BIG DAY ON THE FARM! WE'LL HAVE PASTURE-RAISED PORK IN ABOUT 2 WEEKS!!
Doesn't it feel great to reach a goal you set for yourself!?
Almost 2 years ago we bought two female baby pigs and one male from a different litter. These three we're going to be our breeding stock. The bore is half Berkshire half Yorkshire and the female sisters are half Yorkshire half Hampshire.
The Two Sisters had their piglets a week apart. One at the end of August and the other at the beginning of September. They had a total of 18 piglets!
After a little over 8 months of rotating the pigs onto fresh ground, about every week to two weeks, and at least twice daily feeding and watering the big day has come.
To get the pigs used to getting on and off the trailer we fed them on it for the past 2 weeks.
A few days before it was time to take them to get processed I built a cage in the back of the trailer. We used cattle panels, zip tie them together and used metal hose clamps as extra strength.
The cattle panels are 54 inches tall and pigs aren't known for their jumping abilities so I did not put a top on the cage. My wife was worried that they would get out somehow without a top. There was no problems whatsoever.
The processing plant we chose was an hour away from the farm. There is one 10 minutes down the street but we heard bad things about them. Like you didn't get all your meat you should have got and the cuts look like a kindergartener made them. Plus the butcher shop down the street doesn't do bacon. How do you process a hog and not have bacon that's just wrong!
Piedmont meat processing had much better reviews and a much bigger selection of products. For instance we're having them do multiple different types of sausage. A Not Sausage, Mild Sausage, Maple Breakfast Links and Chorizo. And of course BACON!
We will also be getting pork chops, tenderloin, hams, baby back ribs, spare ribs, front shoulders and sirloin. Out of 18 piglets to start we sold 13 of them and took five to be processed.
THANK YOU FOR POPPING BY!!
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baaaaaaaacon!
Yessssss! 😁
Lovely farm. I can taste the bacon already!
Very Cool! I have always wanted to go in with a buddy and buy a whole hog. I did part of a cow a time or two, but never a pig. My friend bought a pig and paid a farmer to take care of it then he had it processed. Good for you to pick the best quality processor instead of just going for what is convenient!
I tried selling whole Hogs and half hogs but people weren't that interested. They have been more interested in buying cuts the way at the moment. Sausage and bacon also. So I sold off most of them and kept what I had freezer space for.
I think the initial cost and lack of freezer space is probably what makes most people shy away from it. Especially with pork. A lot of time goes into the smoking and curing and prep so the cost is a little higher than straight beef.
Beautiful farm!! 😍💚
Thank you!