Author Topic: Fattening Old Spots (Read 5851 times)

Linda · « **on:** October 16, 2008, 05:56:15 pm »

I have 2 GOS gilts born 14th April, so I think they should be coming up for slaughter soon. I know about measuring their girth and length to estimate their weight and that's fine, but what I'm not sure about is how quickly they should fatten at this age? Rosie is naturally shorter and stockier, and Florence has always been long and lean in comparison, but I have the feeling that Florence isn't fattening much at the moment. I am trying to tell myself that it's the cold weather and they're burning up more calories or, like teenagers, she's having a growth spurt in a different direction, but I can't help wondering if all is OK. Confess I haven't measured them for 2 or 3 weeks, and as Rosie took a chunk out of my thigh last weekend, I am still trying to pluck up courage to have another go

!

We feed them Smallholder Weaner/Finisher Pencils as a mash and they get 6lb per day each, split into two feeds, plus odd treats of fruit - they probably get about 1lb of apples each at the moment as I recently got a large box of very cheap horse apples from our local fruiterer! Their home pen has long been a mud bath, but when it's not raining we move them to a "day nursery" where it's drier and there is grass, etc, although it has to be said, no longer in such great quantity as they've done a marvellous job of clearing it down. And yes, they do get wormed, I use Verm-x each month.

The Smallholder bag says that the amount I'm giving them is about right, but it also says that if no other food source is available I should increase to up to 4kg a day each. Shoud I try increasing their feed or will this just make them put on fat?

Linda

gavo · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2008, 09:14:19 pm »

Linda,

I would leave their feed at 6lbs a day. A GOS is naturally a "lazy" breed not much thoughts about exercise. Ideally you should be able to just feel their ribs with gentle pressure, if there isn't a hope of that then they are too chubby.
So long as their living quarters are dry and sheltered with enough bedding then things should be OK. Unless you are desperate for the meat you could leave them longer - 1 year old would be fine (so long as your abattoir doesn't have a weight restriction that is (ours fortunately have no restrictions) ).

Cheers

Gavin

nellie · « **Reply #2 on:** October 22, 2008, 10:19:45 pm »

hi Linda

we have just collected the carcasses of 2 GOS pigs from the abbatoir

they were 10 months old and the meat weights were 81 & 111kilos ( the girl was always the larger from the age we bought them - 14 weeks)

we gradually increased their feed from 1 kilo of food to 2 kilos a day

the only additional suppliments were fruit and vegtables - they did very well in the last month from a bumper crop of apples!

in the last month they had no ' feed' as such we fed them entirly on raw potates fruit carrots and a little white bread ( my neighbour is a baker and gives me all his surplus bread)

the female carried a little excess back fat but this wasnt a negative as I now have a healthy stock cupboard of rendered down lard

the meat quality was superb - beautiful eyes of meat on the pork chops
cant wait to taste it

this is of first time with GOS pigs - a little docile for my liking - they were so lazy!!!

but the proof of the pudding......

to finish 4 kilos seems far to much and I think the extra weight would go on fat not meat

Linda · « **Reply #3 on:** November 11, 2008, 02:21:26 pm »

Hi Folks

Thanks so much for your replies, they make me feel much better. We kept at the 6lbs a day plus lunchtime apples (they have now had nearly all the windfalls of our old egrement russet - but then Gloucesters are always referred to as "orchard pigs"!!)

We will find out the results this week as Rosie went to the abattoir yesterday - Florence was supposed to go to at the same time but I failed miserably to get her in the trailer so had to re-book her for Thursday...! Our original plan was to slaughter at 28-32 weeks, and this is week 31, and although I would love to hold on to them longer and John would actually like to keep Florence for ever, we cannily booked our holiday for 2nd Dec to ensure that we stuck to the plan!!

I took Rosie in myself and stayed with her until she died. Have to say it was a heart-wrenching experience, but glad that I did so for her sake. She had to stay in lairage for 2 hours, except that the pig pens were full so she ended up with a corridor to walk up and down in and as she was down to be the last to go, did not get a pen until about 15 mins before the end. At least the guys there took a liking to her and were gentle with her.

It was awful seeing the commercial pigs in their pens - they looked so small and pitiful in comparison and were almost bald, some were badly marked by other pigs and they had all had their tails docked. When the showers were turned on to keep them cool, they had nowhere to get out of the way and a lot of them just stood there screaming, shiverning and biting the bars. I think that was worse than seeing Rosie stuck, the looks on their faces still make me cry.

At least we know our pigs have had a happy life...

Rosemary · « **Reply #4 on:** November 11, 2008, 08:09:40 pm »

That's so sad. Not Rosie, the others.

Linda · « **Reply #5 on:** November 18, 2008, 07:59:49 pm »

Well, having asked some local farmers to help me, Florence loaded first time on Wednesday afternoon and made me look a complete liar in their eyes (typical). Three hours at the abattoir this time, and a pen with no bedding, just a concrete floor. There were no cows in there to make the place warm, just seventy other pigs and an ever decreasing number of lambs. In the end the poor soul was shivering so much that I had her lying on my Barbour jacket with my fleece over her, and me lying almost on top of her to try and keep her comfortable. We must have made a pathetic picture. Why, oh why, couldn't she have been allowed to stay in the warm straw-filled trailer until nearer the time?

Was supposed to go straight from the abattoir and Florence to the butcher and Rosie, but thank goodness they decided it was too late and re-scheduled for Friday - I think I would have ended up a blubbering wreck

. But I have to say that being at the butchering of both carcasses was quite cathartic and I felt heaps better for it. The meat quality was good and had a reasonable layer of fat. We tried chops on Saturday and our first homemade sausages on Sunday - delicious

.

The paperwork arrived from the abattoir today - oops, the pigs were heavier than we had estimated. As we thought, Florence at 88.7kg was lighter than Rosie at 94.1kg, but surprisingly she had more back fat.

A word of advice for anyone getting pigs back from the butcher for the first time - plan what you want from them, take some labels so you know which cuts are which (there is so much meat it is easy to lose track), and if you are planning to make bacon, try and have some of your cures ready for when you get home - all the things we will do next time!!!!

Hilarysmum · « **Reply #6 on:** November 19, 2008, 07:11:01 am »

Waiting 3 hours?

??/ Why were you not allowed to keep her in the trailer. Surely the RSPCA inspector should have been there if the pigs were so cold they were shivering. Poor you and poor Florence, what an experience for you. Might be worth having an old duvet or sleeping bag in the car for next time. I would be inclined to speak with the manager and to ask if you could keep your next pigs in the trailer until 15 minutes beforehand.

Is it normal to have to wait for 3 hours in UK? HM