[katelock]

congratulations. we had our first year of this last October, and processing the meat was great, especially sausage making. The meat tastes gorgeous, and it does feel good to know the food miles sit in single digits! I had bog standard pigs last year and have gone for Tamworths this year, so it will be interesting to taste the difference. Kate

[Guy]

as long as you dont lose sight of why you have them in the first place you cant go too wrong - as hm says , you get so much from them in respect of the end product and an addition to the family whilst alive - we currently have os &b carl - they do look great - it will be interesting to compare the end product with the gos we had first

[nellie]

We  processed one of our sows last week

I had mixed feelings as we had had her for over 2 years since she was a 8 week weaner

However she had to go & the end result was well worth it despite  two & a half days of processing!

160 kilos of meat has become
50  kilos of bacon 
40 kilos of gammon
 40 kilos of sausages
  10 kilos of diced pork
  10  kilos of  mince -
 plus sausage rolls meat loaf pate  salamis &  faggots!!

when I know nothing has been wasted on our pig I somehow dont feel so guilty about the sow -  if that makes sense to fellow pig owners?

[Hilarysmum]

Not just no waste, but the good life she had.  Its what all smallholders (should) strive for.  I bet the meat was superb.HM