Piggies

[Nightmare]

Brilliant! They’re so woolly!

[scrw.]

Moved them into a new pen in the field, currently have 3 set up, but think I will end up with 4 or 5. Plan is to hand seed with a pig seed mix (grass and root veg mix) and rotavate over the top to mix in. The have broken down the grass and roots really well, the field has not had livestock on for 20 odd years.

signal-2022-01-21-123823_001 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

new pen

signal-2022-01-21-123837_001 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

~2 months work on the smallest pen in the field

signal-2022-01-21-123900_001 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[scrw.]

This is the Dad of my lot, Bruce. About 300kgs worth of thankfully friendly pig. He isn't mine & I don't think I am going to get a boar for my girls, I prefer to take them on holiday for servicing rather than have to feed a tank all year.

bruce by Old_Chad, on Flickr

New toy for my tiny tractor (we need a tractor section on Pistonheads!), can level off and tidy up/reseed the paddocks now, only 1m wide but does a good gjob if a little slow.

20220126_154530 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

a pig rooted paddock
20220126_160619 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

Rotavator in action

20220126_162427 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

I am reseeding with a pig pasture mix, so with root plants life turnips etc.

[scrw.]

and to the next pen!

20220308_120045 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

It's been silly wet over the last few months so only got 7 weeks out of the last one, hoping for 2 months per pen so hopefully some drier weather will mean the new pen lasts into May when the reseeded older pens are greened up somewhat.

What pig rotavators do!
20220308_120157 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[Nightmare]

Wow that really highlights how impressively destructive they are - feels like there should be some way of hiring them out!

[scrw.]

My pens are around 1/2 an acre and last 4 pigs ~ 8 weeks, they are very effecting rotavators. Shame the paperwork to move piggies is such an arse (and they have to stay a minimum of 1 month) they are great for clearing land.

[scrw.]

rather disturbing how quickly the piggies can demolish a fodder beet the size of your head

[BoggoStump]

seeing how nice they are could we have some after pictures of them sauseges and bacon. Great project you got going.

[scrw.]

Oh yes, plan is for first one to be done in august, next in october. Not planning to breed from Cagney & Lacey until next year at the earliest, so may buy in a couple more to fatten up.

[hairy v]

A couple from Cotswold Farm Park yesterday:

[scrw.]

Nice, once we have our smallholding built and have the piggies on site with us we will have some sausage seeds. They are too much trouble to be a few miles from home. I saw ours when they were young and they are just cammo escape artists when they are small! 4 of these are ours https://www.facebook.com/158697509259585/videos/17...

[scrw.]

Piggies got their ear tags the other weekend. Wated to wait until the weather was drier so they weren't going to get the fresh tags muddy & chance of any infection. Gave them a spray of antiseptic and tagged them while feeding, not one flinched, was a complete none event (I was worried I would have a pissed off piggy trying to eat me because of a sore ear)

The blue rinse brigade!
signal-2022-04-06-204500_001 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[scrw.]

Down to 2 again, just Cagney & Lacey
2022-12-12_03-20-21 by Old_Chad, on Flickr


Other 2 are now in the freezer, between them we got 133kgs of joints and 44kgs of sausages.

20221209_215717 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

20221209_213104 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

20221209_181606 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

20221209_204342 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

Excuse the state of the sausages, we scoffed all the mis-shapes.

Cost wise, feed & processing of the 2 was about £700 for the year and a bit we had them. Mangalitza's are slow to finish, I am looking at getting some Berkshire's & Oxford sandy & black's next. Our setup can sustain about 8 at a time without too much hassle, so plan to stagger getting weaners and getting a more steady throughput, sausages seem to be the favourite, and I am starting bacon in a week or so, with some experimenting with a smoker too.

[BoggoStump]

Did you get to witness them screaming for their lives?

Can we get to see them being killed? Cant just skip to the dead flesh thats cheating.

[scrw.]

download by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[The Mad Monk]

scrw. said:

Down to 2 again, just Cagney & Lacey
2022-12-12_03-20-21 by Old_Chad, on Flickr


Other 2 are now in the freezer, between them we got 133kgs of joints and 44kgs of sausages.

[

Cost wise, feed & processing of the 2 was about £700 for the year and a bit we had them. Mangalitza's are slow to finish, I am looking at getting some Berkshire's & Oxford sandy & black's next. Our setup can sustain about 8 at a time without too much hassle, so plan to stagger getting weaners and getting a more steady throughput, sausages seem to be the favourite, and I am starting bacon in a week or so, with some experimenting with a smoker too.

What do you do with all the meat? Give it away? Sell it?

Who do you get to do the slaughtering and butchery?

[scrw.]

Sell it, all work done by a local butcher. Looking to build a kitchen areas in one of our barns so I can do the sausage making myself rather than have the butcher do it, will see how much that will cost though.

[BoggoStump]

Do you watch to see how the slaughter man treats them? I think you should go in with them and share with us, also its Good to know that they are treated kindly and not abused before they die

[scrw.]

I walked them in thanks, I am happy knowing where my food comes from and how it was raised.

[Yazza54]

Can't get my head around how you can do this.

I am a meat eater and an animal lover, so not going all woke on you, I just can't imagine looking after an animal myself then sending it for slaughter and eating it.