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How to name, identify, register and move Wessex Saddleback Pigs
Wessex Saddlebacks are tradionally named after their sire if male or dam if female.
The rest of thier name is made up of the stud (prefix) year letter (K for 2021) and a number starting from 1 for the first piglet of the year for the stud. Having said that some people also add their own pet names as well so there are some interesting names out there.
Because they are largely black, Wessex Saddlbacks dont have to have ear tatoos and are identified by ear notches (see diagram below), this is best done when the piglets are a couple of days old but can be done at any time.
If you want to register your Wessex Saddleback pigs you need to be a member of the Australian Pig Breeders Association and register your piglets with them. Registering your pigs means that the gene pool remains sizeable and that we have a viable breed in the future.
Moving pigs is a litle more tricky, you will need a Property Identification Code (PIC), a National Vendor decleration (NVD) and the purchaser must complete a PigPass online when they get to thier destination (description below).
The PigPass is designed to link pigs to the property of origin using a registered pig identification method (ear tattos, tags ,slap brands in other breeds of pig) or ear tags or slap brands in Wessex Saddlebacks via the pig movement documentation (the PigPass NVD).
Since 2018 the DPI has requested NLIS ear tags for transported pigs under 25 kilos. However, they are not practable for management in free range systems as pigs chew each others tags.
Unlike NLIS tags used for other production animals they are not a unique idenifier containing the property ID only so we apply them at the time of transport when they are leaving the property.
