[Tim M]

Perhaps the wrong place to ask this question but nevertheless I wonder what you think of this...

On our two acre plot we keep a mix of Kune Kune and Meishan pigs and have done so for a couple of years now and now have our first litter of piglets. The total number is now 14 and so we're now facing the real prospect of having to create space for the future. I have run adverts in various places but have had only one or two responses thus far for the piglets.

Originally we had two Kune Kunes which we have as pets, though would like to breed some in the future. I guess, what I'm asking is if anyone has ever kept and bred pigs and haven't resorted to slaughter them? I'm not a vegetarian and love sausages and don't have a problem with the idea of my pigs being used as food but don't think I could really do it myself. At the same time another winter of bucketing pig feed into a field of 'pets' doesn't really appeal either.

Any thoughts, polite ones please.

[farmershort]

why not sell them at the local mart? you've kind of washed your hands of what happens to them after - same as if you sold them privately. Just drop them off and don't stick around for the sale.... then you wont know who's bought them. any age from weaners onwards should be acceptable I'd have thought. You'd have to talk to your mart to get the right day and the right age though.

[verdifish]

Is the current litter mixed breed? 

[fsmnutter]

As you will see, you can have large litters from pigs, and if you're not able to sell the piglets on, then you will end up with some left. 2 acres will soon seem very small!
We breed pure kune kunes, and usually start advertising from about 2 weeks old when we know the piglets are fit. We sell most by pre-order so they are ready to go at weaning. Usually we end up with a few not sold, because we stop selling to leave a pair or more for ourselves to fatten.
Many of the kune kunes have gone to pet homes but some have gone for meat and a couple of good registered gilts for breeding.
Depending where you are, market prices we have seen for pigs are atrocious and would not pay your costs, so rearing piglets to put through the market could leave you worse off than "feeding a field of pets". Also I find it hard not knowing what will happen to your animals after they leave the Mart, and whether they'll get the care you feel they deserve, especially if destined for meat.
If you could face the meat going to others, you could operate a grow your own pork scheme where customers pay you to rear pigs all the way to the abattoir for them, you can work this out as a deposit and final payment, or regular payments from birth to slaughter to cover costs and profit.

[Tim M]

Thank you very much for your ideas, very much appreciated. All our pigs are pure-bred and the Kune Kunes are registered. I like the idea of pursuing selling them to pig enthusiasts for breeding or pets and the 'raise your own pork' is also very tenable.

We did approach a local farmers market, though as has been said here, I'd be concerned as to how well they'd be looked after once sold, even if I didn't have them. My wife is more practical than me and would be more open to this idea.

We all love having the pigs, which is part of the problem, and so are coming across this kind of dilemma for the first time.

Thanks ever so much again.

[Jullienne]

you could try contacting your local butchers to see if they would take them?

[Hellybee]

Sell some at Mart.  ITs very bittersweet.   We always sad when some lambs go off, but it's they're time to move on, and funds go back into feed etc, it's the circle of life.   We like you could never eat our own.  Like this year we ve talked about culling ewes hard, there's one line that just don't do like the others, finer limbed, smaller, not what I'd call four square and a good doer, small lambs, we know which old ewes this has come from , some wiry black faced ewes and so even though they are very sweet, they're not what we want.  That will be a very sad day.  but we do have to trade, we have to tighten our flock and unless emotionally attached (which I am to some) if they have some trait we don't want they will have to go.  Try the market it will be sad but also strangely good.

[Tim M]

Many thanks again. The consensus seems to be trying as many things as possible, the market idea seems a possibility and I have made contact with one local to me who seemed really friendly.

 

[kja]

Not wanting to put a dampener on things …..but make time to go to your local mart talk to the auctioneer and tell him just what you hope to put through. We have 3 marts we use and coloured pigs are usually harder to sell than whites, and pens of KK's are going for next to nothing time and time again I have seen whole pens sell for £1-£5 a pen.

[HappyHippy]

To echo kja (and trying not to be negative) forget selling at marts or to local butchers with kunekune or meishan.
Neither are exactly what commercial buyers want and tbh I don't think I could drop off a load of pigs and not know what happened to them  although most of my pigs have short lives, I want that to be with someone who has a half idea of what they're doing and keep them in good conditions until they go to slaughter. It all depends on your moral barometer.

Kunekune pork is fabulous (don't think of it as 'just' a sausage pig) - but direct selling to consumers, whether as pork or on a grow your own scheme is the best way to ensure you make a small profit 
Meishan's, I believe, are more of a lard breed - though often they are used in commercial hybrid breeds as they're prolific mothers and very milky - I haven't tasted their pork but would imagine it's similar to kk - slower growing, rich and tasty meat. You might have some work to do in terms of marketing - think hard to find your niche market and go for it.
Keeping pigs year round is a big commitment (especially if you're in an area where winters are wet and they need housed for part of the year) if you only have a couple of acres and they're out all year round you will find that your fields are soon just mud - being able to bring them in REALLY helps with land management.
What works for one person in one place might not work for another - unfortunately the only way to know if it's going to work is to try it 
Good luck with your plans and please feel free to show us photos of your wrinkly squidgy meishan piglets    

[Tim M]

Brilliant, thanks. I'll do that!

Tim

[hughesy]

I hate to be blunt but why do people breed farm animals with no plan in place as to what they will do with the offspring?

[Tim M]

You can have all the plans you want, but life has a habit of not knowing what they are. 

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

[shygirl]

I agree with hugh.
how about don't breed them, just enjoy the ones you have?

saying that, did does take time to get the courage to eat your own.

[Tim M]

The breeding thing wasn't really planned as the boar we have pulled through some fencing during a storm and helped himself, perhaps we weren't adequately prepared as these pigs had only arrived a couple of days before and the electric fence system was working well. After this episode I'm not planning on any more litters for quite a while as I'm more than happy to enjoy the ones we have.

I have found it interesting to hear peoples' views, whatever they might be. Cheers for now, Tim.