Potential disease pathway Inter-view Exemplary quotes
Pig trade Pig trade Pig trade
Lorry contamination: traces from other pigs 13 And those who come with a dirty lorry - I had that once or twice - and do not want to change their practices, well, I tell them ”there are others” [other trading companies]. Yes, at some point it [the lack of compliance to hygiene rules] has to stop.
Contamination via lorry driver 4 The driver cannot come in during animal loading, he is just on the ramp. There has also been one who thought he wanted to do it well, so I had to say ”Out, that is not possible.” He wanted to be helpful, but that is just it. I had to be a bad guy [and ask him to get out].
Sharing of boars between farmers 5 That is certainly a danger when I take the sow to the boar, which is why I am considering having a boar myself.
Transport done by farmer 1 In the past, I have transported pigs that had something and could not be taken to a large butcher’s shop to the village butcher myself.
Farmer encounters Farmer encounters Farmer encounters
Farmer encounters on the premises 12 In [neighboring town] a retired farmer still keeps the town piggery. I get along very well with him. And from time to time he calls me so that I go put down a pig. Put down a pig because he does not have other solutions to kill them. He does not dare.
Farmer encounters outside the premises 1 I do not meet any colleague in my work clothes. In the afternoon I indeed meet some colleagues, or in committees and commissions to which I belong and where I meet work colleagues, but never in work clothes.
Sharing of pig farming equipment 10 The [narcosis] equipment [for piglet castration] is at my place, in the boiler room. At the beginning there were 5 of us using it, now there are 3. The tool is in my place because I am in the middle of them. It actually works out quite well. […] But for me it’s a bit of a tricky story, I’m not entirely happy with the situation. I think it’s a bit risky.
Sharing of other farming equipment 6 We collaborate a lot in the neighborhood. We have farmyard manure machines and arable machines together, and we have certain machines together with a third or fourth farmer, but we have all the harvesting machines ourselves.
Going to the carcass collection point 17 Usually everyone is on their own. Sometimes there are queues. Because we are not calling [to take an appointment]. We just go like that and sometimes there are waiting lines, let’s say. Usually, sometimes when it is a big beast we help each other, and sometimes we just stay in the car.
External collaborators External collaborators External collaborators
Collection of carcasses on the premises 20 I do not want to have that truck [the carcass collection truck] here on the premises. I prefer to bring a dead sow there [to the carcass collection point] […] if he would come here to me on the premises with his truck, perhaps still drenched in blood…
Manure trade between farms 21 In terms of biosecurity, we only ensure that the farmyard manure that leaves the farm is applied by a contractor and the tools that come into contact with the manure are our own, pumps and suction hoses etc. are all our own material. Like this no foreign material ever comes into contact with our manure.
Veterinarian / official farm visits 14 [The vet] is almost never in the pigsty. Only in emergencies, otherwise he is only there to give advice and hand out medication. But it has already happened that the vet is inside. That would basically be one of the most dangerous things. But we have never had any negative consequences.
Feed advisor visits 19 I know the [feed] advisor very well. Sometimes he comes by to see if there are issues. I call him, he comes, he looks and… he comes a couple of times a year. Also, now and then I see him because we have the same age, we also went around together and therefore I know him very well.
Environment / other Environment / other Environment / other
External visitors 5 Animal welfare is very important to us and that we have a farm where people can look in at any time - an open farm.
Pets (cats, dogs) 17 But there can also be cats… cats who take their kittens in the straw on the back because we have straw barns where we stock it. Because we use big quantities of straw for the pigs. So, there can be cats, mice, birds…
Wild boar / other wild animals 16 It is fairly new. There were not really wild boars in our region. They are mainly in the lake areas […] it is rare that they come to us. But this year I saw some with my own eyes.