Starting off with pigs
Once we had decided that pigs were a good idea, we decided to get some training. Although I had spent some time on a commercial pig farm, many, many years ago, what we had in mind was quite different to farrowing crates and acres of concrete. We enrolled on a one day pig keeping course at Pig Paradise. If you are thinking about keeping pigs, it's well worth the trip. You'll get loads of information, you'll get to handle pigs, you'll get to see all the British rare breeds (apart from Tamworths) and Kune Kunes and you'll get a very good lunch.
Even before we went on the course, we had decided that we would start with a couple of weaners at about eight week old and take them through to pork weight at about six months old, then have them killed locally. We had also decided that we wanted Tamworths and had managed to source them, to be ready in mid May. When we asked John at Pig Paradise why he didn't have any Tamworths, he smiled and said that they were a bit "boisterous, not nasty, just boisterous".
Before you buy any pigs, you need to deal with the legislative side. Detail will vary from country to country, so we suggest you contact your local Department of Agriculture or whatever they are known as. In Scotland, the relevant agency is the Rural Payments and Inspections Department (RPID). The people there were very helpful, gave us a "CPH Number" (County Parish Holding). If you buy agricultural land, it may already have a CPH number. Animal Health, executive agency of Defra that was formed from the State Veterinary Service and a number of other related inspectorates in 2007, will provide you with a Pig Herd Number and explain about movement licences.
Two other related things you have to do before you buy any pigs are to make arrangements for slaughtering and butchering. We are fortunate to have a small abattoir locally but you may have to do a bit of research. It's unlikely that you will be able to (or will want to) have your pigs slaughtered at home - even if you can get someone to do it, the regulation is horrendous. You will also have to make plans for butchering. We've used two local butchers. Conveniently, they both deal with the local abattoir, so the carcases are delivered to the butcher with all the others, butchered and packed. The time to start this research is not when your pigs are approaching slaughter weight!