http://www.welshpigsinwales.co.uk en-gb welshpigsinwales.co.uk 2012-3-31T00:00:00Z welshpigsinwales.co.uk http://www.welshpigsinwales.co.uk/page3.htm#115637 Well the Easter holidays have arrived already they seem to break up every 4 weeks now the joys of being a teacher The kids breaking up has brought the usual break in the lovely weather glorious all week now cold and dull. The constant temp change isnt good for the pigs though we had a problem with sunburn on Wednesday with finishers in a sheltered outdoor pen and were worried because the temp suddenly dropped at night pneumonia can set in very quickly they were fine luckily although I went through several pots of moisturising cream pound shop moisturiser is great for the pigs We weaned 3 litters this week a mixture of ped welsh ped hampshire and welsh x hampshire. The crossbreds are growing very quickly this is our first litter and I dont think they will disappoint they are showing a good length of back with wide loins and deep hams and should finish well. We took a trip to Abergavenny market last week with with 2 cull sows and 2 Hampshire porkers it was our first time selling there... 2012-3-31 07:24:50 http://www.welshpigsinwales.co.uk/page3.htm#113190 We are still wallowing around in deep mud at Hideaway Farm the weather has been damp and murky. We had to rescue a sow from the wood the other day we weaned her off and turned her out for a couple of hours only to find her stuck firmly in the mud by the gate she wouldnt get up it was getting dark and cold and she was shivering so in the end we got one of her piglets waggled it under her nose and managed to lure her back to the safety of her stable and litter they were pleased to see her and we postponed the weaning to let the sow recover from the shock and will try again next week. Pembrokeshire Meat Co increased their slaughter prices in February which sent both producers and butchers into orbit having to absorb a 16312 increase per pig is not viable with meat sales being so low and food being so expensive we have reached a stage where we need to expand or retire so are choosing to expand and supply porkers on a larger scale The pig prices at Carmarthen Mart were better in March por... 2012-3-18 21:34:32 http://www.welshpigsinwales.co.uk/page3.htm#106371 The year is already flying by the weather has been kind to us no snow yet quite mild apart from a few days of hard frosts but too much rain. We have had 5 litters so far this year 2 of which are hampshire x welsh we are looking forward to see how they finish. We have just started sending our first batch of pedigree hampshire finishers to the butchers fantastic results so far the finish is immense the feedback from customers is excellent and the butcher is now smiling. We will expand our Hampshire herd and are now sourcing new sow lines. Preparation for the show season is underway I have 2 promising welsh gilts ready to go in pig a young Hampshire gilt and a young Emporor boar. It will be interesting to show a Hampshire against a Welsh from past experience anything that isnt pink definately isnt welsh and isnt going to win I will do my best to throw a spanner in the works because my husband is going to show the welsh against me and my hampshire gilt. I have decided to sell my belo... 2012-2-12 22:32:18 http://www.welshpigsinwales.co.uk/page3.htm#103888 Wow where did the summer go The 7 wks school holiday flew by with horrible weather and then for the 1st time ever we had a barbie on the beach on the 1st of October very nice but strangely weird. It has been a busy time with the pigs we introduced the Hampshire breed to our herd in April we now have a young boar from the Root bloodline and a Judy sow that had a litter 4 weeks ago. Our half pig packs and and whole hogs for roasts proved to be very popular and we ran out of finishers half way through the summer we are putting a slightly more organised breeding programme in place hopefully next summer there will be enough to go round Showing has yet again proved to be a massive learning curve we had to pull out of the smallholders festival due to my daughters illness we managed two 3rds and a 2nd at Tivyside show Cardigan County show proved to be a huge challenge it was boiling hot with very little shade the pens consisted of small sheep hurdles and the judging was delayed for an hour... 2011-10-4 15:31:09