Hi
We have hsd, in the past, an 11 month GOS old gilt done and flavour was best ever. But she went for all the usual stuff joints, sausages, bacon etc, so no issues with the meat, but I can see that the freezer space might be an issue. COuld you not try to sell as half or quater pig packs?
We have also recently sent off a 5 year old sow and got LOTS AND LOTS (>180kg) sausages and sausage meat (to reduce butchering costs for skins). We split this into herby ( lincolnshire) and plain. ( and we have kept the tenderloin - HUGE but gorgeous
).
We have found, as others have said, that people who would not take a half or quarter pig will take sausages (and bacon) -usually due to having smaller amount of freezer space.
We are also advertising sausagemeat to go into burgers/ meatballs and bolognese and have had a pretty good take up of both so far. Note that we have not got rid of it all yet ( only started on Tuesday!) and have borrowed some freezer space from customers ( rent = extra sausages!).
As an aside we were not pro-active in marketing sausages as we were not sure how they would work out; as it was they are fine, no difference in texture and not much in taste from younger pigs. But if you know that your gilts are going then pre marketing should help shift without the freezer.
Jo