# Baymule's 500 Pound Boar!



## Baymule

I found a deal on a huge boar. His name is Wilbur and he is a Red Wattle. He got too big to breed their sows, so he went up for sale. The lady who owned him couldn’t put him in the freezer, he was her first pig and a pet. He is very calm and gentle. But she became afraid of Wilbur because he wanted to rub on her, affectionately, but because of his size, it was dangerous. 

We picked him up today. I took boiled eggs and he walked up in the trailer to eat them. We unloaded him and he walked around his new pen. 







He went in the Pig Palace and ate corn. 






He is over 3 feet tall. 






Wilbur is a BIG boy!






We’ll feed him soured corn, milk, alfalfa cubes and hay for 4-6 weeks, then take him to slaughter.


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## Simpleterrier

Hahaha I hope he don't decide to leave


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## Baymule

LOL so far he seems happy. If he wants out, not much I can do about it.


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## Southern by choice

Won't he taste nasty?


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## Baymule

Nope, the way I feed him will clean him up. Plus they butchered his brother last year and he was a big hog too.


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## Mike CHS

That is a lot of pork (as Mike makes the understatement of the day)


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## Southern by choice

I didn't know you could do that. I always wonder how nasty the wild hogs are in TX.
I imagine since yours isn't wild it would be nearly that bad. He is huge. 
My DH really wants to do the helicopter thing... you know where they hunt them from the copter. Yeah it's like $3000 !  

One day I hope to gift him that... before he gets too old and can still see! 

We went to see some people that bought geese from us once... when we got there the pig had gotten out.  Um... HUGE and I was pretty freaking terrified. 
Yeah, me and pigs- just NO. I think they are cute as babies though.


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## Baymule

There’s so many wild hogs here that I think you could fly over them and machine gun them and be declared a hero. Or maybe lob bombs at them in a mass killing. The young ones are tasty, the old ones not so much. 

We bought two older hogs last year for $75 and kept them 36 days, took them to slaughter. I fed them corn soured in milk, hay with the soured corn juice poured over it and turnips. They made some fine meat and a LOT of it. LOL 

I’ll feed Wilbur well on milk soured corn, hay, alfalfa cubes, grass and weeds from the garden, and boiled eggs.


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## Baymule

I am feeding him a high roughage diet, that does a lot to help clean up the meat. This morning he was chewing on the goatweed that came in with the mulch. NOTHING eats goatweed! I knew he was craving greens, so I dug up a giant clump of grass from the garden, DH threw it over the fence.






I tossed him some rutabagas too.


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## Latestarter

That is one big pig... Looks like his back line is just below the wired portion of the gate. Hope he doesn't decide he wants out...


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## Baymule

Latestarter said:


> That is one big pig... Looks like his back line is just below the wired portion of the gate. Hope he doesn't decide he wants out...


His back line is just ABOVE the wired portion of the fence. He is huge. But he is very calm and gentle. Still don't want to go in there and get up close and personal though. He was in a tiny pen made of scraps of wire, pallets and tin. He could have sneezed on it and blown it down.


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## goatgurl

I can't decide if you are crazy like a fox or just crazy.  that is one huge hog.  personally I vote you stay the heck out of his pen.  toss hay in for him, mine loved it.  I hope fat pigs can't jump 'cause he will be out of there like a shot if he decides.  good luck with him crazy woman.
  and @Southern by choice go to my journal and show your dh the picture of the last pig killed the other day back behind my house.  no helicopter but he could have his choice of a tree stand or a tent blind.  personally i'd rather be up in the tree just in case the pig gets ticked off.  some folks think pigs can fly but i've  never seen one.  just heard about it


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## RollingAcres

Baymule said:


> I found a deal on a huge boar. His name is Wilbur and he is a Red Wattle. He got too big to breed their sows, so he went up for sale. The lady who owned him couldn’t put him in the freezer, he was her first pig and a pet. He is very calm and gentle. But she became afraid of Wilbur because he wanted to rub on her, affectionately, but because of his size, it was dangerous.
> 
> We picked him up today. I took boiled eggs and he walked up in the trailer to eat them. We unloaded him and he walked around his new pen.
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> He went in the Pig Palace and ate corn.
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> He is over 3 feet tall.
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> Wilbur is a BIG boy!
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> We’ll feed him soured corn, milk, alfalfa cubes and hay for 4-6 weeks, then take him to slaughter.



Oh my! He's HUGE and will be very tasty in 4-6 weeks time!


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## Mike CHS

I didn't realize you could flush them out that quickly


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## Simpleterrier

Grind him with a little bit more fat and can him. Smoke the belly and keep the loins. Plus he will have some big pork butts.


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## Devonviolet

Baymule said:


> There’s so many wild hogs here that I think you could fly over them and machine gun them and be declared a hero. Or maybe lob bombs at them in a mass killing.


  

That is so true!  One year (before we moved here) the hogs were so bad, the land owner hired a helicopter. They rounded the wild hogs up in the 60 acre hay field next to our property.  I think they ended up killing 17 large hogs that day.

A friend of the land owner owns some expensive night vision goggles. He goes out late at night & early in the morning to shoot hogs. Every once in a while we will hear shot gun blasts, and figure he's out there doin' his job. 

Interesting. No one around here seems to want those wild hogs for meat. We've never seen them. But, we've seen the damage they do.


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## greybeard

Southern by choice said:


> My DH really wants to do the helicopter thing... you know where they hunt them from the copter. Yeah it's like $3000 !


Operation costs are high for a helicopter....I suspect the annual liability insurance they carry is pretty steep too. 

Wife & I rode one at a county fair a few years ago just because....there was a very long line..it carried 3 people besides the pilot. We were airborne less than 20 minutes and it was $25/passenger.
He flew all day, carried hundreds of people. Made over $1000/day but I don't know how much of that is profit..

I did the hunting from helo thing already...where the hunted shoot back.  I'll pass on the helo hog hunting.


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## Southern by choice

greybeard said:


> Operation costs are high for a helicopter....I suspect the annual liability insurance they carry is pretty steep too.
> 
> Wife & I rode one at a county fair a few years ago just because....there was a very long line..it carried 3 people besides the pilot. We were airborne less than 20 minutes and it was $25/passenger.
> He flew all day, carried hundreds of people. Made over $1000/day but I don't know how much of that is profit..
> 
> I did the hunting from helo thing already...where the hunted shoot back.  I'll pass on the helo hog hunting.


DH's dad was an Army pilot. I get your last statement. He was shot down several times. Never stopped hin from going back up though. 
DH loves flying. It is in the blood. My DS is the one in the plane I took pics of awhile back. He wants to do something with the space program.
Seems like most of my kids are into the flying thing... one doesn't want to fly he wants to jump out of them. 
The rest if they could with the exception of 2, would be on a shuttle to Mars if it were an option. (Don't know how I ended up with so many weirdos  )

I'm a "keep those feet on the ground" kinda gal. Hate flying. Although it sure is pretty up in the clouds.


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## Baymule

Simpleterrier said:


> Grind him with a little bit more fat and can him. Smoke the belly and keep the loins. Plus he will have some big pork butts.


Is it possible to can smoked links or do they have to be raw?

Plans are for pan sausage, about 20 pounds plain ground pork, pork chops, shoulder roasts and bacon.


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## Baymule

goatgurl said:


> I can't decide if you are crazy like a fox or just crazy.



Make that crazy. Have been all my life-it works for me! LOL I find these huge hogs, nobody wants them, they go for cheap. That's a LOT of meat, everybody else sees big old hog, I see opportunity. I love smoked link sausage, NOT what you can buy in the store, but real, slow smoked with a hickory pile of coals, with some of the casing blackened...… That's some fine eating! Plus we raised those two Hereford hogs this summer and sold both. We NEED pork chops!!! 

BJ said he's crazy too because he goes along with my insane schemes.


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## Simpleterrier

Nope u don't need pork chops that is a want. 

But everyone needs bacon


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## Southern by choice




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## Baymule

There is only 2 types of bacon. Good bacon and more gooder bacon.


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## bethh

Baymule said:


> I found a deal on a huge boar. His name is Wilbur and he is a Red Wattle. He got too big to breed their sows, so he went up for sale. The lady who owned him couldn’t put him in the freezer, he was her first pig and a pet. He is very calm and gentle. But she became afraid of Wilbur because he wanted to rub on her, affectionately, but because of his size, it was dangerous.
> 
> We picked him up today. I took boiled eggs and he walked up in the trailer to eat them. We unloaded him and he walked around his new pen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He went in the Pig Palace and ate corn.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He is over 3 feet tall.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> Wilbur is a BIG boy!
> 
> 
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> 
> We’ll feed him soured corn, milk, alfalfa cubes and hay for 4-6 weeks, then take him to slaughter.


Since I'm new to this, how much meat will you get from a 500lb boar?  How much does he eat a day?  I think Gracie eats a lot.  I can't fathom how much you'd have to feed him.  I'll enjoy reading all about it.  I really want livestock.  I was looking at goats last night on Craigslist for Gracie, lol.  I had no idea what I was reading.  I'm going to learn though.


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## Baymule

Will probably get in the neighborhood of 300 pounds of meat. @bethh if you get pigs, start with a couple of feeder pigs. I am not a breeder and don’t want to be. Feeder pigs work for me and because I’m completely nuts, big hogs do too.


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## bethh

Baymule said:


> Will probably get in the neighborhood of 300 pounds of meat. @bethh if you get pigs, start with a couple of feeder pigs. I am not a breeder and don’t want to be. Feeder pigs work for me and because I’m completely nuts, big hogs do too.


Whats a feeder pig?


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## greybeard

bethh said:


> Whats a feeder pig?


A young pig you would buy. around 40 or 50 lbs. Already weaned and started on solid feed when you get them, and you just put more muscle and finish on them then take to slaughter at whatever weight you desire. 

Feeder..as opposed to breeder.


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## Baymule

What GB said!


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## Baymule

I have a gate! Since we built the new pig pen and Pig Palace, I have had a ladder to go over the fence to feed the pigs. That. Got. Old. 

My husband and our neighbor put a gate in for me so now I can just walk through to get to the pig pen! Whoop! That sure has made it a LOT easier for me!


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## HomesteaderWife

Can't wait to see photos of that dressed out hog and the meat you get! Best of luck


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## Simpleterrier

I'm waiting for the video of the 500 lb jog running down the road


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## Baymule

Simpleterrier said:


> I'm waiting for the video of the 500 lb jog running down the road



He could walk right through any fence he wants to, but he doesn't know he can. He's actually very calm and docile. I spray him with water 3-4 times a day. First I put water in his tub, he gets a drink, then I spray the area I want him to go to and now, he walks over to that area for me to spray him. He lets out an occasional grunt as he cools off. When he stands in the trough we built for him, he is at eye level with the window I feed him through.


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## Baymule

I can see why the lady who owned him couldn't take him to slaughter. He is a real sweetheart. He comes to the fence for me to reach over and scratch his ears.


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## bethh

greybeard said:


> A young pig you would buy. around 40 or 50 lbs. Already weaned and started on solid feed when you get them, and you just put more muscle and finish on them then take to slaughter at whatever weight you desire.
> 
> Feeder..as opposed to breeder.


How long from 40lbs to slaughter size?


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## Baymule

It usually takes around 6 months. heritage pigs can take a little longer. Target weight is 250 to 280 pounds. I like mine close to 300 pounds live weight.


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## bethh

Baymule said:


> It usually takes around 6 months. heritage pigs can take a little longer. Target weight is 250 to 280 pounds. I like mine close to 300 pounds live weight.


How on earth do you way these guys?


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## Latestarter

Called a "SWAG"... Scientific Wild A$$ Guess...  You can by a tape measure and measure around their chest to estimate weight. Some have farm scales they can walk the animals across. Most just guesstimate and go with it. Many have experience with the animals and can estimate pretty danged accurately.


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## frustratedearthmother

http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/541/weighing-a-pig-without-a-scale/


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## Mike CHS

I have a scale but it only goes to 400 lbs so that wouldn't do you any good.


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## Baymule

It is hot, Wilbur is wearing a fat suit and he loves to get squirted several times a day. So I oblige him and wet him down, then I wet down his laying place. Can’t make him a mud hole in this sand, so I just try to keep him a wet spot. I won’t spray him near the fence, he would wallow a hole the size of a Volkswagen bug in no time.

First I put water in his tub, he gets a good drink. Then I direct the nozzle where I want him to stand and he walks over there. Sometimes he goes and stands there waiting for me to spray him.








He has a hole wallowed out behind the mulch pile. The trees shade him all day, the mulch pile keeps the sun off as it’s going down. So I spray his wallow real good.






Today I was in the garden. Wilbur lumbered to the fence and said, “unt”. I tossed him a rutabaga. He sniffed it, looked at me and said, “unt”. Obviously he did not want a rutabaga. I went through my new gate and walked around his pen. I broke off a bouquet of sassafras twigs which he happily munched on. I offered him a Persimmon branch. “Unt”. That’s pig Latin for Nope. I offered him elm. He took it and ate it. So now I know that I am supposed to give him sassafras and elm twigs for his treat.


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## RollingAcres

Baymule said:


> “Unt”. That’s pig Latin for Nope.



Who needs "Google Translate" when you have Baymule, the Pig Translator?!


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## Latestarter




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## Wehner Homestead

I think Wilbur has you trained!


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## HomesteaderWife

Baymule said:


> Today I was in the garden. Wilbur lumbered to the fence and said, “unt”. I tossed him a rutabaga. He sniffed it, looked at me and said, “unt”. Obviously he did not want a rutabaga.



This made me laugh for the day.


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## Baymule

HomesteaderWife said:


> This made me laugh for the day.


I am glad that I gave you a good laugh. Laughter is good medicine for the soul.


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## Mike CHS

I think we need to start calling you Soul Doctor.


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## goatgurl

can't say that I blame Wilber, i'm not crazy about rutabagas either.  how is the big boy doing?


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## Baymule

He is a happy hog. He has a big pen, shade, plenty to eat and drink. It rained last weekend and he went in the Pig Palace to sleep. LOL His date for slaughter is September 26.


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## Baymule

Wilbur did not get fed today. Tomorrow we load him up and we take him Wednesday morning for slaughter. Tomorrow my husband will back the trailer up to the gate, the trailer gate swings out and on the other side we'll use a cow panel. Open the 12' gate to his pen  and squoosh a boiled egg. Toss it halfway in the trailer, toss a couple more up in the nose of the trailer. He'll hop in and slam the gate. Boiled eggs with an empty tummy makes it easy to load hogs. We are going to drive across a truck scale before and after we take him to slaughter so we can get a live weight.


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## goatgurl

good bye Wilber, you were fun while you lasted.   I sure hope he doesn't revolt with no food and tear the place apart.


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## Baymule

goatgurl said:


> good bye Wilber, you were fun while you lasted.   I sure hope he doesn't revolt with no food and tear the place apart.


It's not 100 degrees anymore, it rained and cooled off...….I can sure see why they were afraid of him. He tore up his water tub, I tossed another one in there. He tore that up too, so now I just fill a puddle for him. Am I going in there to retrieve the tubs for repair? Oh_ hell no!!!!_ 

We bought a trio of silkies from the lady we dealt with, buying Wilbur. She admitted that when her friend (Wilbur's owner) was out of town, she took one of her kids with her to go feed. She also took a pistol and stationed one of her kids outside the pen while she went in to feed and water him. It sure makes me glad that we can feed and water from the OUTSIDE of the pen.


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## goatgurl

hey, there's no way in you know where that i'd go in the pen with him.  I think sending him to freezer camp is a wise move.  that boy could tear up a volkswagen if he set his mind to it.  is he sold or are you keeping some of him?


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## Baymule

Our neighbor came over to help load Wilbur. I was coaxing Wilbur in the trailer with boiled eggs. He didn't even have his back feet in the trailer and neighbor slammed the end gate on Wilbur's butt.  Insert profanity here. LOTS of profanity. I bit my tongue nearly off holding back a load of pissed off. Neighbor thought he’d slap Wilbur with the end gate and make Wilbur jump in the trailer. Uhhhh..... What Effin part of 500 pounds of "do what the hell I darn well please" do you not understand? Wilbur squealed and jumped back. After that, no amount of coaxing or treats would make him put more than his front feet in the trailer.

We quit for awhile and tried again. Wilbur just didn’t want any part of it. We’ll try again in the morning.     

@goatgurl I don't have any pre-sold. But he is the star of the show of a neighborhood party in mid October. I sure hope we can get him to load. I really don't want to have to shoot him and process him myself, but I'll durn sure do it if he doesn't get his big fat A$$ in the *%$#@! TRAILER!


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## Mike CHS

There is always one that makes it rough.  We have loaded/unloaded probably 75 or more head in the last year or so with no problem until we tried to load the ram that @Latestarter got.  That was the first time Teresa got in the chute with an animal and she definitely picked the wrong one.  He head butted the gate (coming down) at the 5' level and she was just next to where it rammed the gate.


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## Wehner Homestead

Loading any kind of stock is an art! 

Hope you can get him loaded tomorrow Bay!


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## Latestarter

Maybe throw some treats up in the trailer overnight. Give him a chance to get his hackles back down and find out that it was a "one off" on the first atttempt and that it's safe to go in. That might help tomorrow. Just a thought.


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## frustratedearthmother

I think @Latestarter might have a really good idea.  Put the treats in the trailer and then back away - he might hop right in if there's nobody around to make him wary.


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## RollingAcres

Never a dull moment. Hopefully you can load him up tomorrow.


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## greybeard

Baymule said:


> Our neighbor came over to help load Wilbur. I was coaxing Wilbur in the trailer with boiled eggs. He didn't even have his back feet in the trailer and neighbor slammed the end gate on Wilbur's butt.  Insert profanity here. LOTS of profanity. I bit my tongue nearly off holding back a load of pissed off. Neighbor thought he’d slap Wilbur with the end gate and make Wilbur jump in the trailer. Uhhhh..... What Effin part of 500 pounds of "do what the hell I darn well please" do you not understand? Wilbur squealed and jumped back. After that, no amount of coaxing or treats would make him put more than his front feet in the trailer.
> 
> We quit for awhile and tried again. Wilbur just didn’t want any part of it. We’ll try again in the morning.
> 
> @goatgurl I don't have any pre-sold. But he is the star of the show of a neighborhood party in mid October. I sure hope we can get him to load. I really don't want to have to shoot him and process him myself, but I'll durn sure do it if he doesn't get his big fat A$$ in the *%$#@! TRAILER!



Rope him, and drag his big butt in the trailer. 
Does no one know how to use a lariat rope any more? 


I thought you said he was big?
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/teresa-mike-chs-our-journal.31513/page-411#post-569186


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## farmerjan

It won't help you now,  but don't feed him anything and then try a little feed in a flat pan and maybe some milk, in the morning.  Walk away and see if he will just go on by himself.   I am not sure why you all of a sudden were so afraid of him since he seemed so gentle when you got him...did he do something to make you think he would bother you?  Doesn't matter. 

In the future, try feeding any animal you are planning to ship/trailer, in the trailer for a week or so beforehand.  I used to teach my pigs to go up the ramp and on the 2 ton old truck and eat and then when it came time to load them, they were there before I got there!  Have always started a week or so before to get anything to load if it was not used to going on the trailer.   This way, they did not panic if I walked near them because they saw the open door.  Then they realized that food was in the trailer....

We don't do that with our cattle at the barn, because we have a loading alley and such with a couple of gates to crowd them if we have to.  Most of our animals have been loaded several times being moved from pasture to pasture so it's not a big deal.  The little calves are a bit skittish but if mom goes, they usually go with her.  The heifers get several rides over their lifetime, and it helps.  

Another thing, you should have politely told the neighbor to just stay back.  The hog knew something was different... and even when we go to catch up cattle at pasture, the person they are most used to is the one who gets them in the catch pen, and the other person stays in the truck out of eyesight so they don't think that you are going to "DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE".  Any change of routine is subject for an animal to react with the "fight or flight" response.  You also haven't had this hog as long as your others, so he is not as used to your way of doing stuff.


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## goatgurl

oh good grief… thank you helpful neighbor.  I use a flat an and pour their feed into it up towards the front and then exit thru the front door while they are thinking about coming into the trailer.  if @greybeard volunteers to come rope Wilber and put him into the trailer please call me.  it will be worth the trip to watch that show.  good luck getting big boy to load up tomorrow.


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## Baymule

Did the treat thing. Didn't feed him last night, nor did I feed him tonight. We will try again in the morning. I went out and talked to him a little while ago, may sound weird, but I talk to my animals and they listen.

As to why I am suddenly afraid of him, it is not so much fear as it is a healthy respect for his size and what he can do it he takes a notion. I don't want to get close and cozy. He was slow and sluggish in the heat, now he can move fast. LOL 

@farmerjan my first batch of pigs, we backed the trailer in and left it for several weeks. they got used to eating in it and I just closed the gate. Since then, I switched where I keep them, but the boiled eggs and treats have always worked. Neighbor slapping the hog with the end gate scared him and he now may or may not get in the trailer. We'll see.


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## goatgurl

make sure the neighbor stays in the house tomorrow.  just you and bj around.  hopefully he'll wake up in the morning and think the whole thing was a bad dream.  worst case scenario you can shoot and gut him and pull him into the trailer and drive him to the butchers for them to work up.


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## Baymule

WHOO HOO!!!! Wilbur loaded! Boiled eggs, a prayer and patience. We just drove across a truck scale and after we drop him off we’ll weigh again.


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## RollingAcres

Wilbur is one step closer to bacon!


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## frustratedearthmother

Good ol' Wilbur!


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## Baymule

According to the truck scales, freakin WOOOW!!! Wilbur weighed 820 pounds!! Having a hard time wrapping my brain around that! BJ says that’s right because Wilbur is huge. Still can’t believe it! Waiting on hanging weight to compare to 820 pounds!


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## RollingAcres

Wilbur is as big as a cow!


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## greybeard

goatgurl said:


> if @greybeard volunteers to come rope Wilber and put him into the trailer please call me.  it will be worth the trip to watch that show..


It wouldn't be my first one.


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## frustratedearthmother

Baymule said:


> Wilbur weighed 820 pounds!


Dat's a big pig!


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## Latestarter

Holy hog! That's gonna be a LOT of lard as well as meat! Might be time to buy another freezer, or maybe make that "block party" you were talking about substantially larger!


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## Baymule

I am not saving the lard, liver, heart this time. I don't have freezer room for it. 

@greybeard what would you dally the rope onto, to drag a hog that big? I know cattle much larger gets roped and worked, just can't picture a hog.


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## Baymule




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## Latestarter

Look at the shoulders on that boy! Think of the BBQ you could have with one of those! Oh my!  Those pork chops are gonna be the size of a large rib eye steak or a T bone!


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## Baymule

I have them leave the fat on the roasts and pork chops. When I fry pork chops, I use only enough oil to get them started, the rest of the fat cooks out of the pork chops. I always have more fat in the skillet than what I started with.


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## farmerjan

We had a duroc boar that we used, belonged to a friend.  After the third time we used him, they said to take him to the stockyards as he was getting too big.  George was 905lbs.  when he went across the scales and both my son and I nearly cried because a better dispositioned boar you would never find.  The check was for little or nothing cuz at the time boars were bringing like $.10 or $.20 lb.


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## Mike CHS

We helped process three feeder pigs last fall and I doubt they weighed 900 lbs all together.


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## goatgurl

glad you were able to get him loaded without trouble.  can't wait to hear the hanging weight on that big boy.


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## Latestarter

Can't wait to see one of those dinner plate sized pork chops all cooked up and ready to fill a stomach!


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## greybeard

Dally around an upright on the trailer. One wrap will do it and keep pressure on him. They'll eventually get tired, make a step forward and you just keep taking up the slack. I helped load lots of big ones just that way out of the National Forest back when this was still free range. After a bit of pressure and maybe someone switching their rear ends with a little sweetgum limb, they'll be more than happy to get in the trailer. If we'd had to wait for them to climb in for a few treats we'd been waiting 9 years to get 'em all loaded up.

Of course, you have horses, so you should know what to dally to. Pass the lariat thru the bars on the trailer side and suck that stinker up in the trailer with your pony.


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## Baymule

greybeard said:


> Dally around an upright on the trailer. One wrap will do it and keep pressure on him. They'll eventually get tired, make a step forward and you just keep taking up the slack. I helped load lots of big ones just that way out of the National Forest back when this was still free range. After a bit of pressure and maybe someone switching their rear ends with a little sweetgum limb, they'll be more than happy to get in the trailer. If we'd had to wait for them to climb in for a few treats we'd been waiting 9 years to get 'em all loaded up.
> 
> Of course, you have horses, so you should know what to dally to. Pass the lariat thru the bars on the trailer side and suck that stinker up in the trailer with your pony.


Thanks for the explanation, I got a picture of that now. My Grandpa was born in Helmic, Trinity county, his family moved to Corrigan when he was a baby. They had a farm on 287 at Carmona. When he was a young man, it was all open country and they had hog gatherings. All the neighbors would get together to round up and drive hogs to a large holding pen. They used black mouth cur dogs and rode horseback. The way he described it, it sounded wild. They earmarked the piglets and separated some out to feed out for slaughter in the fall. I loved hearing his stories.


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## Baymule

Ok folks, I have the hanging weight!

Drumroll please...…………………………..

* 506 POUNDS!!!!!! *


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## Mike CHS

We have two large freezers and I doubt they would hold that much meat.


----------



## Baymule

I have a neighbor's freezer on stand by...…. LOL


----------



## Latestarter

Wow Bay... that turned into a very nice investment for you. I just put a rack of St. Louis style baby backs in the oven on timed cook for later.


----------



## Wehner Homestead

The title of this thread was more than accurate! You got 500# if edible pork! (Basically anyway. Lol!)


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur cost $100. He ate 8 bags of whole corn at $6.30 each bag, about $50. Cut and wrap, vacuum sealed will run roughly $600. I’ll take that deal.


----------



## farmerjan

It'll be a great deal if there is no taint in the meat.  I really hope not.  I don't know about the hereford breed, but I do know that Duroc boars are more often  "tainted meat" than some other breeds.  If I can find the article, I will note it.  
At 506 hanging, you will get 3-400 meat all according to how much fat is on him, deboning etc.  Any chance the butcher will let you see the carcass before he starts to cut it up?


----------



## Baymule

This is a Red Wattle boar, we raised 3 of them last summer, 2017. I am sure that I could look at the carcass, but what would I be looking for? We raised 2 Hereford boars this summer and they were fine, but of course, MUCH smaller than Wilbur!


----------



## farmerjan

I was just thinking of looking at the carcass to see how much fat, not for anything tell tale about the "boar taint".  I forgot it was a red wattle, I knew you had had the herefords.  Yes, my concern is his size  as a boar hog....  Let's hope it will be fine.....


----------



## farmerjan

Well, did you get the meat back from the boar?  Are they hanging it for a specific length of time?  We never hung the hogs very long;  the meat doesn't "break down" like a red meat herbivore and the muscle tissue is different.  A friend that was a butcher, said that it was a waste of time to "age" a hog.  I just always believed him.... don't know if that is right or wrong.


----------



## Baymule

We were going to pick him up on the 11th, on Thursday for a neighbor party on Saturday the 13th. But the people hosting the party just spent the first night in their new home, so it was rescheduled for November 3rd. One of Wilbur's hams will show up as pulled pork. Dunno when we'll pick him up, I called and said we were no longer in a hurry for him, just in case the slaughter house needed more time. They are very nice people, family owned and operated.


----------



## farmerjan

Baymule said:


> We were going to pick him up on the 11th, on Thursday for a neighbor party on Saturday the 13th. But the people hosting the party just spent the first night in their new home, so it was rescheduled for November 3rd. One of Wilbur's hams will show up as pulled pork. Dunno when we'll pick him up, I called and said we were no longer in a hurry for him, just in case the slaughter house needed more time. They are very nice people, family owned and operated.



I was just curious how much actual meat you got back and if you had eaten any yet.  How it tasted  and all.


----------



## Baymule

farmerjan said:


> I was just curious how much actual meat you got back and if you had eaten any yet.  How it tasted  and all.


Frying up a package of pork chops will be the first thing we do! I will take pictures and report back to y'all!


----------



## RollingAcres

How's the pork chops?


----------



## farmerjan

Yeah, inquiring minds want to know?????  How much meat did you get back and how did it taste.  Good I hope.


----------



## Baymule

We are going to pick him up Wednesday. I will report back!


----------



## Simpleterrier

Wow they had him a loooooong time


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur is home!!

The freezer is PACKED!! The top and bottom shelves are beef, the rest is Wilbur! 






We are taking two ice coolers to a neighbor’s this evening. 



 



 

The pork chops are so big I might have to cut off the end to get them in the skillet! They are thawing now. 



 

Pan sausage is cooking and bacon in the oven.


----------



## RollingAcres

Oh my!!! Party at Bay's house this weekend! lol


----------



## Mike CHS

Is this the first that you have cooked?


----------



## Baymule

We just had pan sausage, delicious! Took bacon out of the oven, it is so good!! NO boar taint, no off smell or taste at all. 




 

I might have taken a bite out of one....


----------



## Baymule

Waiting
On
Pork
Chops!


----------



## Mike CHS

The taste was what I was wondering about but any taint should have showed up in the sausage.  That bacon looks like jowl bacon.


----------



## frustratedearthmother

Yay Wilbur!  What a good boy!


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur was 3 years old. Now I have established that there is no boar taint, i'll fry up those pork chops this evening and hope they are not tough. Won't matter if they are--we'll eat 'em anyway! LOL


----------



## Bruce

Oh yum!!


----------



## Latestarter

Dang... I thought those chops would be big but that's a meal all on its own! Sure looks like it'll be tasty too with the fat on it.


----------



## Mike CHS

I would love to see what the pork steaks and country style ribs look like if there are any.


----------



## Baymule

We. Just. Ate. Stuffed. 

Not tough! All that fat marbled in the meat made it tender. Not 6 month old tender, but not chewy. I have them leave the fat on the cuts. When I fry the chops, I wind up with more fat in the skillet than what I started with.  @Mike CHS as I cook other cuts, I’ll post pictures. We had Wilbur cut into pork chops, shoulder roasts, 1 ham sliced in 11/2” slabs and the other ham ground up, spare ribs, bacon, and everything else ground into half sausage and half ground pork.


----------



## Bruce

Chickens LOVE LOVE LOVE meat fat. Let it cool first  If it is still hot I pour it into a metal cat food can. Take it out in the morning when it has solidified. They clean it up in no time. If you don't want to eat the larger pieces of fat on the chops, feed that to the chickens as well. 

Wilbur sure looks tasty.


----------



## Baymule

That's good to know @Bruce. I will treat the chickens.


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur cost $100. We spent about $50 on corn. Processing was $592 for a total of $742. Hanging weight was 506 pounds. Since we saved the fat and soup bones, I don't think there was much waste. I recently rendered lard and have 12 quarts, so I am giving the fat to a friend who wants lard. Using 500 pounds, cost per pound is $1.48 for some darn good meat. Not too shabby.

I see older hogs and boars on Craigslist quite often. Sometimes they have a hefty price on them because people think that their valuable breeders hold great value. Nope. I watched a Hampshire boar go from $350 to $50. Nobody wants older hogs and they sure don't want big old boars. We'll take that risk. I feed them good, no sows around to get their hormones up and they taste just fine. I know that at some point, I might wind up with a stinky carcass, but I'll take that risk.


----------



## RollingAcres

Bruce said:


> Chickens LOVE LOVE LOVE meat fat. Let it cool first  If it is still hot I pour it into a metal cat food can. Take it out in the morning when it has solidified. They clean it up in no time. If you don't want to eat the larger pieces of fat on the chops, feed that to the chickens as well.
> 
> Wilbur sure looks tasty.



That's good to know. I'm saving those fat from now on. Can I give the chickens raw fat, like when I trim it off the meat before cooking?


----------



## Latestarter

Many folks up there in the frozen waste lands that you live in RA, hang net bags with suet (raw cow fat from around the kidneys) in them for the birds and squirrels during the winter months as it can be burned for energy almost immediately upon consumption.


----------



## Bruce

RollingAcres said:


> That's good to know. I'm saving those fat from now on. Can I give the chickens raw fat, like when I trim it off the meat before cooking?


Don't know why not though a piece of fat has to be pretty big for me to cut it off before cooking. They can eat gristle too but I make sure to cut it up small so it is easy to get down to their crop. They will clean off the bones really well too. No waste and the girls get a varied diet.

REALLY nice price per pound there Bay!


----------



## RollingAcres

Bruce said:


> Don't know why not though a piece of fat has to be pretty big for me to cut it off before cooking. They can eat gristle too but I make sure to cut it up small so it is easy to get down to their crop. They will clean off the bones really well too. No waste and the girls get a varied diet.
> 
> REALLY nice price per pound there Bay!


Usually it's from a pork shoulder roast. I normally cut the big chunk of fat off but still leave a little bit on there.


----------



## Mike CHS

We don't throw away any fat from cooking between the dogs and the chickens but even though they can eat it raw, I prefer to cook it down some and it's easier to cut up.


----------



## Carla D

Baymule said:


> I found a deal on a huge boar. His name is Wilbur and he is a Red Wattle. He got too big to breed their sows, so he went up for sale. The lady who owned him couldn’t put him in the freezer, he was her first pig and a pet. He is very calm and gentle. But she became afraid of Wilbur because he wanted to rub on her, affectionately, but because of his size, it was dangerous.
> 
> We picked him up today. I took boiled eggs and he walked up in the trailer to eat them. We unloaded him and he walked around his new pen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He went in the Pig Palace and ate corn.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He is over 3 feet tall.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wilbur is a BIG boy!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We’ll feed him soured corn, milk, alfalfa cubes and hay for 4-6 weeks, then take him to slaughter.



He is a handsome boy. We have a huge boar as well. He’s at least 400#. He could be pushing 500#. But man, does he ever produce cute babies. Every single baby if his has spots on it. Doesn’t matter the color. They all 

 have spots or a single spot


----------



## Baymule

Your boar is a pretty boy! Love the spots. Does he have a good disposition?


----------



## Carla D

Baymule said:


> Your boar is a pretty boy! Love the spots. Does he have a good disposition?


He does have an amazing disposition. He does love me and my daughter, possibly more than my hubby and FIL. They don’t stand there bent over talking sweetly to him, telling what a handsome boy he his, scratching his head, ears and snout. We also feed him fresh green grass where the guys give him old hay that’s been sitting outside all summer. He’s kinda a ladies pig.


----------



## Latestarter

Isn't there a saying that all men are pigs? Maybe we should be?   At least like yours anyway... Been many a year since I had my head, ears, and snout rubbed, while being talked to sweetly...


----------



## Carla D

Latestarter said:


> Isn't there a saying that all men are pigs? Maybe we should be?   At least like yours anyway... Been many a year since I had my head, ears, and snout rubbed, while being talked to sweetly...



 You are hilararious! Some days I spend more time with Spot than I do with my two-legged husband.


----------



## Baymule

Latestarter said:


> Isn't there a saying that all men are pigs? Maybe we should be?   At least like yours anyway... Been many a year since I had my head, ears, and snout rubbed, while being talked to sweetly...


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur was a ladies hog. He was his Mommy's first pig and she loved him. He got so big that she became afraid of him-he wanted to come love on her. He got too big to breed their sows, so they sold him. His Mommy just couldn't put him in the freezer. We went through a friend of hers, she was out of town. Wilbur liked to come up to the fence for ear rubs and he talked to me. I was growing quite fond of him, but he was just too darn big to keep for a pet. LOL


----------



## Latestarter

Yeah... some folks think a hundred and fifty pound dog is a huge pet... no comparison to a 900 pound boar hog! He could damage you and not even realize he'd done so.


----------



## RollingAcres

Latestarter said:


> Isn't there a saying that all men are pigs? Maybe we should be?   At least like yours anyway... Been many a year since I had my head, ears, and snout rubbed, while being talked to sweetly...


 LS you're too much!


----------



## Granny Heeney

So all in all, how did Wilbur turn out?  Seems like you are pretty happy with everything you've chomped so far!


----------



## Baymule

Granny Heeney said:


> So all in all, how did Wilbur turn out?  Seems like you are pretty happy with everything you've chomped so far!


Wilbur is quite the tasty hog! It turned out to be a very good purchase, buying a humongous older boar. I wouldn’t recommend it for just anyone, but it worked for us. The meat is marbled with fat, tender and cooks up to make a sumptuous meal.


----------



## farmerjan

So very glad that the meat turned out good.  Had a taste of an old boar that had the "taint".....it was the rankest meat I have ever tasted and almost  turned me totally against any kind of hog meat...especially sausage!!!!  So, we have always castrated....


----------



## Baymule

Cooking Wilbur. Making pulled pork out of ham cross sections, that’s almost 18 pounds. Party tomorrow! 

That’s my redneck BBQ pit made from a water heater tank. I love it, it really rolls the smoke!


----------



## Rammy

What time will Wilbur be ready?  Im on my way!!  I will bring the potato salad.


----------



## RollingAcres

I should be able to make it down to Texas for tomorrow! I'll bring the pies!


----------



## Baymule

Just look at those fresh ham slices! Wilbur was literally one BIG A$$ HOG! Neighborhood party tomorrow at one of the neighbors house. Last year it was here at our house. Making eggnog too!


----------



## Carla D

That is such an interesting BBQ. I don’t think my hubby would have ever thought of that idea. Really cool. Those are huge ham steaks. Wowza!


----------



## Baymule

More cooking Wilbur LOL. Half hamburger and half ground pork. Notice the thumbprint in the middle of the party? It keeps the meat from drawing up.


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur sure is smelling good!!!


----------



## Baymule

Burger sure was lip smacking good!


----------



## Carla D

“Drawing up?” Shrinking up and getting puffy? Or drying up, some spellchecks have minds of their own. We love patties on the grill. This is a helpful tip. Ours always puff up and then get dried out.


----------



## Granny Heeney

Oh you wicked wicked person....I can **smell** that!    I'm stuck with tacos left over from lunch.  LOL!


----------



## Carla D

Granny Heeney said:


> Oh you wicked wicked person....I can **smell** that!    I'm stuck with tacos left over from lunch.  LOL!


What’s wrong with tacos? Nummy!


----------



## Granny Heeney

They ain't Wilbur!  NOM!


----------



## Latestarter

Granny Heeney said:


> Oh you wicked wicked person....I can **smell** that!    I'm stuck with tacos left over from lunch.  LOL!



Gotta say Granny... if you DON'T like seeing lots of pics of awesome food, you really shouldn't be here with us on BYH.   It seems to be a weekly thing here that somebody is posting pictures of something that will make ya drool, and wish you were there! Go take a look at @Mike CHS journal,entries... You'll gain a few pounds just looking through!


----------



## Rammy

Meanie! ! Im starving!!


----------



## RollingAcres

Latestarter said:


> Gotta say Granny... if you DON'T like seeing lots of pics of awesome food, you really shouldn't be here with us on BYH.   It seems to be a weekly thing here that somebody is posting pictures of something that will make ya drool, and wish you were there! Go take a look at @Mike CHS journal,entries... You'll gain a few pounds just looking through!


So true! Even if we don't post pics of food, we're almost always talking about food.


----------



## Mike CHS

Those ham steaks look about as good as it gets.


----------



## Granny Heeney

Latestarter said:


> Gotta say Granny... if you DON'T like seeing lots of pics of awesome food, you really shouldn't be here with us on BYH.   It seems to be a weekly thing here that somebody is posting pictures of something that will make ya drool, and wish you were there! Go take a look at @Mike CHS journal,entries... You'll gain a few pounds just looking through!


You'd think I'd learn.  That BBQ thread nearly wiped me out.  I need to quit coming in while I'm hungry!  Like they say, those who raise it know how to braise it.  NOM!


----------



## Carla D

Carla D said:


> What’s wrong with tacos? Nummy!


Tacos is what we are having tonight. Thank you for the idea @Granny Heeney .


----------



## Baymule

Carla D said:


> That is such an interesting BBQ. I don’t think my hubby would have ever thought of that idea. Really cool. Those are huge ham steaks. Wowza!


There was a rent house next to land that we owned. A family rented it, the father and most of the boys were welders. When they moved, they left it behind. I watched it through several other renters. The lady that owned the property asked me for someone to clean it up as a succession of renters had left a lot of stuff behind. I found her the help and for my "finders fee" for getting them the job, I had them drop off the BBQ pit at our house. LOL


----------



## Carla D

Baymule said:


> There was a rent house next to land that we owned. A family rented it, the father and most of the boys were welders. When they moved, they left it behind. I watched it through several other renters. The lady that owned the property asked me for someone to clean it up as a succession of renters had left a lot of stuff behind. I found her the help and for my "finders fee" for getting them the job, I had them drop off the BBQ pit at our house. LOL


That was quite generous. I have a feeling you like to cook outdoors a bit. That BBQ is a generous size too!


----------



## farmerjan

The serious BBQ'rs here make their BBQ grills from 275 gal oil tanks.  They can cook a bunch of chickens or huge slabs of beef or whatever.  But it looks like a good size you have for a family.  Like the looks of the ham steaks.  We had a big sow one time and her steaks were huge like that.  Had to cut the other ham in half because they couldn't fit it  in for the cure and smoking where I had it done.  The bacons were huge too and the pork chops were big enough for 2 to eat one chop just about.


----------



## Baymule

Carla D said:


> That was quite generous. I have a feeling you like to cook outdoors a bit. That BBQ is a generous size too!


My husband is the BBQ'er. He tends the fire and the meat, I get it ready to cook and take care of it after it comes off the pit. We have smoked slabs of bacon and stuffed sausage links from our hogs. That is usually an all day or two day chore. We use the other pit for that, it has a temperature gauge on it so hubby can monitor the temps for slowly smoking the goodies.


----------



## Bruce

farmerjan said:


> The serious BBQ'rs here make their BBQ grills from 275 gal oil tanks.


My local car mechanic has 2 of those on a trailer, rents it out for BIG parties I guess. I first thought it was an odd looking boat, flat on both ends 



Baymule said:


> That’s my redneck BBQ pit made from a water heater tank. I love it, it really rolls the smoke!


So THAT is what one does with a leaking HW tank!



Latestarter said:


> Go take a look at @Mike CHS journal,entries...


I would suggest you not do that. There is already a line hoping to get a small area of the workshop to sleep in just so they can beg for leftover food!


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur as pulled pork, was the hit of the party. Instead of asking if anybody wanted pulled pork, I asked if anybody wanted to bite Wilbur.  We left some with the hosts of the party and brought a little home. The party was fun, food was good and everybody had a good time. We had some friends spend the night and today I taught her how to make bread. We made rosemary focaccia bread, dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls. I sent them home with most of what was left after we ate all we could. LOL


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur burger. I mixed a pound of hamburger and a pound of Wilbur burger, then seasoned it. Delicious!


----------



## frustratedearthmother

Yum - looks good!


----------



## Bruce

Must be a really big bun if that is a 2 pound patty 
Glad it worked out so well.


----------



## B&B Happy goats

And the diet starts...when...????


----------



## Baymule

B&B Happy goats said:


> And the diet starts...when...????


New year!


----------



## B&B Happy goats

Baymule said:


> New year!


THEN PIG OUT MY FRIEND !


----------



## Baymule

B&B Happy goats said:


> THEN PIG OUT MY FRIEND !


Actually, I_ chickened out_ tonight we had chicken wings, dipped in Ranch dressing.


----------



## Baymule

Wilbur bacon on a cookie sheet.


----------



## Bruce

Wilbur looks very tasty!


----------



## Rammy

Bacon!!


----------



## Mike CHS

I have said before that I can eat bacon wrapped in bacon.


----------



## Bruce

Maybe some ham wrapped in bacon Mike?


----------



## Baymule

I cooked up some bacon and sausage for DH's breakfast. He gets up before me and makes toast slathered with butter and honey. Trying to cut down on his carbs.


----------



## Rammy

Mike CHS said:


> I have said before that I can eat bacon wrapped in bacon.


Im eating bacon right now.


----------



## Bruce

Baymule said:


> I cooked up some bacon and sausage for DH's breakfast. He gets up before me and makes toast slathered with butter and honey. Trying to cut down on his carbs.


So you got up earlier than he did today?


----------



## B&B Happy goats

Wilber is much more handsome and has this almost.... sensual  ..... appeal  in his second  photo....looks good enough to eat.....


----------



## Baymule

We have just about wiped out Wilbur. Still have a freezer shelf stacked full of pork chops. No pan sausage left. Got tired of pork shoulder and ham steaks, so I thawed them out, had 52 pounds. Been making sausage and stuffing it, BJ is smoking it. Dang! It sure smells good!


----------



## B&B Happy goats

Looks YUMMY


----------



## frustratedearthmother

That looks good!   No plain ground pork?  I'll be grinding some or all of my next one.  I love ground pork/beef mixture for meatloaf.   And, if you don't want plain ground pork you can always turn it into pan sausage.  But, I gotta say - I can almost smell those links smoking from here!


----------



## Bruce

We need smella-internet!!


----------



## Baymule

Yes, we had a lot of ground pork too. I mix it with ground lamb. But I took most of what we had left and thawed that out, going to make pan sausage. Son in law can’t eat wood smoked food, it gives him terrible indigestion. He is allergic to nuts, stands to reason the wood smoke would make him sick too. I got some collagen casing I’m going to experiment with, so maybe I can make him some fresh sausage. 

BJ is in the shower, I’m cleaning up the kitchen, will smoke the rest tomorrow. Ran out of hog casing. I figured this would take 2 days, it’s taking 3. Gotta  go do chores!


----------



## Baymule

My first attempt at collagen casings. They had a blow out.


----------



## Bruce

Well you can't eat THOSE! They are no longer sausage shaped. Does make it a bit harder to cook I would guess.


----------



## frustratedearthmother

That's a big ol' oops!  I have lots of those lol.  I oops'd a canning jar this morning making dog food.  One of 'em lost it's bottom - yikes!


----------



## Baymule

I wanted to make breakfast sausage, tried again on the collagen casings. Well those looked stupid! There must be a way to make sausage with those, but whatever magic process that is, I don’t know what it is. 





So I tried again, using no casing. I liked that better, cooked some and they didn’t blow up. 





That worked so I made 200 of them, layered between wax paper. They are in the freezer, tomorrow I’ll bag them up and vacuum seal them. 





BJ finished smoking the stuffed sausage, it is vacuum sealed and in the freezer. Mess is cleaned up, I’m tired. What’s for supper? Uhhhhh.... sausage?


----------



## frustratedearthmother

Looks great!


----------



## Bruce

And when you get as sick of sausage as you did roasts, you can send me a few


----------



## Baymule

It took a rainy day for me to get the frozen breakfast sausage out to package up. I vacuum sealed 20 packages of 10 each.  Already took 4 packages to son in law and cooking 6 sausages now.


----------



## Mike CHS

Do you guys smoke it to freeze or how do you store it?


----------



## Baymule

The breakfast sausage I made with no casing. I layered it with wax paper to freeze it, so it wouldn’t smush flat when I vacuum sealed it. This morning I broke it apart, peeled the wax paper off, bagged and vacuum sealed it. It is not smoked, it is fresh sausage. We smoked the stuffed sausage.


----------



## frustratedearthmother

I bought a meat grinder today - Yay!  I'm going to try my hand at some sausage.  Might start with goat/pork mixture.


----------



## Baymule

frustratedearthmother said:


> I bought a meat grinder today - Yay!  I'm going to try my hand at some sausage.  Might start with goat/pork mixture.


Did you get the sausage stuffing tubes? Making your own sausage is easy and so good, stuffed or pan patties. We really like the skinless breakfast sausage.


----------



## frustratedearthmother

I did!  I didn't get a fancy dancy one - but it has all the basic equipment.    Hope I can find time to try it out this weekend, but we're considering heading to one of the grandkiddos football game.  He doesn't play - well he does play - but in the band!


----------



## Baymule

My grinder is 35ish years old, I still have the original box, it is price tagged $64.95  And it was MADE IN AMERICA. It is not a big one and I sometimes dream of a bigger one that would accept chunks of meat instead of little cubes, but it works for me.


----------



## frustratedearthmother

I specifically bought this one at Wal-Mart because of their ease of return policy.  It didn't get top review points, but I'm going to give it a chance.  If it doesn't do what I need it to do it'll be returned and I'll shell out the extra dollars to get a unit better suited to what I need.


----------



## Mike CHS

Ours is a Kitchener brand and far from top of the line.  I just looked at the current price and they have gotten silly as we have only had ours for around 8 years and only paid $119 at Northern Tool.  They are closer to $200 now.


----------



## frustratedearthmother

I went to the hunting section of Wal-Mart because there were none in the kitchen area, lol.  This is the one I got:




__





						Robot or human?
					





					www.walmart.com
				




I didn't check the reviews until I got home....


----------



## Bruce

frustratedearthmother said:


> I bought a meat grinder today - Yay!  I'm going to try my hand at some sausage.  Might start with goat/pork mixture.


Good plan, you'll need things to keep you busy when you retire.



Baymule said:


> My grinder is 35ish years old, I still have the original box, it is price tagged $64.95  And it was MADE IN AMERICA. It is not a big one and I sometimes dream of a bigger one that would accept chunks of meat instead of little cubes, but it works for me.


Yeah but yours is still working after 35 years. I'm quite certain anything made today won't get anywhere near that.


----------



## HomeOnTheRange

I have worked my like crazy.
Meat Grinder


----------



## Baymule

The connective tissue and ligaments will clog mine up, it is a real pain. The first chunk of meat comes our in neat strands of ground meat, after that, the party is over and I have to PUSH the meat down the loader. Arms get sore, back muscles get sore and stomach muscles get sore, after grinding meat a few days, I should have rub board abs, I'm sure I do, under that layer of fat! I have to stop frequently to clean the grinding wheels. @Mike CHS does yours have the same problem?


----------



## frustratedearthmother

Oh dang - I thought the grinder did all the work!   Maybe I should take my little one back and get a commercial grade...   Eh, they probably all have their own issues.  Anxious to try mine, but don't see it happening for a week or so.


----------



## Mike CHS

Baymule said:


> The connective tissue and ligaments will clog mine up, it is a real pain. The first chunk of meat comes our in neat strands of ground meat, after that, the party is over and I have to PUSH the meat down the loader. Arms get sore, back muscles get sore and stomach muscles get sore, after grinding meat a few days, I should have rub board abs, I'm sure I do, under that layer of fat! I have to stop frequently to clean the grinding wheels. @Mike CHS does yours have the same problem?



We have to stop and clean a few times but we haven't ground meat on the scale that you have.  We have ground at the most about 10-12 pounds of beef without stopping to clean but then again, there isn't a huge amount of fat so we are probably similar to yours in that problem except we can do pretty good sized chunks without having to force it.


----------



## drstratton

This was a fun read and I take it back...I probably can eat Wilber (Wilbur)...lol! 😂

I have to add an edit...I just realized that the Wilber/Wilbur joke was from my thread on BackYardChickens...lol! I think that's what they call a senior moment!


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## Baymule

I just read this thread again. Do y'all know I STILL have probably a half dozen of those smoked sausages???   I make chicken and sausage gumbo a couple weeks ago and put most of it in the freezer. It sure was good!


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## murphysranch

I just read and enjoyed this thread. When the last two pages were about meat grinders, I'm glad I got an industrial one vs the kitchen aid attachment that I have tried to use the last two years.


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## Baymule

murphysranch said:


> I just read and enjoyed this thread. When the last two pages were about meat grinders, I'm glad I got an industrial one vs the kitchen aid attachment that I have tried to use the last two years.



I wish I had a nice big industrial meat grinder!


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