Still born piglets

[bubblesharp]

Hi All,

I am doing some research on what the going rate is for stillborn piglets in the Guateng area. I have just spoken to a friend who can supply me with still born piglets up to 3 day old piglets. He is talking around 200 - 300 piglets a month.

If everyone with really big boa's and or pythons can please indicate to us, what the going rate would be if there is any. And whether you would be interested in some.

We should be able to start supplying from the October, maybe sooner, after we have worked out the kinks and transport etc. as he cannot transport them on the fresh meat trucks. They will be sold per KG so you can indicate a more accurate size. And what would reasonable prices be per Kg.

The piglets are coming from bio secure farms in Mphumalanga, so transport will be an issue if there is not enough interest.

Thanks for the tie taken to help out with advise etc.

[Sico]

I currently use about 3-4 per week, but I normally buy around a month to two months supply at a time. I'm using 1.5-2kg piglets, which cost me anything from around R15-18.00 a piece. All I like them to be is popped in a plastic bag before they get frozen, they need not be cleaned or anything, the snakes eat 'em as is... I normally buy my bulk amount as the supply varies, and I'll start looking again when I have about 2 feeds left. My current supplier is out and will only have in about 3 weeks (if I'm lucky) so shout if you have any, I'll take em right now .
On an aside note, I started my Burms early on these as they are much more economical than rats, and they now take anything from one to two piglets at a time. They are incredibly healthy snakes, and are growing very nicely. I wish I could get all my smaller snakes onto piglets too, if you find a micropig breeder that has still borns send em this way! My Bosc likes em as well, tho he only gets parts, not the whole thing.

[Sico]

I just want to add Eben, if you keep the prices low, you will move a lot of stock. If the farmer gets 10-15 bucks a pig he's happy, as he is basically selling waste, which he would have to pay in some way to dispose of. 300 piglets at R10 is 3k extra in his pocket for basically nothing (and you can let him bag them). All you need is a chest freezer on site, which his staff can sling them into (not the ones that have started decomposing!), and he lets you know when the thing is almost full. Depending how far he is from joburg you wont even need to keep them cold in transit as they will be well frozen, just bang them into some polystyrene coolers on the back of your pick up and pack them into another freezer on this end for resale. They won't thaw out much if at all that way. If you can get him to sell them for 10 and you add 10 on for your trouble, you begin to make a decent turnover (if you manage transport etc well) for very little capital expenditure and effort. It won't run your household but as a sideline it could be quite tidy, especially if you offer good quality food at good prices. I reckon a lot of people get rid of their large snakes more due to the cost of keeping them than the difficulty of housing them, if your large python takes 10 rats at a feed (easily done with the crappy small rats we buy these days) at R18 a rat... R360.00 a month adds up nicely through the year/snake. Piglets = better nutrition + better economy and a happier snake and happier owner.

[bubblesharp]

Thanks, The farm is approx 400 Km from PTA, so i won't go for anything less than 300 if I can make a R10 profit on each one. Although if the market is big enough we might be able to get more, more often from other farms also. Will post again after I spoke to my friend. Thanks for the advise

[Snow]

Hey man,
I won't go into to much detail, I will take around 40 big ones a month.
Price: not to sure ?

[bubblesharp]

I'll get back to you with prices within next week, can have it on a truck every 2nd week, so deliveries will be twice month, the first farm averages about 30 a week, so that's around 120 a month, once we fill this quota we will go on to the next farm etc. For now we will just need to check what sizes they are etc. And at what price we can get them,

[Bushviper]

I have been told the farmers have to pay to get rid of these because they have to be "disposed of". I hope you do not pay much to get these.

In the past I got some but when they were defrosted they went blue and smelled badly. We need to be sure that these do not have that sunken belly effect either. The size does not matter because everything from the boas and pythons to even the black mamba have eaten pigs. Some snakes however do not want to eat them.

If they have been washed then they dont smell as bad when they are being defrosted. The blood etc is really off putting. Each one individually placed in a see through plastic bag before freezing will also help to sell them.

He must explain to the workers that if the pig is even slightly "old" and stiff then they should not go into your freezer. What will be really sought after are the tiny stillborns. Pigs that have died after a few days are often not good for feeding. The bigger piglets will also be fine as long as they did not die from some type of stomach disorder and are skin and bone. If he injected them with medicines just before death then they are no good as snake food either.

I hope you get this off the ground for the Pretoria market. I think there might be more big retics and boas in Pretoria than other cities. I would suggest adding calcium to the pigs before feeding them to the snakes. This can just be added into the mouth of the pig.

[Snakes4Africa]

If all of the above can be ironed out, I will take here in Durban and can act as a distributor down here for you as well.
As long as the little pigs are good and clean and fresh, they will sell. Well!

[24088847]

Sounds like a great plan in theory! I've worked on many of these farms. The big reason being against it is disease transmisson! Many bacteria and virus' cause still births as well as perinatal mortalities. Some of these bacteria in specific salmonella and E. Coli as well as many others can be transmitted to snakes. Freezing won't always kill off everything as toxins left by primary post mortem invaders like your Clostridium spp. Will be left undamaged. Even in the freshed carcasses! Walk through of the farrowing house where the dead and still born piglets is done once a day on most farms so chances are the carcasses won't be as fresh as we would prefer them to be. Lastly most large sow herds will dispose of all the animals on the farm and they bury them, burn them and few send them off to rendering plants.

Workers on these farms are often not too helpful when they get no financial gain from it! I have experienced this first hand in farms near Rustenburg, so if the farm you are getting your stuff from is different, I take my hat off to that farmer and his farm workers.
Hope this info is helpful.
Good luck.

[Don]

Any news on the pigs?
I would be very keen if you can get small still borns!

I really dont mind driving to PTA and collecting for anyone els in the JHB area.