[egglady]

our tammies have been good girls since we got them, well apart from their initial gallop up the field within 20 minutes of arriving here, but went down to feed them today and found them outside my greenhouse having a rare old time to themselves!  they have dug up my turnips, parsnips, eaten half a bed of strawberries and generally churned the whole lot up!

didnt eat up the weeds though the wee bu**ers!

[Eve]

  They've had their 5 a day! 

[HappyHippy]

Oh ooops ! 
Are they permanent residents or going on their holidays soon ?
I always find that once pigs have exhausted the rooting potential in their field that this is when they tend to go off exploring. And being very clever animals once they've gotten out once..................... Over the years I've progressivly increased pen size just to make sure they're content where they are up to the 'end'. I'd suggest checking all the boundaries of the field and doing any repairs asap, because once they've eaten all your growing goodies they'll be looking for the next place to go (and it might not be so close to home)
And why would they eat your weeds when they've got the option of strawberry plants and turnips 

[egglady]

yeah happyhippy that's what we thought too!  so hubby was busy busy this evening with hammer and nails, big rocks and planks of wood!  no idea what he did but i just left him to it!  the girls were right beside him watching what he was up to and grunting at him so i dont think it will be long before they try again!  good idea to increase pen size, might give that a go tomorrow if we can.

and yes they are only here for their holidays!  on that topic, when do people take tamworths to the abbatoir generally? 

[HappyHippy]

It depends really - would you be looking for lots of bacon/hams or is it more for pork ?
If pork then generally around 6 months (or 85Kg liveweight) if you're wanting bacon they tend to run on til around 10 months (but bearing in mind the very cold winter this year they'll be a bit below those weights for their age)
I had one of my 6 month GOS x's baconed at 6 months, she killed out at around 50Kg (think they tend to advise waiting longer to give a bigger 'eye' in the bacon) and my bacon was a bit smaller than that in the shops - but what it lacked in size, it more than made up for in taste
HTH
Karen x

[HappyHippy]

Sorry, should also have said
OR when they become too much of a problem 

[robert waddell]

HOW LONG IS A BIT OF STRING  first thing what size can the slaughter house take (to fit in there scalding tanks)  then what size you want them to go to the bigger the pig the bigger the eye of bacon also if you are doing the cutting yourself it may be easier to handle 50kilos as 90kilos and most important what size they are just now

[egglady]

they were born mid september so about 4.5 months at the mo.  as to what size they are - i dont know how to measure/weigh them!

and yes we want them for both pork and bacon but maybe more bacon than pork if that's possible

[HappyHippy]

The easiest way is to measure their length and girth, then do a simple calculation, more info here
http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/541/weighing-a-pig-without-a-scale
HTH
Karen

[Stevie G]

Two christmases in one year, Luck them!!!!!!!

[Hilarysmum]

At least the vg patch has been well dug and the pigs are happy.  You can think happily as you munch on frozen veg from the supermarket with your super pork.   

[darkbrowneggs]

I have two rules for when pigs are ready.

1 - look at the size of the ham, and when it looks about what I am wanting then off they go

2 - when they are too much trouble to look after any longer   Anyone who has kept pigs will know what I mean

All the best
Sue

[OhLaLa]

I have two rules for when pigs are ready.

1 - look at the size of the ham, and when it looks about what I am wanting then off they go

2 - when they are too much trouble to look after any longer   Anyone who has kept pigs will know what I mean

All the best
Sue

I know exactly what you mean!

  


PS: My first pig was 125kg.

[Hilarysmum]

If I had only adhered to the second rule Hilary would have been sausages long ago.