1 . It ’ s important to stick to biosecurity standards to curb the possibility of disease . my own mix helps a lot .” Other piggeries around the Western Cape are experiencing outbreaks of disease , but so far Nontando has been spared .
“ Mostly because I make absolutely sure that my piggery is as clean as possible . You must adhere to biosecurity standards . If you dip your shoes in disinfectant before you enter the pens and you keep the pigsties clean , you are reducing the risks of illness . We often have people come here to look at the pigs and it is a big procedure for them to do so . You have to take off your clothes and dress in the ones we give you . All of that to avoid contamination .”
“ At the moment I have 22 pregnant sows and they will all give birth at the same time . It ’ ll be a busy time for everyone on the farm .”
The other issue to avoid is feeding pigs food left over from restaurants . Often that food is already rotting .
“ Sure , you can feed pigs waste , but it must be absolutely clean . Like the stuff we get from companies such as SASKO . Remember what you give your pigs to eat , other people will eat later in some form or another so it should not be contaminated .”
When the pigs defecate , they do it in a designated area which they then avoid and these areas are cleaned often . Happy clean pigs abound and make nonsense of the saying : As happy as a pig in mud .