Does anyone here keep pigs?

Gigervamp

Hubby's thinking about getting a couple of weaners to grow on and I was wondering if anyone here has kept pigs.

I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest. I don't eat meat and as I'll be the one doing most of the work looking after them, (as I'm at home all day) I know I'll get attached to them.

RAS

My suggestion is that you name them, as does one of the folk on the green-fingered forum, Supper. That way you get it into your head from the begininng that they are scheduled for the table.

Gigervamp

I don't think that would work for me as I'm not going to be the one eating them. I'd rather see them rooting about than sitting on a plate!

flea72

keeping the pigs is the easy part

not getting attached and finding a slaughter house who will do the dirty work for you, is the hardest part

you will need to provide transportation, necessary licences, etc. to the slaughter house, and i would recommend finding one that does butchery too (espec if you want sausages)

two pigs will provide alot of meat, so you will also need a very large freezer

F

Gigervamp

There's a slaughter house not too far from us who do kill and cut and they're said to be pretty good. I've been having a read on the Defra site regarding holding numbers, movement licenses etc.

The transport bit is going to be tricky though as we don't have a trailer (nor a towbar on the car!). We also don't have a large freezer, or the space for one, although we might be able to store one at MIL as she has several outbuildings.

One of the pigs and it's costs for feed etc would be paid for by a guy hubby works with. In fact, it was his idea!

bigfatpig

Don't you need some sort of livestock license for pigs?

I'm not sure, I only have Guinea pigs and have no intention of eating them :rotfl:, though I think they are a delicacy in some countries:eek:

BitterAndTwisted

I think you'll find that it's in Peru where guinea-pigs are considered a delicacy. I friend of mine ate one grilled on a spit. The report that came back was that it tasted very gamey.

lostinrates

RAS wrote: »

My siggestion is that you name them, as does one of the folk on the green-fingered forum, Supper. That way you get it into your head from the begininng that they are scheduled for the table.

That's me. :) I call all our boys for the table (chickens) Supper. Collectively they are ''The Suppers''. We further id them by colour/breeding/identifiers....e.g. this year we had big yellow Supper, litle yellow supper, quail looking supper.


There are reasons we don't (yet) keep pigs. I have a background in animal science and have read LOTS of papers about pigs, but never kept them, have known a few and my grandparents always kept some:)

They really are very intelligent animals and I think the animals whose needs are least well met by the self sufficientish and most farmers.

To keep a pig is not hard, to keep a pig to the same standards of welfare ads my other livestock here is harder, and, not sure if on a small scale financially rewarding enough. The reason we ''grow our own'' is mainly to eat food that leaves us with less guilt. I will only do what I know I can do BETTER and for the same money as the Best can be bought for. I could do ''ok'' with pigs, but not good enough to justify it to myself.

I also think, psychologically there would be a strange barrier for me with pigs. A lot of our meat is produced while producing other food...chicken meat comes from the chickens whose primary work here is to produce eggs. I do not buy broilers but rather breed birds who are mainly dual purpose (but also some egg laying birds). Witrh cows (which we don't keep but help wth...and I'm from a dairy farming family) the meat (in ''historical'' terms) was from dual purpose animals..girls for milk boys but for the best for plate. I personally would choose not to rear beef cattle but would have no complaints about a dual purpose small herd joingin us...but we don't need to. Sheep, goats etc all similar reasoning. Rabbits and pigs are meat animals, and I'm just not ready yet to make that decision to buy something for the table alone UNLESS it passes the first test of it being cheaper to produce to the very best ethtical standard. Seeing, for example, pigs on the New Forest where they do a job, don't live in mud and small enclosures etc compared to pigs kept in (reasonable) small ''free range'' situation is a hugely different thing.

We have some decent small scale pig farmers near by better set up for ethical pig production than we are, so buying from them is, for us, a better solution.

Good luck if you go for it OP, its doable and they are super creatures to spend time with. I'm not sure a pig that came here would ever leave

lostinrates

bigfatpig wrote: »

Don't you need some sort of livestock license for pigs?

I'm not sure, I only have Guinea pigs and have no intention of eating them :rotfl:, though I think they are a delicacy in some countries:eek:

You need a defra smallholders number I believe. Same as for sheep. Not an impossibility. defra are helpful and patient to deal with for smallholders.

Steel_2

I'm so chuffed to find this thread!

This afternoon I was due to have a massive clean of the upstairs. Instead my husband has just told me he's dropping off a car we recently sold to someone with a pig farm. The guy is happy for me to go along and get in with them. I'm taking all my pig books with me and a list of questions to ask, especially the financials.

We haven't got room in our back garden for pigs - although it is very big - but we do have a lot of farmers around here and I want to persuade one of them to rent me a small corner of one of their fields.

I'm thinking maybe three to start with - one for our freezer, one to split between my family and one for the farmer.

I have absolutely no doubt I'll be in massive floods of tears when they go to the slaughterhouse, but then I pick up clingfilm wrapped pork in the supermarket and think "What happened to this animal in its lifetime? Was it happy? Did it see the light the day in its short life?"

The_Thrilla

Does anyone here keep pigs?

Not anymore. My offspring have all moved out. It took an eternity to fumigate and tidy their rooms.