The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: waterbuffalofarmer on July 18, 2015, 12:07:46 pm
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I would like to know where and how much you sell your weaners for. Do you sell them through society sales, commercial sales, direct from home or do you butcher the whole lot and sell as meat?
Many thanks
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All of the above.
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I took weaners to market once (Large Blacks in an October sale) the bidding only went to £5 each, I brought them home and vowed never again! The demand for pigs at our local mart just isn't there.
I sell privately, usually via word of mouth, our website, TAS, breed societies and Facebook. Don't keep the traditional breeds anymore, but when we did I sold weaners at approx £65 - the cost of raising them (without BPA fees added) worked out at £53 per piglet based on an average litter size of 8.......thankfully the people who bought from us could see they were getting good stock and thought them worth it but it still wasn't viable for us to continue keeping the big breeds. We keep kunekune, meat weaners sell for around £90 each and registered pigs at £125 - these prices include registration (where applicable), worming, vaccinations, membership to the BKKPS for a year and a 25kg bag of feed, plus aftercare and advice/support for the life of the pigs (and often beyond).
Some go as outdoor pets, a lot go as pedigree breeding stock and the rest are destined for pork - we raise some ourselves but demand for weaners for the freezer is rising. Selling finished product to the public needs a bit more work/planning but generally gives a better return than a finished carcass to a butcher (that's assuming you are lucky enough to find a butcher who wants them - they usually need a plentiful supply and the occasional pig of unknown quality isn't likely to appeal I'm afraid)
HTH
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I took weaners to market once (Large Blacks in an October sale) the bidding only went to £5 each, I brought them home and vowed never again! The demand for pigs at our local mart just isn't there.
I sell privately, usually via word of mouth, our website, TAS, breed societies and Facebook. Don't keep the traditional breeds anymore, but when we did I sold weaners at approx £65 - the cost of raising them (without BPA fees added) worked out at £53 per piglet based on an average litter size of 8.......thankfully the people who bought from us could see they were getting good stock and thought them worth it but it still wasn't viable for us to continue keeping the big breeds. We keep kunekune, meat weaners sell for around £90 each and registered pigs at £125 - these prices include registration (where applicable), worming, vaccinations, membership to the BKKPS for a year and a 25kg bag of feed, plus aftercare and advice/support for the life of the pigs (and often beyond).
Some go as outdoor pets, a lot go as pedigree breeding stock and the rest are destined for pork - we raise some ourselves but demand for weaners for the freezer is rising. Selling finished product to the public needs a bit more work/planning but generally gives a better return than a finished carcass to a butcher (that's assuming you are lucky enough to find a butcher who wants them - they usually need a plentiful supply and the occasional pig of unknown quality isn't likely to appeal I'm afraid)
HTH
I was thinking of keeping large blacks again for meat, only for me of course ;). In the near future though I would like to breed them and have a small herd, but am gonna do a lot of research into the marketing business part before I do anything. I did often think about commercial market to get rid of them as weaners, but like you said its not worth it. I've always loved pigs especially the large blacks, they're so easy to handle and love attention plus the meat was gorgeous I really miss them. Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate it. :)
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We sell the pure saddle back weaners for £50 off farm.
Never found a worthwhile market for the cross bred weaners, so they all get finished and sold in a box. £100 a half pig.
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You'd need to sell hundreds of weaners every year to make it financially worthwhile. Just keeping a dry sow costs a couple of hundred quid for a year without taking into account the huge increase in feed she needs when feeding a litter.
If you raise pigs to slaughter you'd better have an outlet lined up because if you send them into a livestock market you'll lose even more than you did on the weaners.
If you can find a butcher who appreciates rare breed pork and is willing to pay the price you need you'll be very lucky. Competing with the ridiculously cheap imported pork that they can buy easily is impossible.
Producing your own pork and pork products and selling direct to the consumer can pay but is not at all easy. I'm not talking about the odd half pig sold to friends and neighbours but actually having a continuous supply of quality product every week in order to develop a proper customer base and turnover enough to keep the whole thing rolling along. Think escalating costs, a huge amount of work and often very little in the way of reward and you won't be far off.