[harry]

my first lot of kunes are a few weeks off slaughter.... whats the proper way to check back fat.... i have been nipping their backs some are hard some are a bit soft

[princesspiggy]

u shud be able to feel their spines and if ur lucky - their ribs

[robert waddell]

back fat is the area that is seen and looks the worst if over fat but is easily trimmed  the neck is another good indicator area    if they cant lift there head up they are to fat
the only sure way is once they are on the hook but that is to late to change the breed or the feeding regime

[princesspiggy]

what level of back fat would u need to maintain before you consider selling to butchers? is it 12mm even for rare breeds?
my tams last year were 2.5-3.5cm on the back but they had a fair bit of fat elsewhere which was cut off but weighed a fair bit.

[Fowgill Farm]

Butchers seem to prefer 12-15mm back fat.
I have found with my GOS that they always have a good 25mm which is what we like but on my last lot of fatteners i decided to experiment with their feed in the final month before despatch day! My fatteners are normally reared on 6lb pig nuts + veg/fruit right the way thro but i cut back the pig nuts in the final month to 4lb and as they're outside buldozing a new motorway to Australia  they make muscle not fat and so the result has been that the fat was much better at 15mm. Not very technical but has worked for me. Traditional breed pigs need to work (i.e dig and race around) in order not to lay down too much fat, winter pigs are always difficult as due to the weather mainly they spend hours snug in bed as the ground's too hard to dig. We try to take them orchard racing every day for a gallop out. They;re buggers to get back in tho and any young trees get thoroughly bent by bum rubbing!
HTH
Mandy 

[Blonde]

my first lot of kunes are a few weeks off slaughter.... whats the proper way to check back fat.... i have been nipping their backs some are hard some are a bit soft

Do you know anyone that has a "lean meater"...you can measure it yourself before you send your pigs  away to be slaughtered.

If your diets are professionally made by a nutritionist then back fat should be a thing of the past.    Back fats should between 7 and 11 mm for pork or bacon.   A little higher for neutered pigs  13 or 14 mm

[MAK]

I found the physical examination for fat difficult but wrongley or right I have looked at the  belley juxta the  legs thinking these skin folds are more pronounced if they have a lot of fat. neck too.
I too have cut back the carbs for the 2 weeks before slaughter becuase I felt they needed to loose some fat. I will see tomorrow if I was right as the plan to slaughter last week was delayed until tomorrow.
I'm butchering 2 for the first time.

[Blonde]

You have to cut the high protein back for longer than 2 weeks more likely around 5 - 6 weeks.   Pigs should put on 5 kg per week.  as they attain pork weights....

Weaners..... on creep / weaner until say 20 kg, 4 weeks   22%
Growers........week 5   to week 9  20 kg to  45 + kg, 18%
Finishers ...........weeks 10 to weeks 16  46+ kg to 70 kg.....14%
off to market               

[robert waddell]

once a pig is fat or obese it will take months for that fat to be reabsorbed especially if it is free ranging

[nelson]

Traditional breed pigs need to work (i.e dig and race around) in order not to lay down too much fat, winter pigs are always difficult as due to the weather mainly they spend hours snug in bed as the ground's too hard to dig.

This is an interesting post - we have just slaughtered our winter Berkshires and they had just under 20mm. They spent the winter digging and were very busy. We moved them around to essentially clear for us. Our summer Berkshires had more back fat - I recall they were generally lazy and slept a lot - plus the ground was hard from the sun.

In the next few weeks we will be taking some GOS to slaughter - our first so it will be interesting to see how they come back. They sleep a lot and trundle out when they hear the food barrow coming.

[Blonde]

When feeding pigs, feed wheat/lupin mix in the winter, spring, time ..... the pig grows and keeps warm due to the high content of wheat.  But in the summer time and autumn the amount of wheat is too much so you have to add something else such as  oats...... just to allow the pigs to grow. otherwise they just put the fat on cause food does not keep them cool. ...it only keeps them arm so the back fats should be down round 8 or 9 during the winter and it should be he same in the summer.  Too little protein also interferes with back fat, so if they graze only they will automatically put fat on.

[MAK]

As above we are butchering our 2 Culn Noir at the moment.
There are some interesting points made above- particularly the ratio of fruit and veg to protein nuts to yield the same weight gain results.
Although I had never meant to overwinter our free ranging pigs I fed them daily on cooked spuds,pumpkin and other root veg then mixed this with a flour compliment. With pig nuts in the afternoon since late Novemberish. In the autumn they had daily buckets of chestnuts,acorns and walnuts and they finally emptied neighbours and our stores of apples 2 weeks ago ( daily apples)

SO not fed any grains or bags of stale bread ( sold here in the supermarkets for pigs).

The fat on the animal seems just about spot on and I am very happy with the meat cuts - shoulders and legs have a nice layer of about 2-3cm where fat should be and the belly is not too fatty at all. 
I have one more to butcher today but looking at the 2 halves of the animal the fat also seems just right for fat.
I'm happy that I did not overfeed them or use grains.

[Sylvia]

But surely the back fat makes the best lard?

[princesspiggy]

spuds,pumpkin and other root veg then mixed this with a flour compliment. With pig nuts in the afternoon since late Novemberish. In the autumn they had daily buckets of chestnuts,acorns and walnuts and they finally emptied neighbours and our stores of apples 2 weeks ago ( daily apples)

what lucky pigs they r! 

[robert waddell]

Sylvia all the fat makes the best lard if rendered down and filtered