I've just sent my first home-bred and -reared one off today, a Saddleback x OSB, five months old; a little light but as he was an uncastrated boar running with his sisters, I didn't want to risk him getting hormonal on me.
They've been super to have around, friendly and inquisitive and mostly very biddable. We weighed him last night and then walked him into the trailer using feed as bait - I do think a 'treat' food would have worked better than his usual pig nuts, so will probably use bananas or something they really go mad for next time.
He allowed me to push him off the trailer at the abattoir this morning - it would never occur to him to distrust anything I might want of him. We saw him into his pen and left him happily snuffling in the straw. He would have been through the line almost before we got home.
He weighed 72kgs on our scales last night, having had his last feed a few hours earlier.
I've just called the abattoir and the dead weight was 54.6kgs with a fat depth of 17mm.
My butcher tells me to aim for 60-80kgs dead weight, and whilst he would accept that a free range pig would be more than the 12mm fat depth of the commercial pigs he buys, he has previously rejected (for sale in the shop) one from a neighbour of ours at 19mm.
I'll be learning to cut up one half of this boy myself on Sunday (

Smiffy) and then, suitably educated, I will be able to give more explicit instructions to the butcher about cutting up the other half.
He had a brilliant life, never knew stress, harsh words, any pain or hunger, and the enjoyment he clearly felt in his interactions with us was mutual.
We were in sombre mood this morning but now that it is done, the anticipation is beginning to mount ...