Author Topic: i think ime making fatal mistakes (Read 3787 times)

harry · « **on:** August 13, 2011, 10:08:55 pm »

got these 4 kks 3 weeks ago 6-8 weeks old now.... when i got them i looked at them and said , they are for meat and ime not getting friendly with them. trouble is ive been giving one a back scratch, now they keep nudging me for attention, i can see where this is leading, ie getting to friendly, must be more hard and ignore them. kept poultry for years and killed them no problem but its hard to get friendly with poultry. i did read a post a while ago where a family got pigs to rear for meat and when the time came they had to give them away as they couldnt have them killed. THATS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Tiva Diva · « **Reply #1 on:** August 13, 2011, 10:20:02 pm »

Harry, I know just what you mean. The trick, we find, lies in never forgetting they were bred for meat, and if you keep them as pets that's less space for more pigs. Even so, our meat pigs get back scratches & tummy rubs (apart from anything else research shows that contented pigs grow faster), we just don't give our meat pigs names.
Remember why you got your pigs, and think about the next lot of cute weaners you willmget when the grown pigs have gone. Be strong!

suziequeue · « **Reply #2 on:** August 13, 2011, 10:22:09 pm »

No harm in forming the relationship. Personally I didn't find it too hard to let go. But then - we never had any trouble with them. It might have been different if I had nursed one through an illness or if I had bred from them but we deliberately got two unregistered pedigree boars so that - realistically - their future options were limited. They remained in robust squealy health from start to finish.

We had a good relationship with our pigs. I would always scratch their backs and of course - they saw us as a source of FOOD!!!!! so they always came running and squealing when they heard the car coming through the gate.

We called one sausage and the other one bacon.

I know where they had been , what they had done and what they had been fed. I knew that they had had happy lives doing piggy sort of things

We treated them with respect and now we eat them with respect.

harry · « **Reply #3 on:** August 13, 2011, 10:26:27 pm »

IME HOPING TO EAT MINE WITH EGGS

melodrama · « **Reply #4 on:** August 13, 2011, 10:38:40 pm »

Quote from: suziequeue on August 13, 2011, 10:22:09 pm

We called one sausage and the other one bacon.

Ours are called sausage and bacon as well, we treat them well and scratch them and play with them but we know they are for meat and thats exactly what will happen. Doesn't make it easy though

Fleecewife · « **Reply #5 on:** August 13, 2011, 11:03:47 pm »

Quote from: suziequeue on August 13, 2011, 10:22:09 pm

No harm in forming the relationship. Personally I didn't find it too hard to let go. But then - we never had any trouble with them. It might have been different if I had nursed one through an illness or if I had bred from them but we deliberately got two unregistered pedigree boars so that - realistically - their future options were limited. They remained in robust squealy health from start to finish.

We had a good relationship with our pigs. I would always scratch their backs and of course - they saw us as a source of FOOD!!!!! so they always came running and squealing when they heard the car coming through the gate.

We called one sausage and the other one bacon.

I know where they had been , what they had done and what they had been fed. I knew that they had had happy lives doing piggy sort of things

We treated them with respect and now we eat them with respect.

That's the way, otherwise you might just as well buy in nameless meat from the supermarket.

welshlass181 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 13, 2011, 11:36:06 pm »

I must be a heartless bi*ch then

i know all of mine and they all come up to say hello. I'm taking 5 or 6 of them to slaughter Monday morning

they are nice animals but they're not pets and i'd be more than happy to slaughter the lot (hubby won't let me) as they are a product lol maybe i am to clinical.

I've got a castrate boar that i do have a soft spot for but i'd still slaughter him lol

HappyHippy · « **Reply #7 on:** August 14, 2011, 12:18:01 am »

There's nothing wrong with getting attached - it's hard not to cos pigs are such characters. All of mine get a pet and a scratch whether long or short term residents

Taking them off the first time is hard - there's no denying it

But it does get easier and is a natural part of the process of keeping pigs (usually)
Funnily enough our first 2 were called Sausage and Rasher

harry · « **Reply #8 on:** August 14, 2011, 10:05:49 am »

is Sausage and Bacon the pig equivalent of smith and jones, or Jock and Jimmy. ime thinking of calling mine Piss Off and Bugger Off especially when ime trying to shoot rats and they keep nudging my feet.

Barrett · « **Reply #9 on:** August 14, 2011, 02:29:49 pm »

Harry, it is very hard not to get attached to any pig regardless of size my youngest son called our first pig Pork Chop, we give nearly all our pigs names, pork chops sisters were Bessie and Freida, my boar is called Bob who I nursed in the house for a week when he was attacked by another pig when he was smaller however, should Bob not cover the sow's I have picked for him who have grown up with us as well he will have to go to slaughter it is just something you get used to, all my chickens are special to but doesn't stop me picking out the biggest cockerel for sunday lunch.

suziequeue · « **Reply #10 on:** August 14, 2011, 05:25:43 pm »

I found that calling them sausage and bacon helped keep a little hand on the emotional tiller. We didn't loose sight of their future.

Whenever I admired their lovely long straight backs when I was scratching them I would think of the bacon.

ambriel · « **Reply #11 on:** August 15, 2011, 10:45:03 pm »

Quote from: harry on August 14, 2011, 10:05:49 am

ime thinking of calling mine Piss Off and Bugger Off especially when ime trying to shoot rats and they keep nudging my feet.

Oh I know that sentiment well. I was busy repairing the pig house the other day after the boys had separated the top half from the bottom, and Hamish would insist on helping me with the electric screwdriver, whilst Hagrid was doing his best to tip me over...

Roxy · « **Reply #12 on:** August 16, 2011, 12:14:07 am »

My two Kune Kunes were never destined for eating - they are for breeding from. They do have names, Tink and Lucy, and I scratch their backs and talk to them. Had I been going to eat them, they would not be named, and no fussing them. I am thankful they are not going to be eaten, cos there is no way I could send them to the abbatoir!!

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #13 on:** August 16, 2011, 09:24:24 am »

I bought Meg and Gaby with the intention of breeding from both. So we both (and a whole lot of our friends and neighbours too) make friends with them, lots of fuss and hand-feeding treats, ahhh so cute... But then it became clear that, although friendly with us, Gaby was a rather aggressive bully with gentle Meg, so I made the decision that I did not want to breed from Gaby; I just couldn't see how I would run the two sows and their litters together, and that was how I wanted to do it. So we had to send Gaby away. It was hard, and if the meat had come back straight away I don't think either of us would have been able to look at it, but by the time it had hung, been butchered and we fetched it home, we'd grieved for our friend and were looking forward to scrummy home-grown pork.

My mum still won't eat it; she says she knows it's irrational but she can't feel she wants to eat an animal she's known as an individual, even though she knows it's had a great life and it's better to be eating one such than unknown supermarket pork. It's a very individual thing.