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Author Topic: not wanting to tempt fate...  (Read 3801 times)

princesspiggy

  • Guest
not wanting to tempt fate...
« on: March 19, 2011, 02:36:58 pm »
dorothy is starting to show now. ;D she was AI-ed on 3rd feb so due 29th may (my daughters birthday  :love:)
if i kept most on as finishers - is 6 mths the age to aim for to finish them? whats the private market like for 1st week of dec? are people interested in fresh pork or is it just goose and turkeys they are after? what age would a tammie be for ham/baconer weight (approx)?
if i got the males castrated early on - (by vet) what is the best age and what do the vets charge for that?
 ;D ;D so excited tho  ;D ;D

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2011, 03:08:42 pm »
hello there it depends what you want weight wise   the post about butch should give a good indication
Xmas not everybody wants turkeys BUT they need stuffing pigs in blankets pig skin to cover the turkey
find out at your slaughter house what the max weight is that they can put through there lines
the younger the pigs the cheaper it will be(i am sure happy hippy was paying £26 taking the pig to the vet) if not i will be corrected
you must be one happy girl today :pig: :pig: :) :) :) :wave: :wave:

princesspiggy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2011, 03:33:06 pm »
the other weaners we killed were just for us, so we kept them quite a long time, but want to do it properly this time if im selling the meat. we kept the others weaners for 10 mths but everyone on here seems to send them away at 6 months? i presume 6 mths is minimum? in this case itl fit it neatly before xmas. ;D
delighted with dorothy but waiting for delilah to come good. shes on 2nd course on antibiotics, so il give her 2 more seasons to sort herself. will be disappointed if she cant breed but i could keep one of dorothys gilts if she has one. was reading the other thread - wots the age limit for 1st time pregnancy? if its 16 mths is pushing it, wer not far from there!!
 :wave: :love: :wave:

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2011, 03:41:21 pm »
i try to get them to the boar when they weigh 120 kilos that way they are not to big to squash the pigglets  if they run on a good bit there is a chance that they will not get in pig or have a small litter :wave:

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2011, 04:10:36 pm »
Congratulations Grandma :wave:
My vet (bearing in mind it's KK's we're talking about here) wanted me to wait til they were 6/8 weeks old before taking them to him to be done with anesthetic. But every vet is different, I'd phone yours soonish and explain the situation, see what they recommend. They may even come out to you and do it ? I did pay £27, though initially they quoted nearer to £40 - it all depends on the weight of the piglet as to how much anesthetic they need and it's that which is expensive apparently.
On the subject of your other one - if in doubt get her to a boar  ;) First time success rates with AI are nowhere near as good as those with natural service. Once she's fully recovered, get her to a proven boar and give it 6 weeks. Once the fertility/conception cycle (if that's what you'd call it) is underway it's much easier to get good future results with AI - sometimes it just takes a wee bit more than the scientific approach first time round  ;) ;D Even supposing it's not a Tamworth, the weaners will still make good pork - but, even saying all of that it's still possible for them to get in-pig at 3 just look at HM's post on the other thread.
HTH
Karen

TheCaptain

  • Joined May 2010
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2011, 11:04:39 pm »
Just out of interest, what's your reasoning behind getting the boys 'done'?  Just seems like an additional expense?  We just had our first two back from the butchers, one male, one female.  Both nearly 7 months old, killed out at 86 Kg and 62 Kg with no hint of boar taint (if that was your concern) - which was also mine as the little pink twizzler kept on making an appearence.  Quite a sight!

I don't know if having them castrated stunts their growth which you sometimes see in lambs if they're not kept entire?

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2011, 08:25:09 am »
Hiya Captain,
Was it KK's you just sent to slaughter ?
From my point of view (bearing in mind it's Kune Kunes I'm talking about) is that many people like to have these as outside 'pets' - it's not good practise to sell entire boars in this case (that's going on recommendations from the KK society) Also, to run them on for pork they're generally older when they go for slaughter (10 months onwards) yes, castrating them does mean that they are a wee bit 'stunted' compared to entire boars but it means I can run them on til they're ready without the worry of seperating them from gilts (KK's can become sexually mature as early as 3 months) and no worries about the dreaded boar taint (I'm one of those super sensitive noses that can smell it  ::)) Given that KK's take longer to reach slaughterweight anyway, and eat less in terms of hard feeding I feel it's the best approach for me. Obviously if someone wanted some uncastrated for meat and were aware of the pro's and con's then I wouldn't castrate them, but only in the event that it was all boars they were buying.
Hope that explains my reasoning a bit ?
Karen x

Hilarysmum

  • Joined Oct 2007
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2011, 09:03:34 am »
whats the private market like for 1st week of dec?

Start your research and prepare your advertising campaigne now.  Have your customers in place at least 2 weeks before sending them off.  Take a deposit, especially as its near Xmas, makes it less pain pay nful to pay up when paying the final amount. 

Remind people that pork is the traditional boxing day meat.  (Not cold turkey urgh)

TheCaptain

  • Joined May 2010
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2011, 09:06:56 am »
ahhhhhhh, it all makes sense now!  Sorry, just being nosey and/or stupid!!!

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2011, 09:27:37 am »
ahhhhhhh, it all makes sense now!  Sorry, just being nosey and/or stupid!!!
No worries Captain - not stupid at all. And I'm the nosiest person I know ;) ;D I constantly grill folks about the how's and why's, everyone's experiences are different and we can all learn from that.  The only stupid question, is the one you don't ask.
KK's are slightly different from 'big' pigs when it comes to castration. They are more prone to hernia's (this is due to the size of the inguinal canal - think I've spelt that right) so it's always better to be done by a vet, that way, should they herniate the vet can sort them there and then.

princesspiggy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2011, 02:31:55 pm »
Just out of interest, what's your reasoning behind getting the boys 'done'?  Just seems like an additional expense? 

we had 2 older males that we had done as gammon etc. the meat was very odd, whether it was the curing (probly) or boar taint i dont know. but wanting to do it properly if im selling to public, maybe its not necessary??

princesspiggy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2011, 02:40:17 pm »
actually...if they were castrated that would give you a bit of flexibility with matching killing and customer demnd, presuming you were selling fresh not frozen. do u all sell frozen?

it depends what you want weight wise   

...i really dont know...can someone guide me here? there must be a feed:size:cost ratio here. whats the best weight to kill at? we bought our weaners on slowly (mainly cos we enjoyed keeping them so much)  and the meat was great. would you push them at bit more then kill at 6 months? i always thought traditional breeds were slow growers, so what are we comparing 6 mths to? i dont have much knowledge in this area but have to learn pretty quick!!
 ??? ;D

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: not wanting to tempt fate...
« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2011, 02:56:15 pm »
It's the old 'everyone's different' story PP  ;)
I tend to find with my crossbred weaners, (cos I've not done pure bred weaners for eating yet) that by 6 months they're looking ready to go for pork. I aim for about 85Kg liveweight to give a carcass weight of 50Kg and 35-40Kg of pork. Nothing as scientific as weighing or measuring anymore - I just go by eye, when the back legs look like a ham they're ready for the off  ;)
For baconers they tend to be older and heavier, 8-10 months but I'm not sure on the killing out weights on that. I just got a 6 month pig cured and the bacon, although a bit smaller was every bit as good. I think the theory is that as they get a bit older the meat gets a bit tougher, which is why traditionally pork pigs go @ 6 months to keep the joints nice and tender.
So it's a case of what weight and size are your abbatoir able to take, do your customers want cured or uncured pork and you do the costings to reflect the extra time, feeding etc.
HTH
Karen x

 

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