Our first Calves, pigs and sheep next ...

Hi All,

A week after our first calves (ever) arrived and we haven't killed any yet.

Just putting the finishing touches to the hot fence for the pigs and on the look out for some Wiltshire's.

Building the Pig Shelter is tomorrows job.

Bryan.

Welcome, and well done so far!

What do you do with your Vizsla/Collie? Is he for deer hunting? Agility? We have a Vizsla that may one day be a deer indicator, if we get onto the training.

@Tonic

Thanks.

Bruce was a rescue dog, weighed nearly 55kg+ when we got him; no belly hair and not an obedient bone in his body. He's now 32kg, fully haired and still bloody minded .

But he's is a great hunting companion. He gets bored when stalking, so if I get onto an animal and Julia is with me she'll keep him with her and follow some way behind. Otherwise I put on a hilty harness, which keeps him quite and attached to my day pack. He's great at tracking down a lost animals when the bush has swallowed it up too.

I think a full Vizsla would be a lot better at sitting around when glassing etc, but with him being a X with Collie he's generally always in "I need to be doing something and moving and making lots of noise mode"

Good on you for taking on such a mix of energetic and intelligent breeds! Yes, Vizslas are good at the slow stalking mode. They tend to want to either be running full tilt or blobbing out leaning against a person the rest of the time. I imagine being bred to point means they need to be able to move slowly and carefully whereas Collies are bred to be covering ground. I've had big outdoors dogs, and teeny tiny inside dogs before but this chap is quite cat like in comparison. He likes to sleep, preferably on a lap if he can find a suitable sucker. Spends ages licking himself clean after he gets wet, and is quite capable of sneaking in under the bed covers without us even noticing! :ohmy: I woke up one day with him stretched straight out under the covers with his head on my OH pillow. :pinch: It is hard to be angry with such an affectionate goof ball though!

Welcome.
Remember that pigs can carry Brucellosis that cattle can then catch. Also, pigs eat sheep. Thus to be safe to the other animals, pigs need to be kept confined.

Try Leptospirosis LR. Both pigs and cattle should be vaccinated against it. Pigs don't have to be confined but it's better to keep them in an area designated for pigs as the Lepto. vaccine is not 100%. NZ is technically Brucellosis free. Pigs do not eat sheep, pigs will eat the lambs just after birth so should not be left in paddocks of any stock that is likely to give birth.

LongRidge wrote: Welcome.
Remember that pigs can carry Brucellosis that cattle can then catch. Also, pigs eat sheep. Thus to be safe to the other animals, pigs need to be kept confined.

Sorry, LR - not true. Of the Brucella strains in the NZ environment only Brucella Ovis remains a concern. From the NZ Biosecurity website . . .

New Zealand is free from all of the following except Brucella ovis, which is endemic in New Zealand sheep. Rams are routinely tested for this disease as infected rams are the primary means of spreading the disease.

Bovine brucellosis - Brucella abortus
Ovine epididymitis - Brucella ovis
Ovine and Caprine brucellosis - Brucella melitensis
Canine brucellosis - Brucella canis
Porcine and Rangiferine brucellosis - Brucella suis

Miss Piggy captured a well grown weaned lamb, and ate one of it's back legs . I would bet that she would have had a go at a sick or rye-grass staggery full grown sheep. Thus, from my experience of just one pig, if I had pigs they would be in a pig-proof enclosure ..... And they take lots of work to get right

LongRidge wrote: . . . if I had pigs they would be in a pig-proof enclosure ..... And they take lots of work to get right

You're dead right there, LR!! They can jump higher than you realise, burrow under fences, squeeze through small gaps, and perform other Houdini acts to gain their freedom!

Rokker wrote:

LongRidge wrote: . . . if I had pigs they would be in a pig-proof enclosure ..... And they take lots of work to get right

You're dead right there, LR!! They can jump higher than you realise, burrow under fences, squeeze through small gaps, and perform other Houdini acts to gain their freedom!

But they make the best bacon! :whistle: