Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: First pigs have gone  (Read 3950 times)

The Chicken Lady

  • Joined Mar 2008
  • Cheshire
First pigs have gone
« on: September 22, 2008, 11:53:58 am »
Well I sent my first pigs off for slaughter yesterday and am only just recovering.  :'( It took a good 45 mins to get them into the trailer. One would just not go in. I had to have 2 headache pills when we had finnished and I felt sick on the way to the slaughter house  :-[ However I have learned a lesson and if there is a next time I will practice before hand.  :-\ To make matters worse when we got to the slaughter house the woman there was really sarcastic and I was not in the mood to be messed with  :o I then said very firmly that this was the first time we had pigs slaughtered and that she would have to explain to me what else I needed to do - such as putting them in a pen etc. She was much better when it came to instructions regarding butchering as I had gone with a list and said exactly what I did and din't want. She said I had covered everything except the oink  ::) I get them back on Thursday I just hope it will be worth it and they are not too fatty.  :pig: - it's very quiet without them now.
Karen

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: First pigs have gone
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2008, 06:25:57 pm »
Ours go tomorrow. We've just built the race from the pen to the trailer. I hate this bit.

They've had the remains of the sprouting broccoli and some cabbage tonight.

Mind you, we had what is almost the last of last year's pork for dinner yesterdya and it was yummy. Just going off to eat the leftovers!

pigsatlesrues

  • Joined Oct 2008
  • Normandy, France
Re: First pigs have gone
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2008, 06:57:19 pm »
The first time is always the worst, you are not alone.  Prepare the night before - move them so they settle and can just walk into the trailer in the morning.  The less stress the better for you and your pigs.  I cried and cried our first time, and even cried into our first sausages - couldn't cut it, couldn't eat it.  John ended up cutting me a bit and made me eat it.  Afterwards is was ok, but a very traumatic meal.

Next time you will know what to expect, and believe me you will  enjoy your pork.  And remember, the pork you eat will not be anonomous - it had a face and personality, and you will have done it justice.

Kate  :pig:
Bonjour et avoir un bon jour !

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: First pigs have gone
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2008, 07:19:28 pm »
Hi,
I took my first (and only - so far) two last year. It's a horrible feeling but you just have to tell yourself that they've had much better lives with you than they would've had elsewhere, and happy pork is tasty pork. Mine were a trial run as neither hubby or my dad (a retired beef farmer) thought I'd be capable of actually going through with it (I'm a HUGE softy)- but do you know, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
My girls quite happily made their way towards the pile of apples in the trailer, oblivious of what was going on, and followed a bucket with more apples all the way from the trailer to the pen (admittedly it was only about 30 yards and there were men with pig boards standing by just in case !) I was so proud of them but I felt soooooo incredibly guilty that they had done everything right, and been so good and here I was leaving my poor wee pampered girls to a terrible fate !
Anyways, I actually managed the whole episode without tears,even my dad who had driven me (as my trailer reversing skills are not what they should be!) looked a wee bit watery in the eye department as we left.
The next ones I get are hopefully going to be breeding stock so I'll not have to go through it too often !
 Karen :pig:

 

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