The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Steel on August 15, 2017, 08:39:05 am

Title: Has anybody here used this abattoir for their pigs?
Post by: Steel on August 15, 2017, 08:39:05 am

I will be taking my first pig to Gagen's abattoir in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire in September because it is the closest, but it doesn't have a great review in the abattoir Guide.  :-[

One member came back in 2015 and reported that changes had been made in light of the comments left about its rough handling of the animals, and she reported a good experience there.

Has anybody else used this abattoir since?

Title: Re: Has anybody here used this abattoir for their pigs?
Post by: kja on August 15, 2017, 10:45:21 pm

 :wave: We have used them in the past they are only just up the rod from us they have new staff in the lairage from when the reviews were made and I hear they are ok now.

We use Joseph Morris mostly which is a bit of a trek but really good service along with good prices and a fantastic butchers shop that we stock up from with anything we don't produce ourselves.

Where a bouts are you ?.

Title: Re: Has anybody here used this abattoir for their pigs?
Post by: Eve on August 15, 2017, 11:37:20 pm

I strongly recommend Leech & Sons in Melbourn near Royston, they're easy to reach from the main road so no endless Cambridgeshire country lanes and excellent pig handling.

Title: Re: Has anybody here used this abattoir for their pigs?
Post by: Steel on August 16, 2017, 07:43:11 am

Kja - that's a relief. As it's my first time taking an animal I'll be a fragile so any poor treatment could set me off.  :'(

Eve - thanks for the recommendation. I'm in South Lincs area, so Leech & Sons are a bit of a trek for me. Gagens is about 30 minutes from us so I was hoping they had improved otherwise I'd have to drag the poor boy further afield to find people who would be kind to him.

 

Title: Re: Has anybody here used this abattoir for their pigs?
Post by: honeyend on August 16, 2017, 01:28:26 pm

I would second Leeches, yes it will be a trek for you, but its a very small set up and they will be unloaded and in before you know it. Mine slept in the trailer overnight and walked in following a bucket of apples, and the butcher in the shop went through the list of cuts with me.
  One you get to the A1 its all main roads.

Title: Re: Has anybody here used this abattoir for their pigs?
Post by: Steel on August 16, 2017, 04:12:15 pm

When i say a trek, it is 90 minutes vs 30 minutes for Gagen, and if I have to get there before 9am I have to run the gauntlet of rush hour. That's too much.

If I wasn't going to use Gagen's I'd be looking for something closer to home, such as Wright's - that would only take me 40 minutes.