# Feeder Pigs 2017



## Baymule

Monday, February 20th, we bought 3 Red Wattle pigs, 4 months old for $75 each. I found them on Craigslist and we jumped on them quick. Just weaned piglets were listed for $65 to $100! We plan on keeping them probably 3 months and taking them to slaughter. We offered 2 to neighbors and they agreed to pay for their pig and split feed costs. We have a great community!

I have pictures on my husband's phone and will post them later. They are in a half acre pasture that has a patch of woods in it for shade. We went to Tractor Supply and bought a pig feeder. Best feeder ever! The first time we raised pigs, I fed them in a tub. The pigs ate what they could hold, then the crows and birds flew in and ate too. The pigs turned their feed tub over, it got rained on, there was a lot of wasted feed. 
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/p-2a-economy-hog-feeder

This feeder is a metal hopper with covered top and the feed area has flip up covers that took the pigs about 2 minutes to figure out. And now we aren't feeding the birds! We tied the feeder to a post, so they can't turn it over. I love it!

https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/redwattle

http://www.redwattle.com/


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## luvmypets

Grats! It will be exciting to see how those feeder pigs turn out.


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## NH homesteader

Curious to hear how they end up, a breed I've never seen around here! And btw that is a super price!


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## Baymule

Red Wattles aren't a common breed, but since they originated in East Texas, they are pretty easy to find. They are friendly. When we raised Berkshire/Large Black pigs year before last, I was never comfortable in the pen with them. I never went in the pen when I was alone. I carried a stick or pipe as they tried to get behind me. I didn't mind loading them up for slaughter one bit!

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/feeder-pigs.32154/

So far, these are friendly and I don't have that creepy feeling up my back. I think I'm going to buy a long handled brush so I can give them scratches. Since they practically feed themselves, they don't run to a feed can. If they get out, I want to be able to call them, maybe they'll come for a good scratching.


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## Baymule

Another neighbor, Russell wanted a pig too, but didn't have anyplace to put one. He asked if he could get a pig and put it with ours and we said yes. He showed up today with a Hampshire pig that was a show pig cull, he got her for $40. One of our barrows humped her, our gilt ran her around and bit her. She quickly figured out that she is low pig in the pecking order and our pigs settled down.

This Hampshire pig is solid as a rock and she is built like a meat factory. Her front legs are wide set and her shoulders look like a weight lifter's. Her hams are already definitely there and can only get bigger.

I think we'll swap a package of pork chops for a taste comparison. Should be interesting.


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## NH homesteader

Introducing pigs always makes me so nervous. They can be vicious!

That will be interesting! We really like the crosses we've gotten which are heritage (GOS mostly) crossed with Duroc. The Durocs are built like that, all muscley, and it offsets some of the fattiness of the GOS. MMMMMM PORK!


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## OneFineAcre

I need to get some updated pics of ours.
They have their "appointment" in 3 weeks.


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## Baymule

They weren't too rough on her, and today they were more accepting of her. I don't think she has figured out the feeder, I scooped some out and put it in front. She ate it and she is watching the others closely. She'll figure it out.


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## Baymule

It took me a week to teach Russell's pig how to eat from the feeder. She didn't like the lid laying across her shoulders and squatted on her front legs until her chin barely was in the feeder. I lifted the lid for to eat several times a day. Then of course my hoodlums would cruise on over to see what's up and bite her so they could "hawg" the feeder for themselves. We had lots of piggy fun, slapping mine so the little Hampshire could eat. We named her J-Lo after Jennifer Lopez, because they both have BIG BUTTS. We came home Friday and J-Lo had her head stuck in the feeder. I was so excited!

This is going to be interesting. My long legged Red Wattles are built for survival under any conditions, J-Lo is built for a pen-feed-me-water-me life. I figure the Hamp will out weigh the Wattles by butcher day......might just have to get Hamps next go-round.


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## animalmom

Several years ago we had pigs and used a feeder like the one you have from TSC and while it was convenient to use we found the pigs decided to just lay in front of the feeder with their head in the feeder all the time.  Those pigs were, well just piggy.  We took the feeder away.

Our mistake was keeping feed in the feeder all the time.  I'm sure you are feeding just the amount for the day.


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## lcertuche

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1122512791204606
			




A pig buffet!


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## Baymule

@animalmom I put 100 pounds in at a time. So far, I love this feeder! The pigs are busy rooting up the place, it looks plowed. They haven't hung out at the feeder eating all the time, we'll see how it goes.


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## lcertuche

When I had pigs so many years ago I had an automatic feeder someone had made for me. It was huge and I would put in a bag of feed at a time but could have put in many more if I had wanted. It was really convenient when Daddy watched my place. I didn't have to worry about him falling down in the pen while I was gone.


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## Baymule

This is the day we brought them home. While red is the preferred color, there are spotted Red Wattle hogs as well. 




I got a shot of a wattle. It is a fleshy protuberance hanging down under each jowl.



 

Here's J-Lo's day of triumph. Eating out of the feeder like a big piggie.



 

This is the funniest thing! The pigs nuzzle each other with their snouts. J-Lo doesn't nuzzle the Red Wattles, but they nuzzle her and each other. It didn't stop her from her getting a pig snout massage! She closed her eyes and enjoyed her massage!


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## frustratedearthmother

They're looking good and growing well!  I hadn't seen the spotted red wattles - they're cool!


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## HomeOnTheRange

I so want to get things going so I can get my Kune Kunes.  I guess I will have to get my pig fix through your pics and posts!


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## goatgurl

@Latestarter, Latestarter, I found your piggy.  she's at Baymule's house or at least it looks like her.  nice looking piggies bay.  what made you decide to raise them in the summer?  I thought you were a fall/winter kinda pig raising girl.  lady not far from here has some agh/herford crosses.  if I wasn't so sick of messing with hogs right now I would be sorely tempted.  I think that would be a good cross.  but not now.  penny the pig finally has a date with destiny on the third.  can't wait to see her go. then I just have to mess with the bacon bit until 4th of july and its tata for him too.  i'll be anxious to see how you think they taste.  penny is 1/2 large black, 1/4 red wattle and 1/4 old spot.   should be interesting.


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## Baymule

@HomeOnTheRange have you already picked a Kune Kune breeder? Are you going for registered stock or just for "farm" pigs? Have you looked at Idaho Pasture Pigs, they were bred from Kune Kunes.

Haha @goatgurl I found LS's pig!! She walked all the way to my house!  She said since LS threw her out of a trailer while rolling down the highway, she has nightmares and would rather go in my freezer. 

 The red and the dark red with spots are both barrows, the lighter red with spots is a gilt, as is J-Lo. I wasn't planning on pigs for the summer, but I found a deal...... I like these Red Wattles, they are smart pigs. Their vacation date is August 29.


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## Mike Todd

We are also diving into feeder pigs with our neighbors. They brought home 5 yorkshire mix weaned piglets. They were supposed to be 25lbs each but are a lot smaller. We got them locally and found them for $25 a pieces and the boers have already been castrated! They currently are on a concrete pad with shelter/hay and have an area of ground they can go down on to root and stay cool. We are so excited about this adventure with out neighbors. We have such a good relationship with them! I'll post pics when I get them.


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## Latestarter

Even better! The neighbors have them in their yard!  6 pigs is going to fill both of your freezers pretty well!


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## Mike Todd

Latestarter said:


> Even better! The neighbors have them in their yard!  6 pigs is going to fill both of your freezers pretty well!



Exactly. Plus they already had the fencing so we are both in it for a lower cost. We are hoping to feed the pigs out to 250-300lbs and my hope is to be in each pig for $2 a pound butchered. I work in a skilled nursing facility with two kitchens and will be getting green scraps from them every day. Part will go to my chickens and part to the pigs to keep feed cost down.


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## HomeOnTheRange

Baymule said:


> have you already picked a Kune Kune breeder? Are you going for registered stock or just for "farm" pigs?


I would like to get registered stock so I can promote the breed.  I go to New Zealand fairly often and might be able to ship some stock from their once in a while ($$$).  I know I will have to do a good deal of driving to get things going as I will be looking for my gilts from the east and the boars from the west (or maybe I will get crazy and switch it up).  Also, I will need to make sure they do not have a real short snout as I live at a little over 5,000 feet and do not want to deal with breathing issues.


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## Mike Todd

Here they are. It dropped from 70s to high 40s here in Indiana so they are a little cool. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow.


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## Baymule

Mike Todd said:


> View attachment 31780 Here they are. It dropped from 70s to high 40s here in Indiana so they are a little cool. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow.


They are tiny little babies!! Baby pigs are so cute! Then, just like human children, they grow into the pig version of teenagers and they aren't so cute anymore. Fortunately, with pigs, we can eat them.  

@HomeOnTheRange you go to New Zealand? How cool! You could pick your pigs and ship them! Or maybe just put a baby in your carry on bag and tell them it's your anti-anxiety service animal and it keeps you from slobbering and biting people. I am sure they would let you bring it on the plane! They would probably give the piglet your seat and detain you for questioning.


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## Latestarter




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## Red the butcher

Mike Todd said:


> Exactly. Plus they already had the fencing so we are both in it for a lower cost. We are hoping to feed the pigs out to 250-300lbs and my hope is to be in each pig for $2 a pound butchered. I work in a skilled nursing facility with two kitchens and will be getting green scraps from them every day. Part will go to my chickens and part to the pigs to keep feed cost down.


As a butcher i charge 50cents a pound cut and wrap (hanging weight) then 1.50 a pound for smoking. Almost every pig cost the customer about 300bucks for butchering. We get a very good deal on feed and it usually cost us about 300 bucks to feed them to butcher weight. Im very curious to see if you end up at 2 bucks a pound all cut and wrapped. Unless you are doing the butchering yourself i dont think you will. Also every pig I've done that was raised on kitchen scraps end up fat. Very good way to keep cost down just dont feed them to much.


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## Mike Todd

Thank you for the insight. The local butcher we are going to is a good friend of our neighbors and has already quoted us a lower price. They do not cure meat but I do so I will be doing my hams and bacon. Bulk sausage is also included in the main price and is not extra. Their normal butcher cost for a 250lb hog is $156 slaughter/cut/wrapped with no extra cased sausage or patties. The feed we are getting is $10 for 50lbs from the local feed mill and is antibiotic free. We will also be picky about the kitchen scraps we give in order to not have as mich fat.


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## Red the butcher

Ya thats about right on butcher cost. You do your own cures, nice! Do you have a chamber? Thats a good deal on feed. We are 50 bucks for 350 pounds of grain, thats like 7 dollars and change per 50 pounds. Im still betting when you get all your meat back you will be 3 bucks a pound all said and done. Thats going on the actual amount of meat you get back from a 250 pound hog not the hanging weight. But my fingers are crossed for ya!


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## Mike Todd

I really appreciate the input and your experience. $3lb won't be bad, I am just always trying to get the max I can. I will be building a larger smokehouse this year. I use both a vertical smoker and an adapter for cold smoking. I haven't done it on this large of a scale but I am up for the challenge. Any tips or advice on curing would be great!


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## Red the butcher

Mike Todd said:


> I really appreciate the input and your experience. $3lb won't be bad, I am just always trying to get the max I can. I will be building a larger smokehouse this year. I use both a vertical smoker and an adapter for cold smoking. I haven't done it on this large of a scale but I am up for the challenge. Any tips or advice on curing would be great!


 Bacon cure for me is 1 gallon maple syrup, 2 pounds fine sea salt, 2 pounds brown sugar, 2 tbs pepper. Then add water till bacon is covered. This is a great bacon cure. I go minimum 5 days soak. Then a good hot smoke. Works good on ham too but isn't the best. Does make the best bacon in my opinion. Im working on a better ham cure but im starting to think aged is the best. So im getting everything together to build a curing chamber. My only advise would be to smoke with apple and maple wood. I find it has a perfect smoke flavor with those woods. And make sute you hit your temps. What is your wood of choice?


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## Mike Todd

I also prefer Apple for pork. I use it for my ribs and butts. I grew up in the south so we also used a lot of hickory as well. I have dabbled with Cherry for bacon but it is harder for me to find.


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## Baymule

Red the butcher said:


> Bacon cure for me is 1 gallon maple syrup, 2 pounds fine sea salt, 2 pounds brown sugar, 2 tbs pepper. Then add water till bacon is covered. This is a great bacon cure. I go minimum 5 days soak. Then a good hot smoke. Works good on ham too but isn't the best. Does make the best bacon in my opinion. Im working on a better ham cure but im starting to think aged is the best. So im getting everything together to build a curing chamber. My only advise would be to smoke with apple and maple wood. I find it has a perfect smoke flavor with those woods. And make sute you hit your temps. What is your wood of choice?



A gallon of maple syrup? Haha, in Texas we are somewhat maple syrup challenged, not to mention apple and maple wood deficit as well. I have thought about curing and smoking my own bacon and your post is very inspiring. We have a Coleman Extreme ice cooler and our neighbor has an ice machine, so even with our hot weather, the soaking in water could be done. If I couldn't lay my hands on a gallon of maple syrup, what else would you recommend? I suppose I would have to use oak and hickory wood for smoking.

We have a date set of August 29 for taking the pigs to slaughter, but I am leaning towards trying to slaughter my own. Would it be too much to ask you for a slaughter thread? (and @tag me so I can find it?)


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## Mike Todd

+1 on a slaughter thread. The neighbor and I have talked about it some. We both process deer and chickens so how much more differen can a hog be? LoL.


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## Baymule

I've cut up feral hogs, but that's not exactly making bacon and pork chops, LOL. I've processed deer into steaks and stuffed smoked sausage, just don't get it when people take a deer to a processor, they are pretty easy.


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## Red the butcher

The mason jars are my half of this years maple syrup run. And the other pic is my syrup arch. We got a late start this year so thats all the homemade syrup i got. Realizing now just how spoiled i am with being able to do that. God i love new England! hate hate hate the taxes but love this place! As far as a substitute for maple syrup. ..... I guess you could use the fake stuff but that just seams so wrong to me. Pigs are very very easy to butcher. I do everything with my knife and a sawzal blade attached to a handle. I can work on a wright up. Same as a deer or any critter really. I learned to do it because i couldn't justify paying 300 bucks to raise a pig then another 300 to process it. Just nuts in my book. Plus i make good money at it. Get an old fridge from craigslist that works and make a cooler out of it. Thats what i hang mine in. Ill get sone pics and work on a thread.


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## Bossroo

Yes, pigs are easy to butcher, however I would recomend that you have a flame throwing type of torch to burn off the pig's hair after you  dispatch the pig and before you evicerate it. much easier, faster and more sanitary too.  Pig skin , pig nuckles, and head are VERY TASTEY too.  Everything but the squeel on the pig is edible !


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## OneFineAcre

Mike Todd said:


> Exactly. Plus they already had the fencing so we are both in it for a lower cost. We are hoping to feed the pigs out to 250-300lbs and my hope is to be in each pig for $2 a pound butchered. I work in a skilled nursing facility with two kitchens and will be getting green scraps from them every day. Part will go to my chickens and part to the pigs to keep feed cost down.



That's doable.
I just did 3 and had $1.59/lb hanging weight in the first one.  I had $365 total in him and his hanging weight was 230. It was $35 for the pig, $130 for feed and $200 for slaughter, butcher and vacuum packing.  Bacon is uncured, but it includes sausage.

I didn't feed any scraps.   I get pig feed for $9/50lbs from local mill.

Due to logistics the 2nd went 2 weeks later, and the 3rd 2 weeks after that.  I cut back on how much they were being fed, but still had a little more in them.  They were 230, 225, and 235 lbs hanging weight.
This is the first one.  We had all of the sausage made into patty.  Gave Maurine's mom and dad the 2nd one.  We had the last one all made into link sausage.


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## frustratedearthmother

You must have a really big freezer!!  (or 3)


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## OneFineAcre

frustratedearthmother said:


> You must have a really big freezer!!  (or 3)



I have a big chest freezer and another small chest freezer.
Going to need to make some room when we take the steers.
That had to be scheduled 3 months in advance and the date is July 11th.


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## Red the butcher

Bossroo said:


> Yes, pigs are easy to butcher, however I would recomend that you have a flame throwing type of torch to burn off the pig's hair after you  dispatch the pig and before you evicerate it. much easier, faster and more sanitary too.  Pig skin , pig nuckles, and head are VERY TASTEY too.  Everything but the squeel on the pig is edible !


Why would you lrave the skin on? They then hang the pig with skin and you pay to cut and wrap it while 95 percent of it ends up in the gut pile.


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## Red the butcher

OneFineAcre said:


> I have a big chest freezer and another small chest freezer.
> Going to need to make some room when we take the steers.
> That had to be scheduled 3 months in advance and the date is July 11th.


Seams like your math was done by hanging weight. Hanging weight and what you get back for actual meat are not the same. I do all my math by the actual meat i get to eat.


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## OneFineAcre

Red the butcher said:


> Seams like your math was done by hanging weight. Hanging weight and what you get back for actual meat are not the same. I do all my math by the actual meat i get to eat.


I'm pretty sure I said "hanging weight"
$1.59 a lb hanging weight
i got the head, feet, and Fatback
I didn't differentiate the cuts no


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## OneFineAcre

Red the butcher said:


> Why would you lrave the skin on? They then hang the pig with skin and you pay to cut and wrap it while 95 percent of it ends up in the gut pile.



95 percent of the skin doesn't go in the gut pile here
Must be a local thing
Here the hog goes into an area and gets a nice bath to remove mud etc
Then he goes to another area and is humanely killed
He goes on a big hoist and is dipped in scalding water
Hair is scraped and then gutted
Hangs for a couple of days in a cooler at about 36 degrees or whatever schedule allows
Then is cut up
The skin on all of the ham and shoulder cuts remain
The only skin tossed is on the back


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## Red the butcher

Yes i know what stays on for skin. Im a butcher and slaughterman. Leaving the skin on these days is mostly a gimmick to get the costomer to pay more for hanging weight. Unless you are doing a roaster there really is no point. As a butcher i love it when a customer wants me to scald. I make way more money. All i was saying about your math was that when figuring what your price per pound is for your final product, hanging weight doesn't matter. The weight of the meat you can get back is what matters. Since we were talking about how cheap you could end up raising a pig for i thought you were commenting on that.


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## Baymule

We got a half inch of rain at 4 AM and it came down hard. I took my 3 gallon bucket this morning, and filled it with glass shards, metal, cans and rusted parts from unknown cars that used to run. The pigs root up 60 year old burn piles and the rain helps expose the trash. Makes it easy to pick up! 

Their mud hole was full of water, so they had an open spa! While Spot was soaking in the spa, Red came over and gave him a snout massage!


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## lcertuche

I keep thinking someday I might try to butcher a pig. I've watched a lot of Scott Rea video's on YouTube. Maybe I could watch it on the laptop and try to follow along, hitting pause (a lot). Anyway I've butchered chickens, rabbits, and a lot of deer.


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## OneFineAcre

lcertuche said:


> I keep thinking someday I might try to butcher a pig. I've watched a lot of Scott Rea video's on YouTube. Maybe I could watch it on the laptop and try to follow along, hitting pause (a lot). Anyway I've butchered chickens, rabbits, and a lot of deer.


My grandfather and all of his siblings were farmers and lived within a few miles of each other
In the fall the whole extended family got together and "killed hogs"
They all had smokehouses
They'd do like 20-25 on a Saturday


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## Mike CHS

We went in with our neighbors one year and butchered 4 hogs but they "butchered" the processing and we elected not to do that again. Pork is my favorite meat but I can only eat so much sausage.


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## Red the butcher

It's so easy. If you can do a deer you can do a pig. Anyone I've ever taught says the same thing when its all over, man that was easier than i thought.


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## Baymule

Today is Slaughter day. Be back later!


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## Mini Horses

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 of hams.

Then, home to my own chill,  knives, sawzall & vacuum sealer.   Since I had 2 it was a job but, they were small AGH hogs, so doable.  Next time I would pick up only 1 at a time!   Meat has been great....leaf lard rendered beautifully.

My bacon slabs are sealed/frozen & waiting for me to cure.   So, I really appreciate your cure recipe as I don't want to use chemicals I don't need.   I'll reduce the amount proportionately, making less, and do a slab for a test.   Thanks!!


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## lcertuche

I think everyone's Granddaddy's family did hogs this way. I know Daddy and his friends use to butcher hogs and well deer, squirrel, rabbits, and chickens.


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## Latestarter

Hey Bay... I thought the soonest date you could get was like July or August? pork chop day already? That was fast! Seems like you just got them...


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## OneFineAcre

Mike CHS said:


> We went in with our neighbors one year and butchered 4 hogs but they "butchered" the processing and we elected not to do that again. Pork is my favorite meat but I can only eat so much sausage.


With the 2 hogs in our freezer you can imagine how much sausage we have 
I have recouped most of what I had in the 2 hogs total by selling half of the sausage
Of course my wife manages a Farmers Market 
The steers are scheduled for July 11


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## Baymule

The closest slaughter date I could get is August 29. These pigs are eating like PIGS!  Since these are "neighborhood pigs" we slaughtered one today. Friday we plan on doing another, I'll do the processing since my neighbor doesn't know how. When I am through with his, we'll do ours. No way I am keeping them until August 29.

Betsy bit the dust today. Our neighbor Robert shot her in the head. He and BJ snatched her out of the pig pasture with the tractor, then we hung her with the front end loader. I washed and scrubbed her down to remove any dirt or mud, then we got busy skinning her. Jennifer is Filipino, under 5' and weighs 80 pounds. Her husband Jimmy is 6'7" and 300 pounds. They have 3 boys. Skinning Betsy wasn't very easy. That pig skin was on there tight and not a lot of fat, so we had to be careful not to cut into the meat. We gutted her and let the guts fall into a big tub. We cut off the loin, shoulders, ribs and hams. We packed them in ice as we went. BJ and Robert were helpful, but mostly they watched in awe as "the girls" tackled that big hog. LOL

Pictures to follow. If you can't handle seeing animals being cut into meat, stop here and go read something else.


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## Baymule

There are pictures of a hog being slaughtered and cut up for meat. If you don't want to see it, stop NOW.

You have been warned, so if you don't like what you see, shut up and go whine to someone who cares.


Robert and Jennifer cut her head off and bled her out.




 

We started skinning.



 




 




 

Almost got the skin off!


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## Baymule

My thoughtful husband brought me iced tea and Jennifer a bottle of water, but we never stopped. Robert used his saw-zall on some of the bony parts. It did ok, not great, just ok. Note to self-get a bone saw.

After gutting the pig, I sprayed the carcass to both clean and cool it. For all the flies we have had lately from all the rain, we only got ONE fly, just ONE! Jennifer even brought an old sheet to drape the carcass if needed to keep it covered for flies. But we didn't need it.

I didn't know how to cut pork chops, but both of us have cut the backstrap from deer, so we got after it. We cut the shoulders off, packing in ice as we went.





I cut the tenderloin out.





Finally there was only the hams left.


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## Baymule

She wasn't going to try to make ham, so I told her to cut them up for roasts. BJ and I followed her home, unloaded our ice chest and her Yeti ice chest. She got right to work! Her boys were hungry so she put a roast in the oven to cook while she processed meat. I loaned her my meat grinder and she ground the scraps as she went. Tomorrow she'll make a brine for the bacon. We'll smoke it on our pit. Robert bought a meat slicer for this happy event.


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## Baymule

One down, two to go.


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## Mike CHS

It doesn't look like the girls needed any help.  Kind of like us here,  I know when to stay out of the way.


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## Baymule

We went to Gander Mountain today and bought a 22" meat/bone saw. Gander Mountain is going out of business, last day is end of August. Then they will remodel, rebrand and open up as Gander Outdoors. Everything is marked down. We were told they will mark down again either this or next Thursday. We'll go back for ammo.


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## Mini Horses

Dang -- you're on a roll girl!!   Rabbits, hogs.......no one better get in your way on that farm 

Chops -- best to let the whole section lay in the freezer to get really, really cold, then cut at backbone end with a saw the thickness you want them, finish thru with a sharp knife.  I they are close to freeze on outer edges they will cut thru nicely.  At least that's what I found worked for me.  Of course, you can remove the whole loin & cut into chops, then use the bone with remaining meat on grill.
I know you have this figured out!   

That little gal looks like she jumps right into the work at hand.  Nice to have good help.


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## Baymule

She texted me this evening, she was making tacos with the ground pork. She said it was so tender and had such a good flavor. I'm really wanting to take a bite out of our hog, but he'd probably bite me back.


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## Baymule

Hog #2 is on ice. Processing commences tomorrow at 1:00 PM. Can't wait to get #3 done-that one is ours!

Got pickles simmering on the stove and will be canning them in a couple hours. Then keeping grand daughters tonight so their parents can get some much needed sleep. 

While Jennifer and I slaughtered the hog, my husband and neighbor Robert put our smoker pit together.


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## OneFineAcre

You're just a hog killing machine Bay


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## Mini Horses

Thankfully mine were done a while back  --- BUT  I did cook a shoulder from one today, sliced some and have rest working to become pulled pork BBQ.  Good stuff!

Getting ready to make some of those frozen slabs in bacon.  Need to buy some more salt, all else here.


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## Baymule

OneFineAcre said:


> You're just a hog killing machine Bay


Closest slaughter date I was able to get was August 29! And I called in first of May! No way I'm keeping them until end of August. So we just tackled them ourselves.


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## Mini Horses

So -- the guys set up a "smoker"....does that mean you are smoking your bacon?  hams?  We need to know 

Utube had a guy who smoked his using a bucket of wood set on top of a propane heater like you use for turkey frying....looked like a little outhouse building he was using to hang them.  LOL.  Have everything for the rub/soak, just have to decide how I want to then dry it.   Have a small smoker grill.  Need a day to watch temps and do.


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## Baymule

We took the afternoon off yesterday. I was near a state of paralysis and it felt good to waste away in my recliner LOL. We just finished cutting and vacuum sealing Robert's hog. Still have to grind sausage. I cut each shoulder into two roasts and the leg shanks into soup bones. We cut the boneless loin in steaks, hams made fresh ham steaks, sausage trimmings and soup bones. We packaged the ribs. It is some real pretty meat and our neighbor is so pleased.


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## Mike CHS

That is some pretty meat.  We are going to slaughter one of our wethers in the next day or so.  He was one that had some flimsy looking horns from who knows where that got broke off and needs tending to.  He was slated for slaughter anyway just not until next month.


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## Baymule

@Mike CHS are you butchering him yourselves?


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## Mike CHS

We are.  We have an appointment mid July for another but this wether will wind up with some infection if we don't put him down soon and he already has some good size.


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## Baymule

Mike CHS said:


> We are.  We have an appointment mid July for another but this wether will wind up with some infection if we don't put him down soon and he already has some good size.


Take pictures! I might get brave enough to butcher a wether some day.


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## luvmypets

Ya'll are taunting me with pork, unlike most hogs our mangalitsas take 12-15 months to mature. 100% worth it but the wait is killing me!


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## Baymule

luvmypets said:


> Ya'll are taunting me with pork, unlike most hogs our mangalitsas take 12-15 months to mature. 100% worth it but the wait is killing me!


Our Red Wattle hogs are 8 months old. They don't grow as fast as commercial hogs either, but they don't take as long as yours. Slaughter time will be here before you know it!


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## Mini Horses

That's some pretty meat -- I'm sure neighbor IS happy.  LOL   I also am quite sure, several days of butchering & chores that go with it has taken a toll on energy.   Rest up.  You still have your own to do, right?

SO -- anyone eaten goat meat lately?  Been years since I have & it was BBQ, so spices pretty well took over.   What taste can you compare it to?  Have had one say venison but, not gamey.  Since I rarely at that & also been many years, no help.

Opinions anyone?


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## Baymule

Was going to slaughter our hog this morning.......raining, thunder and lightening. Not what I wanted!  Hoping it will blow through and we can get busy.

Goat meat. I've had it, but it was long ago. I would be up for trying it again, but I don't have goats.


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## Mike CHS

We cooked up some goat when we did pork shoulders not long ago and folks that got some were raving about how good it was.  We originally wanted a couple of dairy goats but now that we have things semi under control we may buy one meat goat for the freezer and let it go at that for awhile.


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## misfitmorgan

We ate goat when i lived in greece. The first thing i ever ate when i arrived there was a special meal of a kid goat roasted whole and stuffed with wild rice and seasonings. I was rather horrified at first but it was delicious.

We also ate a lot of lamb....not mutton but lamb and it was always good.

Their take on meat is quite different, if its a small critter it looks like said small critter. Their meat cases have whole rabbits with head on and their hind feet are left on with the fur. Chickens have feet and heads left on. I thought well that would be a pain in the butt but the butcher behind the counter chops off those parts before packaging the meat, apparently the point is something to do with health, treatment and quality of the animals.

Oddly they also do not refrigerate eggs in the store...they just sit out on the shelf that was a shock too lol.

I would also point out any commercial meat i had over there and eggs to tasted better then commercial meats/eggs here in the states. Their meat chickens were like our heritage chickens, and eggs like our farm eggs.

As far as how goat tastes, other then delicious its kinda hard to describe. Sort of like a cross between elk and lamb maybe but greasy...greasy in a good way not like say bear meat greasy maybe more like duck greasy lol.

Yep i'm sure that description helped a lot lol.


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## Baymule

Hog #3 AKA Spot, is on ice. It rained this morning and cooled down to the mid 80's. It was cloudy also, which kept the sun off us. As we finished, the sun broke through. God is good.

Robert and I skinning the hog. My husband helped too. I am proud of him for pitching in. It's not something he's ever done before. He helps, but this time he helped skin and cut the meat!




 

I cut the loins out. Haha the caption on my T-shirt reads, Not your average chick. LOL I can't count the times I banged my head on the tractor bucket.


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## OneFineAcre

Like I said a pure hog killing machine you are.


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## Baymule

OneFineAcre said:


> Like I said a pure hog killing machine you are.



I didn't kill the pigs. Our neighbor is a Viet Nam vet and was a sharpshooter. Who better to shoot the hog? One shot and the hog dropped like a rock.

This is the last one for a long time. Might get feeder pigs again in fall of 2018. Spot probably weighed over 300 pounds on the hoof, that's a lot of meat for the freezer.


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## Mini Horses

Gal, that is one BIG pig!!!


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## Mike CHS

That is a lot of pork.  Our half of the steer we processed came out to 350 pounds and filled our biggest freezer.


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## Baymule

I'm going to cut it into pork roast, cut the loins into boneless chops, sausage-pan and smoked link, and bacon. We're not that crazy over ham, so we won't miss it.

I love a pork roast, I cut slits in the meat and insert garlic cloves on both sides of the roast, rub with powdered ginger and pop in the oven.  Make some brown gravy and mashed 'taters.....


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## luvmypets

We are finishing our hogs, only a few more weeks


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## OneFineAcre

Since you are cutting out the loin and having boneless chops
What are you doing with those back bones ?


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## OneFineAcre

Another thing
We had to make the appointment for the steers 3 months in advance
You said the slaughterhouse couldn't take your hogs until
Aug 29th
Is this a nationwide thing about demand for slaughtering and butchering 
I know it's a tough business but it seems to have more demand than supply


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## Baymule

We tossed the backbone. It didn't have much left on it by the time I got through with it. Why?


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## Baymule

We use a Mennonite owned slaughter facility. They are honest, fairly priced and the boys (teenagers) are taking over the business from their father. We are taking 3 lambs there in September.


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## OneFineAcre

Baymule said:


> We tossed the backbone. It didn't have much left on it by the time I got through with it. Why?


My family owned a fish market many years ago
When we filleted grey tout for restaurant orders those bones got saved and fried at our house


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## misfitmorgan

Nice looking pork @Baymule 

It does seem like the demand wouldnt be to high for slaughter but every butcher and slaughterhouse here is pretty much booked up from May to February. You either do the butchering yourself and find a friend to help or call way ahead if your gonna butcher anything within that window. I know for nov to feb it is hunting that keeps them busy, and from july-oct is 4-h livestock and those who raise their own or buy farm raised beef/pork/lamb. Not sure how it is down there but up here some places only have one person who works at them and they might hire in another guy or two for the busiest part of the season.

I have however noticed what i would consider an odd thing occurring over the past 4yrs. With the increase in backyard farming and hobby farms, farm to table movement, etc the butchers/slaughterhouses here are seeing an ever increasing number of poultry and rabbits being brought in which until fairly recently was pretty unheard of, at least here. The poultry take longer to process then large livestock and require more clean up of the facilities as well as it taking more time to break down and package poulty/rabbits. The one butcher will not accept more then half a dozen poultry or more then a dozen rabbits at once because it is just him and he says he doesnt have the time to do more then that at once with other critters in for slaughter.


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## Baymule

@OneFineAcre I see why you asked. On a fish fillet, there is still a lot of meat left on the bones. I have even boiled them and made fish soup. But I took the ribs off for packaging. There wasn't hardly a shred of meat left on that backbone! 

@misfitmorgan the slaughter houses here run at full tilt. I don't know of anywhere you could take your own poultry or rabbits. Sanderson (chicken) is opening 3 plants here, a feed mill, hatchery, and a chicken processing plant. It is expected to add 1700 jobs. They are looking for farmers to raise their meat chicks. Places like that will not accept home raised poultry in their facilities and that is the only type of poultry processors there are.

After slaughtering 3 hogs in a week, I am tired and still have to process ours. I am not against doing this again. But I will not raise summer hogs again. It is just too hot here. Our neighbor Robert said that he can now understand why they charge so much to process a hog! LOL


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## misfitmorgan

Baymule said:


> @OneFineAcre I see why you asked. On a fish fillet, there is still a lot of meat left on the bones. I have even boiled them and made fish soup. But I took the ribs off for packaging. There wasn't hardly a shred of meat left on that backbone!
> 
> @misfitmorgan the slaughter houses here run at full tilt. I don't know of anywhere you could take your own poultry or rabbits. Sanderson (chicken) is opening 3 plants here, a feed mill, hatchery, and a chicken processing plant. It is expected to add 1700 jobs. They are looking for farmers to raise their meat chicks. Places like that will not accept home raised poultry in their facilities and that is the only type of poultry processors there are.
> 
> After slaughtering 3 hogs in a week, I am tired and still have to process ours. I am not against doing this again. But I will not raise summer hogs again. It is just too hot here. Our neighbor Robert said that he can now understand why they charge so much to process a hog! LOL



Not all butchers here will take poultry or rabbits but most will. If they are super busy they will tell you no because they make more on large livestock with less mess. If your raising for wholesale to stores or restaurants you are required to take them to be USDA inspected so the USDA slaughterhouses take them in large numbers.


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## Hillaire

the butcher I use has quit doing poultry and deer focuses on beef and pigs.  He still does my deer though because I was one of his first customers


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## Baymule

Just sat down with a glass of iced tea. Robert came over at 12:30 and we ground his sausage meat. We seasoned it and fried a patty for a taste test. Then we made stuffed sausage and bagged up pan sausage. He enjoyed the process, especially learning how to process meat for himself. I'll start on ours tomorrow.


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## Mike CHS

Our butcher made a slot for our wether to get butchered tomorrow.  I love small towns where everyone knows everyone and business go out of their way to please their customers.


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## Simpleterrier

We have at least ten butcher shop within 20 miles from.our house and to get a hog butchered you have to call around the time u get it in May or June to have a fall kill


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## goatgurl

good job bay.  haven't done my own hog butchering for years and years.  now I remember why.  and I think that it is great that you and DH are teaching others how to take care of themselves.  the butcher I use can usually get our animals in for slaughter within a few days except from mid October to mid December when they are full to the gills with deer so we just have to make sure to have things ready to go before or after those dates.  I don't know of anyone around here who will process rabbits or chickens.  that falls to us to do.  I sent mama penny pig to freezer camp a little while back so only the bacon bit is left here.  not sure when he will go.


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## Baymule

Today was processing day. I sharpened up my knives, got out the bone saw and hacksaw. 




 

I wrapped the hams and put them in the freezer. Then I went outside to do my morning chores. I fed and watered animals. I picked delicata squash, fire log sized zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers. I brought in 3 large wash pans from the garden! 

I got a ham out of the freezer. 



 

I went to work, I cut it in half, using the hack saw. I cut 4 center cut fresh ham steaks. I cut off the leg shank for soup bone. I deboned the rest of the meat for sausage. I cut the leg bone in 3 pieces for soup bones. 



 

I wrapped the bones in Glad Wrap to keep the bone sharp edges from poking holes in the vacuum sealed bags.



 

Then I sealed it up.



 

I wound up with a lot of real nice meat. I did both hams. 



 

The sausage meat is in the ice chest waiting on me for a fun time in the morning.


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## Baymule

I went outside to the ice chest and got the loins and brought them inside. I washed them and laid one on the counter. I put several layers of butcher paper under it. Starting with the hams, every time I got another hunk of meat, I laid down more butcher paper. 




 

I sliced it. I laid the pieces on paper towels and laid more paper towels on top. I blotted the meat to get as much water off as I could. This gave a drier and better seal on the Foodsaver.



 

I packaged both loins, 6 or 7 to a package. I got 13 packages.



 

I packaged the ribs into 4 packages. I brought in a shoulder and cut off the leg shank. I cut the shoulder in half for roast. I cut the other shoulder the same. 

I've had a pot of fat simmering on the stove all day. I put a little water in the pot so I wouldn't scorch the fat. I suppose I am rendering the lard. I dunno. And I guess I'll pour it in jars tomorrow and seal it up. I'm too cotton pickin' tired to fool with it now. And the good news is--I got a lot more fat!


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## misfitmorgan

Wow nice job Bay!!

I believe the blade on your bone saw looks much finer then the blade on mine. I will have to look when i get home but i know ours goes thru bone like a dream 1.5 slices and it was thru a thigh bone.


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## Baymule

My husband started a fire in the smoker at 6:30 this morning. Our neighbor Jennifer, dropped her bacon off on her way to work. We smoked it for her. My husband smoked our bacon, low and slow while I ran the meat grinder. 



 

On one of DH's trips through the house, he got the bathroom scale and we weighed the ground meat. It weighed 22 pounds. I added the spice mix. 



 

I stirred the spice mix in the meat. 



 

I cooked a patty for a taste test. We each ate half and it was good!


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## Baymule

The bacon smelled so good! It got all brown and smoked. I would go get a slab when DH pronounced it done and I took another slab back to him. 



 

I just had to cut some, not easy to do--hot bacon is slick and squooshy. 



 

Then of course I just had to cook some of my irregular cut squooshy bacon. 



 

DH worked hard all day, tending the fire and the meat. A few months ago, there was a display of smoker pits at Walmart for $99. We bought one. While we can't lay a whole hog on it, why would we want to? It rolled the smoke and made the whole neighborhood smell good. DH maintained the temperature and kept the fire from getting too hot. Somebody forgot to turn off the heat outside and it was hot!



 

We put the smoker under the carport because we were supposed to get lots of rain from a tropical storm, but we only got a few showers.


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## Baymule

I made the stuffed sausage. 



DHsmoked it to perfection ! 



I bagged up the pan sausage. I used a small bowl to measure the amount of sausage per bag.





I got 8 bags.


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## Baymule

We finished up at 4:30. We took showers, ate and collapsed. Tomorrow I will bag the smoked stuffed sausage, it was too hot and juicy. It's in the refrigerator with the bacon. We. Are. Tired.


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## OneFineAcre

Bay the Butcher


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## Mike CHS

That wore me out and all I did today was cook us some rib eye steaks because of the rain all day.  I did brush some bacon grease on them before throwing them on the grill though.


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## HomeOnTheRange

Thanks for sharing @Baymule!!  All of that looks great.  A picture truly is worth a thousand words and allows us newbies (in the pig world) to see the actual process.


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## Baymule

HomeOnTheRange said:


> Thanks for sharing @Baymule!!  All of that looks great.  A picture truly is worth a thousand words and allows us newbies (in the pig world) to see the actual process.


We're pig newbies too. This is the second batch of pigs we have raised since we moved here. The first ones we had processed and called it good. This time, the slaughter date was so far off, they were eating 100 pounds in 2-3 days, it is hot, they drank water like camels, it was hot, we sprayed them down 4-5 ties a day.....did I mention the heat? LOL I have butchered feral pigs, deer, chickens, rabbits, and ducks. I have never butchered a domestic hog. A feral hog, you just grind it all up and make sausage, a domestic hog--I _did_ want some identifiable cuts! I thought maybe pictures might help some one else that decided to take the road to madness.


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## OneFineAcre

Oh I could do it no question 
But I will not likely do it in the foreseeable future 
I may do a 50 lb goat


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## goatgurl

excellent job bay, you and dh worked your backsides off.  we picked up penny the pig from the butchers today.  she was 265# dressed weight.  for kill, skin, cut and wrap the total was $142.50.  my portion was half of that.   $71.25 was not bad for 133 # of meat.  easier to pay them then try to do it all myself.  I always chill and grind my fat before I render it.  smaller pieces take less time.  I hope you saved all the cracklies  in the bottom of the pan after the lard was rendered, sooo good in corn bread.


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## Baymule

I cooked one of those stuffed sausages tonight. 




 

We sliced it in half and put it on a bun with home grown onion and home made pickles. It was fantastic! Best smoked sausage ever! I ate two!!


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## Mike CHS

It looks and sounds like you got a bit of rest.  That sandwich made me hungry.


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## OneFineAcre

Rachel is sick of pork
TBone and Ribeye have their date  on July 6th


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## Baymule

Mike CHS said:


> It looks and sounds like you got a bit of rest.  That sandwich made me hungry.


Yeah, today was a day of rest. We kept the 3 grand daughters, 10, 2 and 9 months so our daughter and son in law could get packed up for a trip to Missouri. It was nice to just stay inside under the AC, play with the kids and not attacking a major project.

@OneFineAcre we buy rib eyes and hamburger on sale. Right now our freezer is packed to the top. I got to thinking about it and we have (our) lamb, beef, (our) chicken, (our) duck, (our) pork and domestic rabbit.


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## goatgurl

bay, you always have that little knack of making my hungry.  that sausage looks so good.  years and years ago I had some friends that were fresh off the boat Italians and every fall we would butcher a hog and two wethers.  they took the goats and part of the pork home with them, ground it up, seasoned it, stuffed it and smoked it with apple wood.  they would never tell me all the spices they used, said it was their family secret.  what ever it was they used it was the best stuff you ever wrapped your lips around. I've never been able to duplicate the flavor.


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## HomeOnTheRange

goatgurl said:


> bay, you always have that little knack of making my hungry.


X2  Thanks looks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!


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## Baymule

Just finished slicing and packaging the bacon. We got 22 bags of 10-12 slices per bag.


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## TAH

Baymule said:


> Just finished slicing and packaging the bacon. We got 22 bags of 10-12 slices per bag.
> 
> View attachment 36131




So fatty!


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## Mike CHS

What was considered "done" when your DH was smoking the bacon.  Did he go by temp or something else.  I haven't tried to do my own bacon but I have access to fresh pork quarters and might try the bacon myself.


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## Baymule

I told him not to let the temp get too high, didn't want it roasted! He kept the temp from 150 degrees to under 200 degrees for 2 hours per half side. We only put a half side, cut in half on the pit at a time.


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## Mike CHS

Thanks - that gives me a pretty good idea what you were shooting for.


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## Baymule

Keeping our 10 month old and 2 year old grand daughters today. I pulled them around in the wagon. The 2 year old wanted to see the pigs. 
Catherine: I want to see the pigs.
Mamaw: We don't have them anymore.
C: you don't?
M: we made them into meat and they are in the freezer. 
C: in the freezer? Eat the pigs!
M: do you like bacon?
C: yes
M: I will cook you some. It came from our pig Spot. 

We went in the house and I got out a package of bacon. I defrosted it then baked it in the oven. We kept a conversation going about growing pigs and eating them. I gave her a piece of bacon and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Then she had a jelly sandwich made with Mamaw's jelly. God is good.


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## Mike CHS

If we had a Post of The Day thread I would recommend your post @Baymule.


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## Baymule

We gave our daughter some bacon when she got here to pick up the girls. She went back for seconds and kept saying how good it was. She said bacon like that couldn't be found even in a gourmet restaurant. We sent her home with some bacon, loin, and smoked sausage.


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## misfitmorgan

Looks delicious Bay!!


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## mystang89

@Baymule I've read through his you BUTCHERED the pic but the friend of mine is saying the pig needs to sit in a brine, in the fridge, for a couple of weeks to cure. Can you tell me what you do after you get the pig skinned. Do you immediately cut it into pieces and then freeze? What is the process after it's gutted to when it's finished?


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## Baymule

@mystang89  I did not brine the meat. What I did was to place the quartered pieces on ice in large ice chests. If you wanted to do this, then shake some salt over the top. As the ice melts, the salt will mix up with the ice water and brine your meat. Or you can dissolve salt in some water and pour it in the ice chest.  All it does is draw the blood out of the meat, but if you hung the carcass and bled it out immediately after shooting the hog, then that is really not needed. I have brined deer carcasses in ice water, draining the water and adding ice daily to soak the blood out of the meat. With the hog, I drained the ice chest daily and added more ice for a couple of days. But that was because I was helping to process the second pig that was slaughtered.

If you soak the pig meat in the refrigerator for a_ couple of weeks_ in brine, then you are going to wind up with some slimy, nasty, well on it's way to being spoiled meat.  If Mr. Friend knows so much, give him his pig and let him have at it. But for_ yours,_ let's operate a little smarter. It is not necessary to brine the meat at all, nor do you need to soak it in ice for days and days. I'd say that you could start processing the next day or two after getting it packed on ice. I certainly didn't waste any time getting mine in the freezer. What was left in the ice chest was all the pieces I ground for sausage. I packed some for pan sausage and some I stuffed and DH smoked on the pit. 

On the bacon, cut all you can off the ribs down to the belly. Then cut into several more manageable pieces. THIS you brine in the refrigerator for several days-a week and you are getting up to the line on the slimy ick. Not there, just getting up to it, so if you brine the bacon for a week, you are still safe, but I wouldn't go over that. Smoke it low (150 to 200 degrees) and slow. Smoke it no less than 2 hours, longer is better, like up to 4-6 hours. But if you are tired and just want to git 'er done, 2-3 hours is still good.

Be careful with salt rubs. I followed directions on one slab of bacon, rubbing salt into the meat as described and would up with bacon so salty that we could barely eat it.

If you have any more questions I will be happy to help. I am no pig butchering expert, but I did it and we ate it.


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## Latestarter

The aging process I believe is more important for wild hogs as opposed to home raised.


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