# Baymule's 2020 Feeder Pigs!



## Baymule (Feb 3, 2020)

Here we go! Got two guilts today, Hampshire and Yorkshire cross. I’ve been looking, people sure are proud of their pigs this year. Finally found these an hour and half away and we went and got them. 

 Sentry is in a pasture, not against the new Pigs, but he knew he didn’t like them. He barked st them. I didn’t want a night of him hating and barking at the pigs all night, so I put him on a leash and we went to meet the pigs. 

 He snarled. I shushed him. He was on full alert, deeply growling. I kept talking to him, reassuring him, telling him, MY PIGS, NO. MINE. The pigs of course, were scared and slowly grunted their way toward us. Closer. Closer. Sentry boomed a BIG BARK and lunged st them. Pigs ran, I pulled Sentry back. Over and over, but at least he’s met the pigs and knows what they are. They will never be friends but maybe he won’t bark all night at the pig monsters. 

​[LEFT][SIZE=14px][FONT=Segoe UI][COLOR=rgb(134, 142, 86)]@frustratedearthmother[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/LEFT] he reminded me so much of Cowboy and your AGH pigs. I was smiling, watching my defensive body guard protecting me from pig monsters and thinking about you. 


The girls. 

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Sentry guarding me. 

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We got the Pig Palace ready this morning. We set up the bin feeder and put 50 pounds of Feed in it. Checked water barrel, added water and secured the trough. 

 To help the pigs find Feed, I put a little in a plastic tub and they found it. Behind them you can see the bin feeder where I propped up a lid with a pine cone. They found the Feed but were afraid of the bin monster. Wait until they try to get Feed and that lid shuts on them! Haha, it won’t last long, food is a motivator. 

​


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## goatgurl (Feb 3, 2020)

congrats on the new porkeys.  I looked for a long time for a couple of feeder pigs but was not willing to drive 2+ hours and pay $100 for each of them which is where the little toy pigs come in.  my 3 boys went ape shift when they first heard one of the little guys squeal but after an hour or so of assuring them that those were my pigs and it was ok they have actually left them alone even when the little rascal's got out and were wandering around the yard.  JJ, the English shepherd is the one I have to watch because she really doesn't like them being loose.  i'm sure they are gonna love the pig palace.


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## bethh (Feb 3, 2020)

Baymule said:


> Here we go! Got two guilts today, Hampshire and Yorkshire cross. I’ve been looking, people sure are proud of their pigs this year. Finally found these an hour and half away and we went and got them.
> 
> Sentry is in a pasture, not against the new Pigs, but he knew he didn’t like them. He barked st them. I didn’t want a night of him hating and barking at the pigs all night, so I put him on a leash and we went to meet the pigs.
> 
> ...


They are so cute!!  Love their front feet in the food dish.


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## Mini Horses (Feb 3, 2020)

well, first time you've brought little ones home in a while.     Cute now...then they grow.   Of course, that's why you bought them!


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## Baymule (Feb 3, 2020)

Pigs are cute, but they don't stay like that for long!


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## Mike CHS (Feb 4, 2020)

Temporary cute is still cute.


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2020)

I haven’t seen the piggies drink from the hog nipple. When I depress the nipple to make water run out, they don’t get excited or act thirsty, so I guess they have figured it out. Likewise on the bin feeder. So last night I arranged some leaves on top of the pellets, this morning they were moved and there is a little dirt on the pellets too. Now I have my proof they are eating. 

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I took a can of acorns and gave them some. One nibbled at my boot, not too tasty. 

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We are keeping our little granddaughters for the weekend, they are excited to see the pigs. I told them they each got to name one. #2 DGD said she was gonna name hers Picklehead. #3 DGD said she would name hers Tickle Potty, which her Mom immediately squelched. So we’ll see what they come up with!​


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## bethh (Feb 6, 2020)

Kids are so funny


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## Simpleterrier (Feb 8, 2020)

Just got my three processed last week one weighed 305 one 315 one 330. Took them to a different butcher and paid for it


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## Simpleterrier (Feb 8, 2020)

Looks good. We won't have feeders till may


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Feb 8, 2020)

I love the name Picklehead!!  Sooo cute!  Can’t imagine why the other name wasn’t a hit??  Lol. They are cute pigs.  Our dogs don’t like out pot belly pigs.  Well, correction, didn’t.  Now, Ruby, my very fat bulldog, loves, Portly, my pretty fat pot.  They walk each other around the yard.  It’s comical.  But at first they barked like crazy through the pen!!  Luckily, the one time that our feeder, Slim Jim got out, none of the dogs were out...too cold.  bulldogs are quite lazy.  So two....I’m guessing you guys like a lot of pork?  Or do you share a lot with the family?  Acorns in a coffee can?  Let me guess, you also have those growing on trees down there too?  Geez...we have nothing so lucky up here...our pigs are getting beer grain right now and I’m not happy?  I guess it is ok for Slim Jim, but not for my pot or the mini...they have to keep their girlish figure.  Chris assures me, it’s before the fermentation process...we get it free.  He also gets free scraps from a friend for the pig....buckets of junk food.  Poor pig had Chinese food last week...probably diarrhea then.    Can’t wait to see them progress.  They sure are cute.  I like pigs.


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## Baymule (Feb 8, 2020)

The white pig, named by the 3 year old is Elsa. The one with black spots, named by the will be 5 years old on Tuesday, is Carrot. LOL


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Feb 8, 2020)

Baymule said:


> The white pig, named by the 3 year old is Elsa. The one with black spots, named by the will be 5 years old on Tuesday, is Carrot. LOL


What happened to Picklehead?


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## Baymule (Feb 8, 2020)

Duckfarmerpa1 said:


> What happened to Picklehead?


She changed her mind. I have no idea where carrot came from!


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## Baymule (Feb 10, 2020)

I finally saw them eating from the feed bin and getting a drink from the hog nipple.


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## JHP Homestead (Feb 10, 2020)

Baymule said:


> The white pig, named by the 3 year old is Elsa. The one with black spots, named by the will be 5 years old on Tuesday, is Carrot. LOL


It’s fun when kids name animals. 

Last summer we had a friendly cat show up that my almost 4 year old DS took a liking to, DS named it “my kitty” but DH and I couldn’t call it that, because: 
“It’s not YOUR kitty, it’s MY kitty”, says DS.   🤣


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## HomeOnTheRange (Mar 2, 2020)

Will a racoon bother a pig that small?


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## Baymule (Mar 2, 2020)

HomeOnTheRange said:


> Will a racoon bother a pig that small?


Nope. The pig would probably go after the raccoon. Pretty much nothing bothers pigs. Maybe a bobcat would snag a baby, small baby, or a mountain lion would attack a pig, especially one that was penned up. Feral hogs have no predators, not even the piglets. The adults are so mean that no predator wants to tangle with them.


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Mar 2, 2020)

Hey Baymule...question about the pig palace.  I know your land is entirely different than ours.  Ours gets very wet a lot, due to the snow sooo many months of the year.  Righ5 now, some of the pigs are outside, with pig sheds...but, Chris has built them wooden platforms for a lot of the areas so that they are not in mud very much.  Now he’s talking about putting down concrete...for pigs!!  I don’t have concrete for my parking spot...but the pugs are going to get a sloped slab so the poop runs down, like his family does with dairy cows?!  Have you heard of this?  He said he’s seen it a ton before.  Not concrete the whole area...so they can still root...I suppose it would make clean up easier.  But...I want anothe4 barn..and he is putting on the breaks...yet the pigs get a concrete castle?  Ugh!


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## farmerjan (Mar 3, 2020)

Be very careful about concrete.  It is very hard on  their legs.  Sloped will allow some of the liquid run off but if too sloped, the pigs could get their backs down the hill and not be able to get up. 
Most dairy cows that are in confinement dairies have feet and leg problems from being on concrete alot.  Don't know how it would affect the fatter mini and pot belly type pigs.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 3, 2020)

I would be concerned for the pigs belly dragging also for whem they drop piglets. Only other thing I can thank of is concert gets hot in the summer and freezing in the winter. I can understand if it's gonna have a concert floor but that's a pain to clean i would think you would have more rotting wall problems with it then it's worth.


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Mar 3, 2020)

Well, when piglets are born that’ll be in the barn and we have a stall mat so nothing hard on them. I will definitely mention to Chris about belly drags and leg issues, etc. thanks


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## Baymule (Mar 4, 2020)

I wouldn't concrete it. For our first pigs, we built a Hawg Hut. We put it on skids so we could move it around. Now we have the Pig Palace, it stays dry inside.


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## Baymule (Mar 4, 2020)

@Duckfarmerpa1 a link to my Hawg Hut





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						Hawg Hut or Goat or Sheep or DH's New Digs
					

We are getting 3 feeder pigs. One for us, one for our neighbor, Robert that helps us so much around here and one for @Devonviolet and her husband. They don't have a place for a pig, we do, so we built a MUCH better fence around the garden to double duty as a pig pen this winter. The guy we are...



					www.backyardherds.com


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## Baymule (Apr 15, 2020)

The pigs are growing! They are looking good. I am giving them soured corn and pellets. They also get weeds and grass from the garden. They love that! 

@Beekissed I tried fermenting their pellets but they didn’t like it. I had 4 buckets of that stuff! LOL


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## Jesusfreak101 (Apr 15, 2020)

Yah I sat they grew lol


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## Beekissed (Apr 15, 2020)

Baymule said:


> The pigs are growing! They are looking good. I am giving them soured corn and pellets. They also get weeds and grass from the garden. They love that!
> 
> @Beekissed I tried fermenting their pellets but they didn’t like it. I had 4 buckets of that stuff! LOL
> 
> ...



Must not have been hungry enough.        You leave it and don't feed them until they clean it up and they'll adapt to it just fine.  Chickens are the same way the first time they have it, but then they look at regular food like it's puke after eating FF for awhile.


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## Baymule (Apr 15, 2020)

I made them eat the 4 buckets of FF, but I could hear them hitting the flaps on the bin feeder. Fermented corn is enough, plus I finish them out on it and take away the pellets.


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## Baymule (Jun 1, 2020)

The pigs are getting big. They go to slaughter August 24. I’m sure glad I booked a slaughter date when we got them. All the slaughter places around here are now booked a year ahead. All of a sudden everyone wants to be a farmer, raising animals for meat.  

I pull weeds from the garden and toss to the pigs. Today they got broccoli plants.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 1, 2020)

It's amazing how fast they grow.   Ours goes to the processor in October but we aren't raising it.


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## Baymule (Jul 6, 2020)

Oh boy, these pigs are at least 300 pounders now. Big girls! 

We have our 3 granddaughters for the week. The oldest is making the social rounds, the little girls are hanging with Mamaw  and Papaw. BJ had to go to Tyler this morning, I stayed home with the little girls. It was raining, the dogs wanted in, so it turned into a Wet Dog Party. The girls loved it. Cartoons and dogs, life is good. I looked out the kitchen window to see some short animals in the horse lot. Sheep? What are THEY doing in the horse lot? I looked closer through the rainy window and saw a big head low to the ground. PIGS! The pigs are out! Great. Just great. 

I told the girls to stay in, put on a hoodie to keep the rain off me, grabbed the red coffee can of kitchen scraps and ran outside. I went up the pipeline calling pig, pig, pig and they meandered their way through the horse barn to the pipeline. Pig, pig, pig and they followed me. Sentry rushed the fence to protect me from the pig monsters and it scared them. I told Sentry No, and he didn’t bark, but he sure watched them! 

I got them calmed down, shaking the coffee can and led them through the gate to their pen. Whew! 

You don’t MAKE a couple of 300 pound pigs do much of anything they don’t want to. The staples holding the chain latch had worked out so I wrapped the chain around the post and latched it. 

I got them a bucket of stinky soured corn and they were happy. For an added treat, I boiled them some eggs and gave to them. It just goes to show you, even for slaughter animals, treat them well, spoil them with treats and yummies and it just might pay off when you need it to.


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## farmerjan (Jul 6, 2020)

PHEW..... that could've been interesting.... but like you said... treat them right, and they will often be glad to follow.... not realizing that it is the end to their little adventures.... How do you think we often get loose cattle in.... a big white 5 gal bucket and calling.... and USUALLY we can get even the 1500-2000 lb bulls to follow....


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## Baymule (Aug 23, 2020)

All loaded up and ready to leave at 7:00 in the morning. I’m actually gonna miss the pigs. I keep a pig bucket on the kitchen counter and put all the kitchen trimmings in it for them. No scraping plates in it though, that goes to the dogs. I’ve been working on organizing and cleaning out the freezers. One is full of vegetables, the other one is for meat. I’ve got ten 1 gallon bags of frozen tomatoes in the meat freezer that I’ve got to get processed muy pronto!


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## farmerjan (Aug 23, 2020)

They look real good.


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## Baymule (Aug 23, 2020)

Thanks. They sure have been fed good. Free choice hog grower pellets until a month ago, plus soured corn. For the last month they have been on soured corn, it sure puts a nice finish on them. Plus they gave gotten all the garden yummies, tomatoes with bad spots, watermelons, kitchen trimmings, weeds from the garden, boiled egg treats. That's how we load them. I don't feed them for a day, then toss boiled eggs in the trailer and they load themselves. These two were so friendly that I had to go down the fence and dump the pig bucket over the fence to distract them while BJ backed the trailer up and we opened the gate. 

Sure looking forward to pork chops, sausage and pork roast. We will cure and smoke the bacon ourselves. We had the grand daughters the week before school started and the littlest one hit the house wanting sausage. Her eyes got big when I told her that we were out! So we took a walk to the Pig Palace to look at future sausage, bacon and pork chops. The 5 year old said, "I know where they are going! They are going to slaughter!"


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## OneFineAcre (Aug 23, 2020)

We actually just went and bought 3 hogs today.  2 were 350 lbs and the other was 320.   Paid the farm $0.60 per pound. Leaving them on the trailer tonight and taking them to the slaughter house tomorrow.
We are taking one and Maurine's sister is taking the other two.  She has a meat handlers license is going to sell at least one of them retail at farmer's market.


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## Baymule (Aug 23, 2020)

OneFineAcre said:


> We actually just went and bought 3 hogs today.  2 were 350 lbs and the other was 320.   Paid the farm $0.60 per pound. Leaving them on the trailer tonight and taking them to the slaughter house tomorrow.
> We are taking one and Maurine's sister is taking the other two.  She has a meat handlers license is going to sell at least one of them retail at farmer's market.


It must be a whole lot easier to get hogs slaughtered there than it is here. Slaughter facilities are booking out a YEAR in advance. Since the Covid pandemic, suddenly everyone wants to be a farmer. I booked these two for slaughter back in February, when we got them. Darn good thing that I did! I usually book a date for lambs when they are born, 6 months later. That won't work this year, or the next. How do I set a slaughter date on lambs that not only are not born yet, but are not even conceived?   We bought a steer that is still on pasture and will be delivered now that the pigs will be gone. I booked a March date in 2021 for him, in March of this year! It is CRAZY!


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## farmerjan (Aug 24, 2020)

The thing to do now is to set a date for the slaughter and a couple more ....one a month for the following 2-3 months.  Then, if you do have to cancel, they have people waiting in line for a possibility of getting a cancellation.  We have 5 dates next year, and I am going to call today and get one a month starting as soon as they have an opening for the next 6 months after that.  So just figure when you normally would have gotten a date, and then start with that and get a few more in a row.  We have people wanting beef more and more, so are going to keep a few of these ones we were selling to this one guy, with various defects, bad eyes, different things that are noticeable but not life threatening but will hurt them at the stockyard;  and feeding them out to a slaughter weight of some size.  Some are going to get killed a little smaller because the people don't want so much meat but it won't have the finish on it either.   My Jersey steer is probably going to go in Jan or Feb....I couldn't get a date til next AUGUST but son is switching with me for one of the dates he has, and he has a couple for NEXT NOV & DEC (2021) already.
Yes @Baymule it is totally insane.  Some of it is that people that used to maybe raise a few on their back pasture to keep the grass down, then sold for some money in their pocket, have decided that they need to put at least one in their own freezer since it was hard to find meat during this shutdown.  But it is just that so many have decided to start raising their own;  I am not sure how long that will last when they have to make sure they are fed and watered in the cold winter months and such.... but we will see.  If things do get back to more of the "old normal" you will see alot of this BS disappear.  But I am not sure there will ever be a return to the "old normal".....


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## Baymule (Aug 24, 2020)

The place we are going to this morning is booked until May 2021 and will not accept any more until who knows. Our pig customer likes the sausage from this particular place so we are motivated to use this place. Their pig pays for Feed , processing for both pigs and a little left over. It’s a win-win for us.


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## Baymule (Aug 24, 2020)

Got pigs unloaded, went home, dropped trailer and going to get Feed now. I mentioned to the owner that we had to book our steer elsewhere. When we were giving cutting instructions, he came in the office and booked us a date for it in March. But he still wouldn’t book a date for pigs in August 2021.


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 24, 2020)

We got 3 guinea hogs early this spring that we were planning to get processed this fall. They are huge already.  The processor we were going to went out of business last week, or stopped taking orders rather. The others around here are booked until late next year.  Not a great time to get into this business we are finding out, with a steer coming within the next month that we will have to winter.  We have a distant uncle that has raised pigs for years and does his own processing. We may need to take a trip to see him but I really, really don’t want to do that!


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## Jesusfreak101 (Aug 24, 2020)

Alot of butcher/processors have stop taking live stock near us. One is over priced and is booked till next year, one has plenty of opening the other has us booked for November. We have two that need to grow some.


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## OneFineAcre (Aug 24, 2020)

Baymule said:


> It must be a whole lot easier to get hogs slaughtered there than it is here. Slaughter facilities are booking out a YEAR in advance. Since the Covid pandemic, suddenly everyone wants to be a farmer. I booked these two for slaughter back in February, when we got them. Darn good thing that I did! I usually book a date for lambs when they are born, 6 months later. That won't work this year, or the next. How do I set a slaughter date on lambs that not only are not born yet, but are not even conceived?   We bought a steer that is still on pasture and will be delivered now that the pigs will be gone. I booked a March date in 2021 for him, in March of this year! It is CRAZY!



Oh, we booked the appointment at least 4 months ago.  Another house is 6 months for hogs.
Beef you have to book a year out here.  We have an appointment for next year on one of those.  .


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## Mini Horses (Aug 24, 2020)

ChickenMomma said:


> . The processor we were going to went out of business last week, or stopped taking orders rather. The others around here are booked until late next year.



Ask for reference to another.   Ask for any cancellations, to fill with yours.  Call your Ag Deptmt for lists of processors.   Even check in WV...may be one close in that state?

How far is "uncle"?       He's sounding better.


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 24, 2020)

great suggestions @Mini Horses.  We were excited about this one because they kill and butcher on site, a nice thought to drop off live pigs and pick up packs of sausage and pork chops.  The others around here you have to kill and bring semi-quartered.  We will check in WV and maybe even NC. 

"Uncle" is not far, but is very peculiar, I dont even know if he is an option, just know what we have gotten sausage from him before and its really good.


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## Baymule (Aug 24, 2020)

@ChickenMomma it's not that hard to butcher your own pigs. In 2017, we did our own. Here is a link to the posts about slaughtering our own pigs.





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						Feeder Pigs 2017
					

I raised mine with pasture, excess veggies, bought feed.  Then to butcher for a "kill & chill" @ $50 per head.   They were killed, washed, dehaired, gutted and hanging  when I went to get them.   I had them cut off the head, feet, cut into halves, then those into 3rds at back of shoulder, front...



					www.backyardherds.com
				




We now have a pig customer that buys one from us every year. Paying customers can be a little more..... not exactly demanding, but wanting better cuts than a farmyard slaughter party. LOL LOL 

Read through my slaughtering experiences and if you have any questions, I will be glad to help you any way I can. Nothing beats the feeling of putting meat in the freezer.


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## frustratedearthmother (Aug 24, 2020)

I butcher several pigs a year myself.  I have plenty of pigs so I don't mind doing them at a size that's easier for me to handle.  I wouldn't love doing a 300lb+ pig by myself but the process is the same no matter the size.  It's really not that hard....it's more the fear of doing it than actually doing it. The last couple that I did only took an hour from first skinning cut to tossing the last chunk in the cooler.  That's not a record by any means, lol, but I'm getting faster every time.

DH (usually) shoots it then I take over.  I skin it, part it out and put it on ice for a up to a week.  Then I cut it up into boneless portions, vacuum pack and freeze.  Helps to have a tractor to haul it in and hang it from, a sawzall to remove the head and feet and a couple nice, big, coolers.


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## Baymule (Aug 24, 2020)

It ain't brain surgery. It's hog surgery, it don't feel a thing!


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 25, 2020)

LOL. My hubby is an avid hunter and we process several deer every fall between him and my son, he can butcher a deer with his eyes closed so it wouldn’t be a total novice concept but 200 pound pigs are just so.....different lol.
The paying customer would be a different story,
I burst out laughing at the barnyard slaughter party @Baymule !!


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## Baymule (Aug 25, 2020)

ChickenMomma said:


> LOL. My hubby is an avid hunter and we process several deer every fall between him and my son, he can butcher a deer with his eyes closed so it wouldn’t be a total novice concept but 200 pound pigs are just so.....different lol.
> The paying customer would be a different story,
> I burst out laughing at the barnyard slaughter party @Baymule !!


If your husband is that good at dressing out a deer, y’all got this. Plus you have me and @frustratedearthmother to walk you through it. The easy part is the actual slaughter, quartering and packing on ice. I left the ice chest on our Kawasaki mule, draining out the water and adding more ice. DH drove the mule to the door, I took out the hunks I wanted, them he took it back to a shady spot. Don’t be intimidated just because the pig is bigger than a deer. Same principles apply, you can do this.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 25, 2020)

ChickenMomma said:


> The others around here you have to kill and bring semi-quartered. We will check in WV and maybe even NC.



Really???   Heck, I never knew that was possible.   

Here they ONLY do it all.   It's a inspected facility, so there are controls they must follow and your meat is inspected, etc.   Now, I have had a "kill & chill" done.   They butcher & I pick up animal, hanging whole or quartered, etc., to take home & part out, package.   Lots of ice & coolers!    Last time I did 2 hogs at same time.  Never again.  One was more than enough cutting for me at one time.     Vacuum sealers are appreciated here.   The facility is in Ahoskie, NC...40 miles from me.   A family business.

If DH does deer, he'd be able to do this.  They are FAR more bulky to handle and obviously more meat.  Knowing where the cuts come from is helpful for first one.....you may need more & bigger knives, saws, etc.  

I have a neighbor who is totally set to process deer.  Like pully to hang, gut, then pull entire skin, and even the cooler/freezer there to hang & age, right there in a building to do.   He smokes and makes sausage, etc.   Anyway, not knowing this at the time, I asked him if he knew a hunter who would process a goat for me.   WOW -- couple hrs later I had it in sections, on ice to cut up next day.  Watched & "helped".   Obviously he was experienced!   It was pretty cool.


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 25, 2020)

@Mini Horses , that is weird- you would think the same regulations would be state-wide? But I know for certain that is not the case here.  My hub helped a friend of ours kill hogs 2 years ago and took it to be processed and picked up the boxes of packaged meat. We also took a bear to the same facility last year.

@Baymule We have a pretty smooth system of processing our deer.  We grind burger, cut steaks of all sorts, roasts, and the mouth watering backstrap. And yes a vacuum sealer is our best friend.  We've discussed doing the hogs ourselves several times,  I would be the weak link, as I've never raised and butchered an animal. I have kept my distance from them though for this reason.  I WANT to get to that point though, and eventually do chickens.  I would need lots of pep talks lol


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## frustratedearthmother (Aug 25, 2020)

ChickenMomma said:


> I would need lots of pep talks lol


You can do it!   You can do it!


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## Baymule (Aug 25, 2020)

frustratedearthmother said:


> You can do it!   You can do it!


What FEM said!! LOL LOL


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 25, 2020)

Well I have a couple months to get there, so maybe by then I will have found my true farmer legs lol.  If the puppy doesn't do me in first....


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## farmerjan (Aug 25, 2020)

There are a couple of butchers in the "mennonite" community here north of me in Dayton/Harrisonburg area.  All they do it kill, skin, hang, quarter if you want.  They also deliver to at 2 different places that only cut up.  Those places are state inspected but not USDA.  Neither of them is approved for killing, but just for handling of the carcass.  I can take them meat out of my freezer.... like the clean out before an animal is brought home.... and this is stuff he can work up into hot dogs, or bologna or other stuff.  Took him about 100 lbs of older stuff and had all sorts of things done up.... roasts and chunks of meat  that got made into chipped beef, beef snack sticks,,,, you name it.  
Some of the other places do it all, kill, skin, hang, work up the carcass.... some are state inspected (not for sale on the packages) and some are USDA.  I think the USDA facilities have to kill as well as work up and package the animal.
I didn't realize that there were places that killed only, and others that processed only, until a few years ago.  
Poultry place is state inspected but not "usda" or whatever is needed to be able to sell the birds.  But you can kill yourself at home and sell up to something like 2,000 in Va.... tea totally stupid overlapping and ridiculous regs that also have holes in them big enough to drive a truck through....


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## Baymule (Aug 26, 2020)

We have used 3 slaughter facilities here. One is a Mennonite owned and run facility. The one we use now is only 12 miles away and is USDA. They skin hogs only. I asked for the trotters (feet) and was told no, because they get cut off and disposed of with the skin. They cannot keep the trotters inside the facility. I was going to give them to the dogs for treats. Oh well. @ChickenMomma you can save the trotters for your puppy, dole them out one at a time. Don't be surprised if he buries then until the smell wafts upon the breeze.........tasty!


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 26, 2020)

If it will keep him from gnawing on fence and me I’m all in! I had thought about making pork rinds with the skin, my hub and sons all love them but wondered how you get the hair off of it?

@farmerjan it’s just like everything else that’s regulated in VA...


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## Baymule (Aug 26, 2020)

ChickenMomma said:


> If it will keep him from gnawing on fence and me I’m all in! I had thought about making pork rinds with the skin, my hub and sons all love them but wondered how you get the hair off of it?
> 
> @farmerjan it’s just like everything else that’s regulated in VA...


You scald and scrape the hair off. I've never done that. People used to have big dipping vats, and slaughtered in the fall/winter when it was cold enough to hang the meat/carcass outside. Haha, we might get a week at the most of cold enough weather for anything like that. For home killing, if you want to scrape the carcass, I have read (no personal experience) that you lay the carcass, after gutting, on a table or makeshift table of sawhorses and plywood, pour boiling water on the carcass in small patches and scrape the hair off. Don't for get the fat! I made lovely lard 2 years ago from the hog fat and we love cooking with it. I gave away last year's fat because I didn't need it, but I am down to 3 quarts now and asked for the fat from these two pigs. 

This is how I rendered lard 2 years ago. I use it for lots of stuff. It makes the flakiest pie crust ever! The leaf lard is the fat on the inside of the carcass and is the best for pastries. 





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						LARD
					

I rendered l rendered lard for the first time yesterday. This is a thread for us to discuss lard, rendering it, canning it and using it in cooking. @frustratedearthmother  @Britesea  @Mini Horses  @NH Homesteader and anyone else please add your experience to the thread!   So yesterday I took out...



					www.sufficientself.com


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## ChickenMomma (Aug 26, 2020)

Wow, that amazes me. I would love to use every bit of the animal for all these purposes. Lots of work yes, but what reward. Y’all are teaching me so much.   I will read that post about the lard. I just made a blackberry pie this weekend and was disappointed the crust wasn’t flaky as my granny’s used to be. They raised hogs and cattle so I’m sure she used lard.


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## Baymule (Aug 26, 2020)

ChickenMomma said:


> Wow, that amazes me. I would love to use every bit of the animal for all these purposes. Lots of work yes, but what reward. Y’all are teaching me so much.   I will read that post about the lard. I just made a blackberry pie this weekend and was disappointed the crust wasn’t flaky as my granny’s used to be. They raised hogs and cattle so I’m sure she used lard.



Lots of people here and on SS do many homestead type things, BUT they don't post the process or pictures. So when I do something new to me, I try to take others along so they can learn from my success/failures. LOL

Here is a pie crust recipe I found on the internet. It is the best flaky crust ever and it uses lard! Sorry about the sideways, I took a picture of the recipe because I am lazy and didn't want to type all that out. LOL LOL


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## Baymule (Aug 26, 2020)

@ChickenMomma   Save the offal too. I can dog food for my dogs and now they won't eat their kibble without the "good stuff" over it. LOL I also make "dog gravy" out of meat grease or bacon grease. They love that too.





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						Canning Dog Food From Offal
					

We sent 4 lambs to slaughter and I got the liver, heart and kidneys from all four. Today I canned dog food from them. I cooked and diced the meat. I also had a bag of chicken necks in the freezer so I tossed them in too. It made a rich broth.   I put a half cup of cooked rice in each jar, along...



					www.sufficientself.com


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## Baymule (Sep 9, 2020)

We picked up the pigs last Thursday. We delivered one to our customer and took one home. We have a lot of beautiful meat!


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## Mike CHS (Sep 9, 2020)

That ought to keep you smiling for awhile.  Any idea how much meat you netted?


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## Baymule (Sep 9, 2020)

Mike CHS said:


> That ought to keep you smiling for awhile.  Any idea how much meat you netted?


Hanging weight was 222 pounds. Don't know what we wound up with. Our customer didn't want the bacon, since that processor doesn't make bacon or ham. So we swapped them sausage for the slabs of bacon. I'll brine it one slab at a time and refreeze it. Then when I get them all done, we'll spend a couple of days smoking them. Home smoked  is so good! And we'll give our customer some bacon too.


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## Baymule (Sep 14, 2020)

Pork chops! Yum!


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## farmerjan (Sep 14, 2020)

Your grands will be itching to come for sausage now....


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## frustratedearthmother (Sep 14, 2020)

That's a good looking porkchop!


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## Mike CHS (Sep 15, 2020)

Can't tell the size by the scale but that looks tasty.


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