[Shropshiresmallholder]

Hi all

We reared some pigs about 15 years ago for ourselves and friends and family but a lot has changed since then within the industry so I’m wondering is having a few weaners and raising them for meat for ourselves then the additional for friends and family to cover costs a worthwhile venture anymore with cost increases and the ever increasing rules and regulations

[Richmond]

Costs are going up each year with regard to feed, killing and butchery, also vets fees should you be unlucky enough to need one. The taste of a home reared rare breed pig however is fantastic. But I can see what you mean. We rear pigs on a small scale and each year it seems to cost more to rear the same number of animals. We used to be able to cover all our costs by selling the surplus pigs (as boxes of meat) effectively giving us a "free" pig. Not anymore.

[SallyintNorth]

Research feed costs, they just about doubled a couple of years ago but have reduced somewhat since.

In England you will now need a vet attestation, which requires a site visit, per species to send any animals to an abattoir, but the vet should be able to cover all species in one visit if the timing works out.  (So that all the actual animals to be slaughtered within a 12 month period can be assessed on one visit.)  Our vet charges £45 per attestation visit, for any number of species.

We are able to provide approximately half the feed for our weaners from our own produce and from food waste from one of the businesses on site (all legally.)  Our cost of production of pork, bacon, ham and sausages for our own use has increased by approximately 50% compared to 5 years ago.  This is still cheaper than we can buy in high welfare UK-produced meat, but nothing like as cheap as one could buy more basic mass-market products.

There's nothing like your own bacon though  :lovepig: