The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Greenerlife on October 22, 2009, 01:01:27 pm

Title: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: Greenerlife on October 22, 2009, 01:01:27 pm

Fat Frank and JT went to their end on Monday.  My first ever piggies, and I didn't cry - I must be getting hard.  ;)

Have just taken a call from the butchers to say they might be a bit late as Fat Frank was larger than expected.  He says he was 90kg (I even thought he said that was a half, but that surely can't be right?) They were 6 months and 2 weeks old and I was careful not to overfeed.  Weighed amounts every day.  Hope he is still yummy.

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: Rosemary on October 22, 2009, 01:49:17 pm

I "weighed" ours with string about 2 weeks before they went on Tuesday and they were roughly 200lb which is about 90kg, and they were about 7 months I think, but gilts.

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: shetlandpaul on October 22, 2009, 04:27:28 pm

lots of pork yumm.

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: Greenerlife on October 22, 2009, 04:56:11 pm

Weighed them with string?  This sounds like something I should know about.  Rosemary - please help me out?

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: kp on October 22, 2009, 06:53:13 pm

I didn't cry either and normally I'm a right sofftie, my fat lads were 9 month when they went to slaughter the dead wieght was 100 kg for one and 97kg for the other I was dissapointed at the amount of fat on them until I tasted them, delicious. When I was guesstimating their weight I measured them in inches around their bellies just behind their front legs and multiplied this by their length between their ears to the root of the tail then divide by 12 for a lean pig by 11 for a medium and by 10 for a fat pig this gives approx weight in pounds, I wasn't too far off the mark.

Karen

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: Nisbet on October 22, 2009, 07:25:05 pm

kp - am interested to see that your boys were 9 months when they went off. I acquired 2 x 9-month tam gilts (now 10 months).  I had just recently got 2 weaners and then came across a lovely lady who was moving and having to part with her piggies - daftie that I am took 2 of her girls - with the vague thought that I would get them in pig and on we would go.  However, I am having seconds about that just now - I do feel that I need to go through the whole thing of raising weaners to slaughter before I take on piglets. Am unsure what the most economical route is - buy weaners, fatten, slaughter, replace with more weaners or keep Mama Cass - breed - sell weaners/bring them on for meat .... aaaargh.  Anyways - my thoughts that if I sent the big girls off now they would be past their best and would maybe only be good for sausages or sumthin - but you say although fatty - your lads were lush! That heartens me.  I am a bit stuck just now as the powers that be up here (Scottish Borders) seem to have made a hash with my CPH numbers so I think it best to getr that sorted before any further movements.  Very tempted to ship biggies off (one of them especially is a bit of a thug - well, total hooligan really) and replace them with a couple of large black weaners - in a few weeks.  All decisions eh.  But just wanted to say that your comments seem like good news and make me bit more hopeful of the quality to expect.  What breed were your boys and what you replacing them with? N

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: gavo on October 22, 2009, 07:38:07 pm

Tams are one of the breeds that don't need to go early. We keep tams and we NEVER slaughter before 11 months and that's the boys.We have taken girls much older than that .Generally tams are hard to put lots of back fat on they're more like racehorses than shire horses.

Title: Re: Fat Frank lives up to his name
Post by: Hilarysmum on October 23, 2009, 10:06:21 am

... and you will be having a roast pork dinner to die for.