The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Jim Bob on July 31, 2019, 07:31:22 am
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Sent my two saddleback pigs to the abattoir yesterday and am having a butcher to do the needy next week.
I ve been told to get my thinking cap on to decide what I want food wise.
Two questions....
I will have paid out approx £700 in total from buying the pigs to feeding , transporting, slaughtering and butchering. Should I expect to get that amount at least in food from the butcher?
What size/type of freezer should I purchase to hold the food when received ? Would an undercounter freezer with 5 drawers be large enough or would I need a larger freezer than that ?
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Thats a heck of a lot of money for raising 2 pigs..!
I would buy a big chest freezer, its hard to say without knowing the weights of the pigs, but you will probably end up with 8 boxes of meat. Most of the freezers that size are order only and not held in stock so I'd be concerned that I wouldn't be able to get one in time fo them being ready!
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Yep you need to get a cutting list drawn up asap. If you contact the abattoir today they will tell you your deadweight. That will include the head and you will lose some more through trim and boning but if you have sausage that will add water. So, you can get an idea.
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Might be worth considering two smaller chest freezers, more likely to be in stock. Don't forget it will need 24 hours to get to temperature. Also offers the possibility of turning one off for a period once some of the meat has been eaten.
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Thats a heck of a lot of money for raising 2 pigs..!
I would buy a big chest freezer, its hard to say without knowing the weights of the pigs, but you will probably end up with 8 boxes of meat. Most of the freezers that size are order only and not held in stock so I'd be concerned that I wouldn't be able to get one in time fo them being ready!
2 pigs......£120
Food pellets. ... £207
Transport to abattoir and slaughter £100
Butchering.....£200
Trailer Hire...... £80
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Assuming deadweight somewhere around 60-80 kegs per pig then yes you should just about make sense of it. And if you’ve fed them right and they’re not too fat, the meat will be better quality than you would have ever been able to buy from a shop or butcher for that money.
But, if you didn’t love keeping pigs so much that there’s a reward in that in itself, you will probably find you can buy half a pig for £150-ish from another small producer another time, and lots of those will be good quality product.
An under-counter upright freezer won’t hold even one of the pigs, not volume-wise nor actually fitting it all in - the spaces are too constrained in an upright with drawers. Some of the joints could take up nearly a whole drawer and you’d only get a few packs of sausages around it. Get yourself a chest freezer, something around 200L or more. More volume and a much more flexible space.
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Assuming deadweight somewhere around 60-80 kegs per pig then yes you should just about make sense of it. And if you’ve fed them right and they’re not too fat, the meat will be better quality than you would have ever been able to buy from a shop or butcher for that money.
But, if you didn’t love keeping pigs so much that there’s a reward in that in itself, you will probably find you can buy half a pig for £150-ish from another small producer another time, and lots of those will be good quality product.
An under-counter upright freezer won’t hold even one of the pigs, not volume-wise nor actually fitting it all in - the spaces are too constrained in an upright with drawers. Some of the joints could take up nearly a whole drawer and you’d only get a few packs of sausages around it. Get yourself a chest freezer, something around 200L or more. More volume and a much more flexible space.
Thanks Sally. Great advice there. I followed the YouTube way of measuring the weight. Girth and length from ear to tail. 48 x 48 x 48 divided by 400 = 270lb. Which is just over recommended I believe (260lb) so I’m not too far away I think. Just wondering will I get more than my outlay in £s worth of meat ????
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260lb is 118kgs. That’s a big pig! :o
How old were they?
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260lb is 118kgs. That’s a big pig! :o
How old were they?
About 7 months. Thought 260lbs was the ideal target.
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I’m not an expert but it sounds a bit high to me. Hope they’re all meat and not too much fat!
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260lb is 118kgs. That’s a big pig! :o
How old were they?
About 7 months. Thought 260lbs was the ideal target.
I'd say they'd loose 30% of their weight after slaughter so would be around 85-90kg once butchered. which for me would be the sort of weight I'd like them to be. Well done, I'm sure they'll be delicious..