The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Helencus on March 15, 2011, 06:47:45 pm
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Im trying to figure out how many weaners to keep. How much pork do you get from a typical 6 month old porker? I need to make sure that if I keep a lot of them that I can store them until I get the pork sold. I can get 4 commercial freezers in my barn so how many do you reckon will I get in 4 of these at 560 Ltrs each??
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We had 4 weaners last year - slaughtered at 7 months old (boars) and kill weights were 65 to 82kg. We had 1 domestic chest freezer and only just managed to fit the meat in after having immediately given away probably about 30kg.
I don't actually know how much meat we got back after butchering so can't give a kill weight to meat weight ratio >:( A bit remiss of me but it was all so new that I just plain forgot!
Dunno if any of that helps! ;D
Tish
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Thanks Tish it does help. Cheers Helen
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we got 2 big tamworths in one large chest freezer i think, but we'd bought a spare just in case.
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How many litres was your freezer princess?
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Hiya Helen,
I got 3 (all around the 50Kg deadweight) into a small (60cmx60cm) chest freezer and half an upright one (same 60x60) I think you'd probably manage 3 pigs (if not more) into your commercial ones, especially if you're going to do a lot of sausages (you can pack them in easier ;))
HTH
Karen
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Cheers Karen. I thought about 3 each too. I also have 2 large freezers in the house. Early orders For pork look promising from friends and family but no takers for weaners which is odd I thought at this time of year. If I can sell 5 straight from the butcher we will be sorted I think.
Thankfully I'm able to take all 20 through to slaughter weight but I may sell the boar and just AI the girls in future once a year.
This is a hobby for me so hats off to those that have to make it pay for a living.. It definately isn't easy.
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I'd keep advertising your weaners Helen, as soon as the weather improves a bit you'll get plenty of enquiries ;) ;D
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Hope so Karen but if not hey ho!
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Helen
same problem here looks like i might have to keep 7 thankfully 3 are gilts who can go onto bacon but its a lots of meat to shift!!
Where have all the buyers gone! Price of feed & fuel putting em off i wonder?
Mandy :pig:
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Must be Mandy, I know the posts I've done and Ads have had loads of views but no calls. I've jazzed up the ads so we will see if that helps. I've 11 boars and 9 gilts to shift... There will be a lot of bacon and sausage round mine methinks!
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How many litres was your freezer princess?
biggest in the shop!! once its all stuck and frozen together, u tend to eat what u can prise out! 2 freezers are better so u can see what u got, and sep gammon from pork etc. a few times we thought we were having pork but realised it was gammon cos all the stickers had fallen off in freezer lol ;D
plus you can keep older meat sep from newly killed.
sheep are easier - they fit into 2 shopping bags!
what breeds are yours?
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Mine are all British saddlebacks so will be big beasts.
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if i remember rightly (was a few years back now) each pig cut up filled 3 or 4 "bakers trays" which were really heavy but each could be lifted by one person. they were killed at 10 mths or so.
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From two GOS, weighing 62 Kg and 86 Kg we had:
10 Kg of chops
51 Kg of sausages
13 Kg of leg joints
(About) 15 Kg of gammon/ham
(About) 8 Kg of bacon
We're collecting the bacon and gammon tomorrow so it'san approximation at the moment...
In total 97 Kg of meat, although that includes the additionals in the sausages!
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Oh my god! That'll be around 1500 kgs of meat.. Christ where will I store that going to need an arctic lorry!