm@outlook.com 07957394684 Oxford, England

Mandy Abberley abberleyfarm22@gmail.com 07903765292 Oxfordshire, England

Oldlands oldlands.osb@btinternet.com 007857 648199 Oxfordshire, England

Pat Pimlott beef@parkhillfarm.co.uk 07450358812 Shropshire, England

Lydia Johnston cownwyvalleyproduce2018@gmail.co m 01691 870511 Shropshire, England

Barbara & John King basouthcombe@icloud.com 07561822306 Somerset, England

Jennifer Baker-Harris jen.sim@btinternet.com 07837983601 Somerset, England

Louise Lyons reddeerfarm@hotmail.com 07779298468 Somerset, England

Harriet Gallagher harrietmarshall@icloud.com 07949977134 Somerset, England

Dawn Horler motormend@hotmail.com 01934621595 OR 07977665073 Somerset, England

Martin Goodchild martingoodchild@hotmail.co.uk 07796076177 Suffolk, England

KT Grace katie@heathfarmsuffolk.co.uk Suffolk, England

Chris Cebula chris.cebula@hotmail.co.uk 07873395357 Suffolk, England

Sharon Matthews wyldcourtalpacas@hotmail.com 07467958441 Surrey, England

Linda Hricko ash.paddocks@gmail.com 07528018668 Warwickshire, England

Mr Daniel McSorley staff@choldertoncharliesfarm.com 07787590856 Wiltshire, England

Dawn Stevens kinecroftsmallholding1@hotmail.co.uk 07502226843 Wiltshire, England

Rachel Rivers rachel.rivers.uk@gmail.com 07795 908450 Wiltshire, England

Lucy Blumberg blum93@icloud.com 07896723913 Worcestershire, England

Liz Hinton lizhinton@doctors.org.uk 07717 872444 Worcestershire, England

Ireland Stuart & Kim Cooke stuartcooke86@yahoo.co.uk 003538740251890 Cork, Ireland

Gerard Rynne inaghfreerangefarm@gmail.com 0000 353 831482798 County Clare, Ireland

Catherine & Kieran Roseblade ruaircsfarm@gmail.com 00 353858629769 Galway, Ireland

Andrew Agnew whitemountainpork@gmail.com 0 Louth, Ireland

Dermot Allen winetavernfarm@gmail.com 00 353872516623 County Wicklow, Ireland

Northern Ireland James Girvan jamesgirvan@hotmail.co.uk 07703176140 County Armagh, Northern Ireland

Chris Skelly cskelly44@hotmail.com 07849555290 County Armagh, Northern Ireland

Abby Davidson abbyd65@gmail.com 07724443108 County Down, Northern Ireland

Graham and Alice Lennox dooniesfarm1@gmail.com 01224875879 Aberdeen, Scotland

Fiona MacLennan fiona@diverseecology.co.uk 07783116399 Argyll, Scotland

Robert M Fair rabfair@gmail.com 07778 568 336 Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Clemancy Shadbolt keeperscottageandkennels@gmail.co m 07762317580 East Lothian, Scotland

Catherine Jones catherinejones1101@live.co.uk 07856061833 Flintshire, Scotland

Michelle Anderson-carroll michelle@rivercroft.scot 01808 521504 Highland, Scotland

Jane & Adam Mason lynemhorcroft@gmail.com 01456486738 Inverness-shire, Scotland

Scott Morrison westhavenpork@gmail.com 01851643487 Isle Lewis, Scotland

Bob Pratley bob@tullich-highland.co.uk 07834365959 Ross-shire,, Scotland

Anita Withers cliftonlodgesmallholding@gmail.com 07718 302681 Roxburghshire, Scotland

Sue Goodwin taigilly@yahoo.co.uk 07900036019 Scottish Borders, Scotland

Kerrie Chalmers kerrie.chalmers@btinternet.com 07875726063 South Ayrshire, Scotland

Robbie Neill stonebridgesuffolks@hotmail.co.uk 07762194559 County Down, Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales M A Beasley mark.swimming@btinternet.com 07776292813 Cardiganshire, Wales

Deborah Nisbet deborahnisbet@yahoo.co.uk 07866366532 Cheshire West and Chester, Wales

Nic & Dave Rae nicolarae@hotmail.com 01492580989 Conwy, Wales

Mick Larkin mickjlarkin@btinternet.com 07525423557 Gwynedd, Wales

Sian Thomas siancarmel@gmail.com 07812384289 Gwynedd, Wales

Nicola Wardle nantganolfarm@gmail.com 01690710093 Llanrwst, Wales

Mary Benfield gbenfi1021@aol.com 01492 518713 North Wales, Wales

Richard Lea slichie@btinternet.com 07779030676 Powys, Wales

Iolo White iolowhite87@gmail.com 07815795806 Powys, Wales

Aden Foster Sales@brandpod.co.uk 07493107731 Powys, Wales

David Ashton daiashton@outlook.com 07730899139 Powys, Wales

Guernsey Tess Woodnutt tesswoodnutt@cwgsy.net 07781 126697 Alderney, Guernsey

n a n Wi PG B OS UG M

OSBPG Wordsearch

Bacon Boar Cutter Farrow Gestation Gilt Hog Hogging Litter Piglet Porker Runt Serve Sow Stores Weaner Just tell us which of the word above is NOT in the word search above. When you have figured it out, drop an email to magcomp@oxfordsandyblackpiggroup.org. All correct entries will be entered into the wheel of names to select a winner .

Visit our online shop now! https://oxfordsandyblackpiggroup.org/osbpgshop The Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Foundation Charity is a Registered Charity No 1190469