[Moregin]

Happiness is a man with bacon!!!

I have just completed my own first complete start to finish pig journey and thought I would share my experience. My grandfather ran pigs until the late sixties so I guess its in the blood but having gleaned info years ago from the almighty Rosemary and more recently my mate Andrew I took the plunge.

Having sorted the holding and herd numbers with the relevant authorities I went and got two Welsh gilts from a local farm in February at the age of 11 weeks. They actually came here with two purposes - root out weeds in my allotment and to fill the freezer. They were given the names Sausage and Bacon to remind everyone thats what they were for although i can see how you could become attached. As each area became decimated they were moved round the garden in turn using heras fencing panels to make the runs.

My biggest bit of fortune was when I approached the local fruit and veg wholesale company about buying their spoil for the pigs. The kind lady said I could have it for free as they had to pay for its removal anyway!!! I managed to persuade her that some fresh free range eggs in exchange would make me feel better about it. So in return for between 6 and 8 boxes, containing everthing you can imagine, each week I gave a dozen eggs. The girls really seemed to enjoy it. Funny how they liked some things more than others....loved bananas, onions, paranips and potatoes but really weren't so keen on carrots or turnip.

I ran them on to the end of June to allow them to grow to a decent bacon size. On the day they were leaving I was a bit sad I admit but my hunger was greater than my concience. They loaded fairly easily and then walked as calm as can be into the abattoir.  I used Stephensons in Dunblane and having been there before a few times found them to be great help. 

The carcasses were taken to the butchers and I was delighted in the meat quality and size. (91.5 and 84.5 kilos). I appreciate that slower breeds wont make that weight but nevertheless I was a happy chappy!!! I ended up with half of the lot smoked and half unsmoked. From them i got back, streaky and Belfast style ham. The smaller joints I cut for gammon steaks and kept a few bits for nice roasts. All the trim allowed me to play around with sausage varieties. I made up a stilton and red onion mix, a cider and apple mix and a Thai mix for the butcher to add to each batch.

All in all I have loved every minute of it and have pre ordered my next piglets to run on in autumn.

[Greenerlife]

Yum!  Nothing tastes as good as your first pigs.

[nic99]

Can't believe your pigs weren't keen on carrots, mine go mad for them!
Picking up my first lot from the butcher today. 2 kunekunes. We had them as pets for 2 years before deciding to send them off. Lots and lots of tears when they went and they very nearly didn't make it there. Not really looking forward to getting the meat back and seeing them all sausaged and minced up, but I will be brave and just try not to think about it. I know they had a wonderful life with us. They had an 8 acre field all to themselves for a little while - you won't find much happier meat than that! Despite the heartache, we will be doing it again too. It is great knowing exactly where your food has come from.

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

Fascinating to hear your experiences - we've only had our first 2 weaners (Tamworths) for 3 days so the abattoir seems a long way off but like you we're making a conscious effort to remember the reasons why they are with us so we don't get too attached!

[Moregin]

Greenerlife - its amazing! I cant demonstrate how much i enjoyed the whole experience....especially the eating bit!!!

Nic99 - initially they wouldnt even eat them but as they grew they would abeit leaving them to last!! Take comfort that while they were here they had a great life. Knowing where it came from, what it ate and how it lived is fantastic.

Small Plot - best of luck and I hope you have as much joy from it as I got. Keep us up to date with things!!

[Mammyshaz]

Congratulations on your successful journey with the pigs 
Not having any land of our own we are unable to do such a fantastic thing but we will be dispatching our first hatched cockerel come October 

My OH and I hadn't eaten meat for 20 years as I have severe allergy to preservatives and didn't trust what went into supermarket meat, or where it came from. We have, however, had our first pork and lamb in the last month after helping on a farm and being given some of the large black pork when it came back and rare breed lamb 
Hope your meat is as enjoyable as our gifts were 

[Rosemary]

Well done, Stu 

[Clive]

Nice One!
I was interested to hear that they liked parsnips. I'm sure somebody warned me that they can cause sores in the pigs mouths? Anyone else heard that or was it a dream?

[Fowgill Farm]

Its the parsnips green tops that are the problem and not too many for pregnant sows either. And before you say how many are too many use your common sense, how many would make you sick?
HTH
Mandy

[Bionic]

Moregin,
My second lot of weaners will be going off in a couple of weeks time. You are right about keeping the end purpose in sight. Going to the abattoir wasn't a pleasant experience but not as bad as I expected either. I have loved being able to get chops/joints/sausages etc from the freezer.
Your meat looks very good to me and not too much fat 

[Bodger]

A brilliant exercise.   I wish that we had butchers in our area anywhere near as good as the one you used. What you've done is what I call making full use of a pig. Well done. How long will it take you to scoff that lot and start to do it all over again?

[Moregin]

Rosemary - Thank you x. Who'd have thunk I would have ever got round to it!!

Clive/Fowgill Farm - Like everything I guess its all in moderation. I never gave any tops so wasnt to concerned but tried to mix it up rather than a day of carrots then a day of bananas etc. It was funny to watch them go round chomping on their favourite bits and leave the carrots till last!!!

Bionic - The pigs finished really well and I was actually throwing food at them in an effort to keep weight on!!! Ive never been so complimented on how my meat looked before so thank you  !!! The streaky bacon is amazing as it has just enough fat to get crispy but not enough to be greasy.
My girlfriend wanted to give them cute and fluffy names but knowing how people can get attatched I was adamant that they were going to be practical names instead. We had the local Rainbow troupe down for a field trip one evening to let them see animals up close. They loved it but that's the kind of situation where my girlfriends names might have caused issue!!

Bodger - I am about a quarter of the way through them already. I have given some to friends and family and my workmates are enjoying a regular home grown breakfast these days!!!  I have spoken to Happyhippy and hopefully if the litters she is currently having are big enough there will be a few for me to go again in September!!

[Mammyshaz]

Sounds like success all round 
Know what you mean about naming. Our first cockerels don't have one. In fact none of our chicks  (now 12wks old ) have so we can take out the males when 100 %  sure who is who. Then the girls will be named.

Your pigs sound such a success. Congratulations all round and  the next lot are just as good 

[Moregin]

Thanks Mammyshaz, I am over the moon with how its been. Loved the whole experience and fingers crossed the next lot go as well!!
My girlfriend has named the cockerels that are staying but is rubbish at picking the names!!! My Peacock is called Pete so you can see the level of thought and imagination that goes into it. We got a Maran boy and she called it Steve - then a Copper Black Maran boy and called him Dave!!!! My girls arent named for some reason!!

[Big Light]

Nice carcasses, good job tying in with the waste fruit / veg
did you have to feed them anything else?
Do you  have a cost for rearing from weaner to plate?
cheers BL