[Bumblebear]

I have just read on here: " that Berkshire are an early finihsing breed; ideal carcass weight 36kg and 45kg".  Is that their live weight?  My 2 are approx 35/40kg and 4.5 months old (we think - breeder was a bit vague).  Does that mean they will be ready to go soon?

Also has anyone stayed with their animals in the holding pen, or am I just being a sap? 

[robert waddell]

carcass weight is about 70%  of the liveweight  with head trotters and skin     remove the skin  trotters and head the weight  is 50% of the liveweight

[Bumblebear]

Dur - was having a dizzy moment - of course it is!  Does 35/40kg sound about right for a 4.5 month Berkshire?

[robert waddell]

never had berkshires   but on comparison with the Hampshire's and Hampshire x lop   about 10 kilos lighter at the same age    personally i don't see the great big line drawn in the ground that they have to be away by x months old   just go be weight    your kilo of pork ends up being cheaper   it is the same kill charge for a 30 kilo carcass as it is for a 90 kilo one   just every product is bigger

[Berkshire Boy]

My Berkshires usually go at about 70kg liveweight which is usually about 6 months old. As Robert says age is not important it is the weight.

[Bumblebear]

BB - do my girls seem light to you?  The only reason I was asking age was because of the 1lb feed/month of age thing...is it vital i.e. what do you do if youre not sure about age? 

[domsmith]

No way would i bother killing our berkshires at 35-45kg. far too small. 55kg dead weight.

at 35kg tiny chops etc and not point in bothering with bacon at that size.

people seem to get hung up on feeding by weight, my suggestion is that you feed them enough!

dom

[Sylvia]

The first pigs we had were Berkshires, dear, matey old girls, but I was so afraid of not doing them well enough that I did them too well and so ended up with about two years supply of lard   If I ever had them again I would send them off much sooner than 9 months and keep their rations down.

[HappyHippy]

BB - do my girls seem light to you?  The only reason I was asking age was because of the 1lb feed/month of age thing...is it vital i.e. what do you do if youre not sure about age? 

Another way is to feed what they can eat in 15 minutes. If what you're putting in for them has vanished after 5 minutes, up it a little bit the next day. But keep 'feeling' them regularly - you should be able to just feel the backbone and ribs - if you can't they're getting too fat and you can cut back the feed slightly. My Berkshire gilt (who we ran on for breeding) only ever got 5lbs, compared to the 6lbs the other 'big' pigs got - but even then she was fat (deadweight 110Kg) compared to her sister who went off younger (50Kg deadweight)

It's not an exact science and every persons situation will be different (affected by weather, quality of land, amount of space, breed being kept, etc etc etc) so I think the best thing you can do is to keep checking your pigs (got to get hands on - can't tell by looking  ) and adjust the feeding as neccesary 
HTH
Karen

[Bumblebear]

I feel their back regularly but not their ribs...will start doing that.  They hav elovely wobbly bellies though and the cutest squidgy cheeks 

[HappyHippy]

I feel their back regularly but not their ribs...will start doing that.  They hav elovely wobbly bellies though and the cutest squidgy cheeks 

They're probably getting plenty then