The Pigs are Gone!!



Girl Pig



Boy Pig

Well not really. They aren't living outside in their pen anymore.  They are in the freezer!!

A week of so ago we had our friend come to help us load up the pigs and take them to the butcher.  Well that didn't work out too well.  They weren't used to eating where we wanted to load them so they wouldn't follow the food and then of course the pen was way too big so they would get spooked and run off.

We decided to make a smaller area for them to eat in for a few days and try again.  They started to get used to going in and out of the pen and when both were in there we decided to enclose them in so we knew they would have to get on the trailer the next time we tried.

Thankfully we went down to the barn quite a few times Sunday to check on Priscilla because that night they decided to try to root under the fence since we shut off the hot wire so they could turn around without getting shocked.  Since we were in the middle of Priscilla giving birth Jamie tried to barricade it with anything he could get his hands on.  This was what it looked like the next day.

Pigs in the small pen

They were not in this pen for long and the next evening we were finally able to load up the pigs and off to the butcher they went.

We were able to pick up the meat 2 days later.  The boy was smaller than the girl so we had the boy butchered for us. The boy pig ended up with a dress weight (decapitated with skin & insides removed) at 161lbs and the girl came in at 181lbs. With the girl being bigger, she was butchered for our friends Rob & Wendi. They decided to share their pig with a mutual friend Brad.  So their pig was split in half and then each half was butchered for each family. 

This is what we got for meat

Fresh Pork Meat

We got our meat package for a family of four. So each package of different types of meat will feed a family of four for one meal.  We got the following:

22 1lb packages of sausage

5 packages of spareribs

12 packages of pork chops

2 packages of pork shanks

2 packages pork should roast

5 packages back bone meat

7 packages ham steaks

2 packages ham roasts

5 packages shoulder steaks

2 long sides of pork belly

2 short sides of pork belly

This is what they got for meat

Fresh Pork Meat

Rob & Brad's meat is also packaged for a family of four.

Each family gets

12 1lb packages of sausage

6 packages of pork chops

2 packages pork should roast

3 packages of spareribs

3 packages of back bone meat

2 packages shoulder steaks

1 large ham

1 long side of pork belly

1 short side of pork belly

Jamie has cured and smoked all of our pork belly into bacon which is delicious.  We have also already tried our pork chops and pork shoulder steaks which came out great.

Money wise we worked it out to be approximately $1.92lb for the meat which includes costs for feed and processing.  We are very happy with the results money wise and knowing where are food has come from and especially the taste.

I'm pretty sure we will be doing this again.

The pigs were 7 1/2 months old when they went to the butchers.  I was okay with seeing them go as I was finished with taking care of them and ready for a break.  Break meaning only having to take care of goats and chickens. I haven't seem to have any issues eating the pork either as I did in the beginning with the chickens.  I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact we sent them to the butcher instead of doing it ourselves.  Hailey is a little sad as she liked the pigs and says they had such cute eyes but she didn't seem to have any problem eating the bacon. So I'm sure she will be fine.