iano Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 Not sure if this is the right place, but as we now have some land (cattle and horses on it), we are thinking about getting a couple of pigs to raise and butcher. Does anyone here do this themselves? Looking to get some advice on the practicalities of it. We cure our own bacon, but would like like to source the meat ourselves and make our own sausages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) If you do your own slaughter and butchery 'at home' then it is illegal for you to supply anyone apart from your immediate household with the meat. Note that in law you must do all the work - for a slaughterman to come to your property to do it would be illegal too. Far better to do what is called 'private slaughter', where the animals are slaughtered at an approved slaughterhouse, and the carcass (or jointed carcass) is provided back to you. You can then sell some of the meat, provide it to friends, etc. EDIT : just seen you are in Ireland. Different laws may well apply. You need to get in touch with the appropriate authority to yourself to find out. Edited June 1, 2016 by robbiep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 There are a few of us that raise pigs on here. I normally do 2 or 3 at a time and keep the meat mostly for my family. I also use it as a thank you when someone has gone out of their way to help with something. I barter some pork for lamb and beef from friends who raise those animals otherwise you can get porked out (not sure I like the sound of that). You will never taste better pork than the stuff you raise yourself. Ask away any questions and I am sure you will get the right answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iano Posted June 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 If you do your own slaughter and butchery 'at home' then it is illegal for you to supply anyone apart from your immediate household with the meat. Note that in law you must do all the work - for a slaughterman to come to your property to do it would be illegal too. Far better to do what is called 'private slaughter', where the animals are slaughtered at an approved slaughterhouse, and the carcass (or jointed carcass) is provided back to you. You can then sell some of the meat, provide it to friends, etc. EDIT : just seen you are in Ireland. Different laws may well apply. You need to get in touch with the appropriate authority to yourself to find out. Apologies - when I said butcher, I meant presenting my own meat for butchering! We have the same laws here (pretty much), needs to be a tagged animal and needs to be slaughtered by a registered butcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spandit Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 We've just loaded our first two pigs into the freezer. Pretty straightforward process although we got the butcher to make the sausages (he picked the carcasses up from the abattoir). Bear in mind that if you want bacon, you need to grow your pigs bigger than normal and if they're boars, you could end up with very large, aggressive beasts. Our boys were docile enough but I wouldn't have liked to have been attacked by one as they were pretty powerful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iano Posted June 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 This was one of my main questions - what are the temperaments of the boars / sows like? From cattle, the bullocks are actually pretty chilled and relaxed whereas the heifers need a lot more supervision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spandit Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Depends on breed I'm told (no expert, as I said, we've only done it once) but our boars (brothers) were jostling each other and fighting a bit. They are very strong and stubborn. Fortunately, they are so greedy that leading them around with a bucket of food is relatively easy but you're not going to manually stop them doing what they want to do (which is generally eating ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 As for Kunekune pigs, they are incredibly docile. Even the boars. But very fatty, so not good eating. A friend reared some, and a good proportion of the meat ended up in the bin, it was so fatty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 I have only had one boar that was a pain and he was a Gloucester Old Spot which are normally very easy going. But on the whole most of mine go to slaughter before they get too big. At the moment I have a couple of Berkshire, GOS cross which I expect will be very tasty. They will be ready end of September I guess. No rules just when I think they are ready. Mine get fed a good mix of veg and fruit that I get free from the local greengrocer as well as pig nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 One thing I would add is make sure you have a secure area for them, as they get bigger they get very strong. I even had one sow who did not give a fig for the electric fence just walked straight through it on many occasions without even a squeak. They develope great personalities and I still find it a sad day when I take them on their last journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iano Posted June 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 One thing I would add is make sure you have a secure area for them, as they get bigger they get very strong. I even had one sow who did not give a fig for the electric fence just walked straight through it on many occasions without even a squeak. They develope great personalities and I still find it a sad day when I take them on their last journey. We have around a half acre field with a stream going through it. Was going to put their ark there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 We have around a half acre field with a stream going through it. Was going to put their ark there. Mine have about quarter an acre, stock fencing with single strand electric fence wire at about 8 - 10" high stops them digging under and ultimately through the fence. Be prepared for them turning over the earth and making a mess and also you will stand and watch them for a long time and you will love it when you go to feed them, you call them and they come running with ears flopping makes me smile every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 take half a pig off a mate each year,currently piglets v cheap @£50 each. 6 months happy hogging in a fenced wood,then local abbatoir and then local butcher does it all for very good price....hams/bacon/sausages......you'll be surprised how far a 40-50kilo pig goes!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds chimp Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 take half a pig off a mate each year,currently piglets v cheap @£50 each. 6 months happy hogging in a fenced wood,then local abbatoir and then local butcher does it all for very good price....hams/bacon/sausages......you'll be surprised how far a 40-50kilo pig goes!!Thats what I do now Got half a pig and done us for 30-40 meals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 I never pay more than £40 on a weaner and they would need to be very special maybe self marinating, my last ones were £25. Dead weight on mine tent to be around the 60 - 65kg mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin lad Posted June 14, 2016 Report Share Posted June 14, 2016 I have only had one boar that was a pain and he was a Gloucester Old Spot which are normally very easy going. But on the whole most of mine go to slaughter before they get too big. At the moment I have a couple of Berkshire, GOS cross which I expect will be very tasty. They will be ready end of September I guess. No rules just when I think they are ready. Mine get fed a good mix of veg and fruit that I get free from the local greengrocer as well as pig nuts. if they can hang on till mid October i know a great butcher who could butcher them for you free of charge, mind you he would have to bring his caravan down to you and stay on your site while he did them, and as it's such a long he would need to stay at least a week lol colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 15, 2016 Report Share Posted June 15, 2016 if they can hang on till mid October i know a great butcher who could butcher them for you free of charge, mind you he would have to bring his caravan down to you and stay on your site while he did them, and as it's such a long he would need to stay at least a week lol colin A great butcher you say, hmmm interesting. What's his name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin lad Posted June 15, 2016 Report Share Posted June 15, 2016 (edited) L A great butcher you say, hmmm interesting. What's his name?[/quote Lol 😁 think he came to your site last year Edited June 15, 2016 by colin lad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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