Feeder Pigs 2017

[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!!

 

[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.

 

[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...

 

[OneFineAcre]

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

 

[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.

 

[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!

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Baymule]

One down, two to go.

 

[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.