[NorthWestPoultry.co.uk]

Hi guys i am thinking of buying two
8 week old tamworth gilts to raise for the freezer , i am wanting to know some costs and the abattoir process.

I understand the cost in buying the pigs and the feed costs but when it comes to the slaughter time which i have gathered should be around 15 week i cant seem to find much information on cost and process..

I am in cumbria and my nearest slaughter house will black brow in wigton

Can someone talk me through the process , i am presuming i ring and book in the day for the slaughter and then arrive on that day with my two pigs but then after they have been killed do i hang about and collect the same day or pick them up few days later ??

I have been told by a Friend that now you you cant just collect the carcases in the back of a van/car they have to leave in a refrigerated vehicle and also you have to specify which butcher you are taking the carcases to.....

I have been told slaughter cost can be anyway from 100 pound each!!!!

and also butcher costs can be as high as 100 each!! sometimes more for bacon and sausage

which for me really wouldn't make doing the pigs viable...

any advice would be helpful

cheers

[TheSmilingSheep]

Hi there,

I'm no expert (just done a couple of pigs each year for a couple of years) but my experience has been: firstly you need to decide how you're going to get the butchering done.  Some abattoirs have a butcher alongside, sometimes another local butcher will collect a carcass for you from the abattoir (so you just collect the meat yourself from the butcher).  Friends of mine who have done the butchering themselves at home (keeping all of the meat for themselves) have indeed picked up the carcasses straight from the abattoir, and popped them into the back of their car.

Costs of all of this vary hugely it seems from county to county.... here in Devon we pay about £30 for a kill and then the butchering is often done by weight (so a 70 kg pig might cost 50p a kilo so you're paying out another £35 for the butchering) - but some TASers report much cheaper 'kill & cut' costs....

I'd suggest that you simply call the local abattoir and ask what they cost, and if you have no pals to recommend butchers, then ask the abattoir (recommendations for both abattoirs and butchers are invaluable!) for a recommendation, and then ask what they cost.

As for timing, again it varies.  It wouldn't be unusual for you to be able to collect the carcass anytime from a few days to a week or so after the kill - so that the pig is hung in a properly chilled room for at least a short period...

Hope this helps a bit - no doubt you'll get more informed information from others here later....

Good luck - there really is absolutely NOTHING like eating your own well looked after, properly fed, and cared for pigs.....

[harmony]

Firstly your tamworth weaners will not be ready by 15 weeks. Twenty to twenty four is more realistic.



I suggest you ring Black Brow and discuss the slaughter with them as costs vary from place to place for kill and cutting up.


Aireys, south cumbria, kill on tuesday and you collect friday/saturday. They can cut up too.


If Black Brow don't offer a cutting service they will probably know a local butcher they can put you in touch with for cutting. The butcher might well be able to collect your carcase if they collect from Black Brow.

[oor wullie]

Butchery costs near us are about 80p per kg but bear in mind this is calculated on dead weight which is quite a bit more than the weight of meat you get back.

[Marches Farmer]

It also depends on how you want the pigs butchered.  Sausages cost more to make than just having the carcases cut up.  Depending on your set up pigs finished through the Winter mnths will probably need more feed as they have to keep warm as well as grow.