[FrostyM]

Hi everyone,

I am new to keeping pigs but have been thinking about it for months and have finally decided to take the plunge. I am currently looking at some tamworths. I am planning on getting two fatteners to see how I manage that to start with. I was wondering how long they would take to get to bacon weight? They have only recently been born as far as I know so my main worry would be if they were ready for slaughter around December my butcher wouldn't be able to deal with them. Sorry for the long post but was trying not too leave out any details. Any advice is apreciated 

[robert waddell]

if you want weight on them it will be about DEC   the only option is before or after Xmas trying to force them on only produces fat
and welcome to the forum

[speedywheelz]

yup be about December time, Tamworths are a slower growing pig as well, although very tasty pig and a great bacon oink. If its a tamworth for bacon you are wanting might it be possible to find some that are slightly older that someone has too many and getting rid of some ect, found my current tamworth boar that way more through luck though lol

Hope you find some in time for xmas

[Hairy Hogs]

They'll be ready by November in my opinion.  Dont want to be too fat, dont over feed them, just be normal with the feed.  They'll be lean, fun, tasty and the best breed imaginable for keeping you amused on a daily basis!

Regards
Jason

[suziequeue]

Tamworths make lovely bacon. The thing is with the butcher is to start developing a relationship with him/her now and tell him you might have a pig for butchering in December and see what he/she says.

The worst thing that can happen is you may have to hold off for a week or two until after the Christmas rush.

I think the biggest mistake would be just turning up on the butcher's doorstep with a couple of carcasses in the week before Christmas!!!!

[FrostyM]

Thanks everyone for the reponses. I think I will put down a deposit on them shortly. I will talk to the butcher and tell him the story. I will play it by ear and see how they are growing. Hopefully the butcher will be okay with December if that is when they are ready, and if it has to be January so be it. Thanks again everyone, I will let you know how it all goes. Or even more likely I will have more questions before then 

[plt102]

Just a quick question. Does your abbatoir have a butchering service? If yes, it is very convenient. If you are not squemish it is worth trying to butcher uour own. Hard work but very satisfying and you get exactly the size joints you want.

[Tudful Tamworths]

Pleased to hear you're getting Tamworths!

Mine (outdoor all year round) go for pork between 5 and 6 months, and for bacon between 8 and 10. Don't forget, however, that you can make bacon from any age pig. Baconer just means bigger. The only differences are 1) in the "eye" of the bacon rasher (i.e. the amount of muscle - the meaty bit in your rasher); 2) the amount of fat you'll get.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Liz

[ZacB]

If keeping for bacon, as I'm sure you are aware, best go for the girls as opposed to boys 

[chickenfeed]

If keeping for bacon, as I'm sure you are aware, best go for the girls as opposed to boys 

why ? we preffer boys for fattening and given a choice boars or gilts we opt for boars never had a problem with pork or bacon by sticking with boars.

[robert waddell]

they could be referring to boar taint
that can be eliminated by castrating them   it also prevents inferior boarsbeing used in future

[ZacB]

Yes, refering to boar taint. Never experienced it, don't even know if it actually exists, but a lot of people advise against boars for this reason. Are they also looking to / have developed a vaccine / medication against this in commercial herds 

As a "Newbie" myself wouldn't want another "Newbie" to not enjoy their first plunge into piggies.

My own thought's, at present have 2*Large Black gilts that we are taking onto bacon weight, always was going to be gilts & never even considered boars. Hopefully, given time & pennies, looking to get a couple of Berkshires to grow on for pork. As they will depart at a younger age, don't really have a preference to boars or gilts.

That said though, I do have a thought 

Do 'whole' little boys, weight up better than those that have been castrated 

[robert waddell]

fed the same not one bit of difference intact as opposed to castrated    we do weight recording on both
if we did not castrate we would be left with all the boars     
just think you can not do an experiment with one boar  and there are differences betwean boars and peoples taste
it is going to be very expensive dog food if that intact boar comes back with pishy tasting meat 

[HappyHippy]

Yes, refering to boar taint. Never experienced it, don't even know if it actually exists, but a lot of people advise against boars for this reason. Are they also looking to / have developed a vaccine / medication against this in commercial herds 

Hiya ZacB 
I'm one of 'those' people who can detect it, but I'm just one of the pickiest people you're ever likely to meet  I have to say though, I've only ever smelt it from shop bought pork, never anything that's been raised at home 
They're using the medication in commercial herds abroad (mainly Denmark I think) with good success. I believe it's an injection around 4 or 6 weeks and another shortly prior to slaughter. It shrinks the size of the testicles and has been shown to reduce 'boarish' traits. I don't know if it'll ever be available to us smallholders and how 'we' would feel about injecting more horemones/substances into the meat we eat though and that's quite apart from the little rumblings about possible effect on human male virility 
We castrate our weaners (Kunekunes by vet @ 6 weeks under anesthetic) and 'big' pigs ourselves at home. I'm terribly girly and a bit of a soft touch, don't like to see anything suffer - but we feel castration is the best option for us at the moment - not to say it's best for everyone, just what suits us. This way we know we can mix groups and run pigs together for as long as it takes them to grow to whatever size we want without any worries of taint, aggression or mating 

But it's another one of those hot debates we on TAS love getting stuck into 
Karen x

[MAK]

Boar taint - we had a boar that we slaughtered at 10 months - it was stunned castrated then bled. No boar taint.
I butchered him and his sister ( who was longer) and the fat distribution and cuts were very different. His had much more shoulder meat ( especially on his back) and she had much better belly and legs. We used her for hams and his legs for "gifts" and roast joints.
So if you are worried about taint ( and I gather not all intact boars may have it or indeed that all can taste it) then if you prefer not to castrate then you could leave it to the very end - if you work very quickly !

Anyone know if it is true that many large commercial herds do not bother with castration because of rapid weight gain and the young age they are killed. I read that much of supermarket meat is from un-castrated very young boars. Any comments?