Author Topic: When to slaughter? (Read 5077 times)

racheLeah · « **on:** July 28, 2008, 10:16:05 pm »

I am raising tamworths.
Just got them yesterday and have no idea of their age.
The guy who donated them (I work for a non-profit org.) says they are at 150 lbs. and we should slaughter at 300 lbs. But I've seen a lot of information on slaughtering by age and am not sure which to go by.
Also not sure how to figure out weight. Seems a bit much for my bathroom scale!

Obviously I am a pig-raising genius.

Any wisdom will be much appreciated. Thank you!

Rosemary · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2008, 11:09:31 pm »

There is a thread on here somewhere about how to weigh your pigs by measuring their length and girth. You might find that helpful - I can't remember the formula offhand. It nmight also ahve information about killing out % which is high in a pig but I can't remember.

Sorry for this but hope it helps a bit.

YorkshireSmallholder · « **Reply #2 on:** July 29, 2008, 02:22:07 pm »

Try this link - can't remember who posted it but very useful - measure the girth just behind the front legs. (should be accurate to within 3% - so they say)

http://www.coult.com/blog/pigweight.htm

I would say that weight is more important than age as rare breeds tend to grow slower (and hence taste much better!!) It may also depend on what you want them for? pork or bacon and what sex they are - boars tend be slaughtered younger for pork (as older 'entire' boars can develop boar taint), gilts/sows for bacon - as a general rule.

We recently slaughtered our two boars at approximately 80kg's (& they taste fantastic)

PS - i'm no genius either but it's fun learning

Good Luck

The Chicken Lady · « **Reply #3 on:** July 29, 2008, 04:15:44 pm »

The post currently 9 behind yours - how to weigh your pig using a piece of string (known as the pig and string method) is a good guide.

Tweedle · « **Reply #4 on:** July 31, 2008, 11:43:27 pm »

We slaughter our hogs at aprox 220-250 lbs. Alot depends on the breed and the amount of fat to lean you want, but we have found that that weight was perfect. We raise a Berkshire-Landrace-Yorkshire mix. I use this method to tell ther aprox weight. Using a cloth measuring tape measure there heart grith, thats just behind there front legs.Then measure them from between the ears to the tail. Make sure that there head is level or it will be off. I usually measure a couple times and average(its hard to gett'em to stay still). then use this formula : Heart girth X Heart girth X length / 400. I have found it to be pretty accurate so far. Hope that helps!

gavo · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2008, 01:54:58 pm »

Hello,

We would slaughter our Tamworth boars between 11 to 11 1/2 months. Our excess gilts we would take up to 18 months. You'll need to ensure that you can just feel their ribs with a little pressure.

One thing to be careful of is to make sure that they are not too heavy for your abattoir. Where we are (Northern Ireland) you can't get them slaughtered once they're past the 100kg stage (hence we export ours to be slaughtered).

Cheers

Gavin

Rosemary · « **Reply #6 on:** August 25, 2008, 08:17:46 pm »

Wow, that's big pigs. Ours are 29 weeks and I'm thinking it's about time to say bye bye.

gavo · « **Reply #7 on:** August 26, 2008, 01:24:31 pm »

Rosemary,

The thing to remember with Tamworths is that they mature a lot slower. So, whereas a commercial porker (landrace, duroc, pietrain etc.) would need to go around 6 months you can hang on to your Tams that much longer.

Cheers

Gavin