Last week, the City of Ekurhuleni held a successful male livestock auction at Bokkie Park in Boksburg for mainly commercial farmers, and 15 goats, 55 pigs and seven sheep were sold to the highest bidders.
The city collected R46 300.00 from the auction and it will be ploughed back into the city’s services to the residents.
The auction was held so that the old male livestock could make space for young, physically and reproductively healthy replacements to maximise the rate of genetic gain. For example, once rams reach six years of age, their fertility and libido can decline significantly. Older rams may also keep younger rams away from ewes.
Male livestock is valuable for passing genes onto many offspring, thus maintaining the genetic makeup of the entire flock.
Wynand Kaufman, a resident of Van Dyk Park in Boksburg, runs a commercial farm that specialises in cattle and piggery in Mpumalanga province and bought over 30 pigs. He spoke of the price at which he bought the pigs as a bargain.
“I am working on adding them to my piggery farm. Today I have purchased over 30 healthy pigs, many of which are still young and promise to be productive for few more years to come,” said Kaufman.
