[Beewyched]

Oops - sorry, PA too 

S'okay.  I might have left my Invisibility Cloak on by accident 

Aha - another Harry Potter fan 

Indeedy! 

I thought I was the only Muggle addicted to watching the fight against "he who should not be named" 

[princesspiggy]

if u google "suckling pig," there a good bbc radio programme to can listen too. apparently the slaughter charge is the same tho.
question, would they not escape thru the abattoir, our seems to have metal gates that def wouldnt keep little ones in.
i think id feel a bit guilty, a bit like drowning puppies!

[redborneschoolfarm]

We sell suckling pig to a Michelin starred restaurant and I will tell you now we only do it as a publicity stunt as there is no money in it. The restaurant doesn't want a true suckling but something that has been weaned from mum and has a dead weight of 15kg for our large blacks that can be anything up to 15 weeks old. They will pay £70 a pig but will not pay for slaughter costs. The major trouble comes at the slaughter stage. The first abattoir we approached would not slaughter them as he said he couldn't bring himself to kill a little pig. Thge second which we knew would kill anything cooked it in teh scalding tank and shredded all the skin off then told me if I didn't like the service then I could f*** off. The third time was sort of a charm as the product is top notch they cannot help nearly enough and they really look after the pigs but they charge the same price £36 for slaughter (Includes VAT and Inspection charges) as they would for a finished pig as their logic is it takes the same amount of time to do a pig no matter what it's size or weight. What you have to remember is most people still don't appreciate the difference between rare breed quality pork and commercial pork and most restaurants or buyers cannot look past the fact they can pick up a suckling pig for £50 from a wholsaler or commercial producer. A friend of mine has had some success with buthcers and a few restaurants pushing the price to £90 for a pig but even then it has only been a one off as they find it much cheaper to buy in from elsewhere.

[Fowgill Farm]

I have been asked for suckling pigs and hog roast pigs several times and i won't do either as i know all my pigs personally. Ethically i can't get my head round taking a pig off its mum and killing it to eat, i like mine to have a bit of a good life first! Hog roasts i don't like the image that pops into my head of eg 'Bob spinning round with a pole thro his bum to gob and flames round him. All sneds shivers down me so no from me to this particular trade.
Getting more squeamish in my old age
Mandy 

[robert waddell]

for all your wisdom Mandy you have the wrong impression of hog roasts       as a breeder i am very interested in the end use of my products        yes it has a pole through it how else is it going to rotate
and any i have been at all the people that is eating them are very impressed     (not been to a commercial pig on a stick yet)
the schoolfarm post is exactly what i have been  trying to say  we have had loads of enquires but they end   up with cheap commercial pigs
there is a wedding feast tonight that has a roast pig one of ours    and i will be going just to see and hear the comments

[Fowgill Farm]

I know Robert, it just MY pigs i don't like to see, been to loads of dos with hog roasts and its a great way to promote traditionally kept pigs and people always comment how wonderful the pork is.
Just horses for courses and me being silly really
Mandy 

[redborneschoolfarm]

Ethically i can't get my head round taking a pig off its mum and killing it to eat, i like mine to have a bit of a good life first!

The pigs are taken from their Mum to be weaned at 8 weeks so they aren't causing distress to her in fact like most sows she is probably relieved not have to feed them anymore. Then they have another 5-8weeks after. It might not be the 6 - 8 months of a finished pig but it's not like they are taken away from her and then killed straight away. Plus I cannot see the difference in looking at a pig on a hogroast machine and looking at a pork chop, ham or side of bacon as long as you can say with a clear conscience that it was raised to the highest welfare standards.

[redborneschoolfarm]

Equally (for some reason this has really struck a chord) you have to remember that a commercial pig will be slaughtered as early as 15 - 20 weeks old, a chicken lives just 30 days before slaughter, a lamb 15 - 20 weeks. It's not when the animal is killed that is importnat it's how it lived that life before that we should endeavour to make the best we possibly can.

[Fowgill Farm]

As i said just me and my particular take on things, if its done well by others then thats ok by me just not for me though!
mandy