New to Pigs

[Mraya]

Also two uncut mini pigs may take a while to get to butcher weight, by that time, their meat might have a funky flavor ("boar taint"). Though we did eat our 8 month old Duroc boar and he didn't taste bad.

I had herd that the taint in a mini pig is not as bad as a regular pig.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I've never come across taint and we eat adult boars fairly often.

However a mini pig for a meat pig is a very bad idea. They will not get as much fat as a normal meat pig, they also take a long time to grow. Our mini boar is a little over 2yrs old and he is still less then 50lbs. We butchered a potbelly pig who was 100+lbs and still only ended up with around 40lbs of meat.

So in 6 months time the mini pig is only likely to be around 20lbs, after butcher your only looking at less then 15lbs of meat. The amount of feed it will cost you to would be insane compared to the amount of meat. Also it would make very very tiny bacon.

If you want a small breed you should look into potbelly pigs, kunekune, or guinea hogs.

As far as price goes, yes mini pigs can be found cheap because they are pets...mostly because they cost so much to raise. You'll end up with 15-20lbs of meat you paid $15/lb for vs paying a little more for a slightly large pig and ending up with 40-50lbs of meat you paid $10/lb for. Those are just random numbers but im sure you get what i am saying.

Another consideration might be, no matter what breed(not mini or potbelly) you get you can butcher them at the size you need. So if you got a large hog breed you could butcher at 3-4 months instead of 6 months and have half the hog.

Hope it all works out for you, however you choose to go about getting some pork.

 

[Mraya]

I've never come across taint and we eat adult boars fairly often.

However a mini pig for a meat pig is a very bad idea. They will not get as much fat as a normal meat pig, they also take a long time to grow. Our mini boar is a little over 2yrs old and he is still less then 50lbs. We butchered a potbelly pig who was 100+lbs and still only ended up with around 40lbs of meat.

So in 6 months time the mini pig is only likely to be around 20lbs, after butcher your only looking at less then 15lbs of meat. The amount of feed it will cost you to would be insane compared to the amount of meat. Also it would make very very tiny bacon.

If you want a small breed you should look into potbelly pigs, kunekune, or guinea hogs.

As far as price goes, yes mini pigs can be found cheap because they are pets...mostly because they cost so much to raise. You'll end up with 15-20lbs of meat you paid $15/lb for vs paying a little more for a slightly large pig and ending up with 40-50lbs of meat you paid $10/lb for. Those are just random numbers but im sure you get what i am saying.

Another consideration might be, no matter what breed(not mini or potbelly) you get you can butcher them at the size you need. So if you got a large hog breed you could butcher at 3-4 months instead of 6 months and have half the hog.

Hope it all works out for you, however you choose to go about getting some pork.

They are pot belly pigs and I ended up getting two of them thanks for all your great info.

 

[Baymule]

Well they are cute pigs. And there a lot of people that raise pot belly pigs to eat. If you plan on keeping a sow and boar, look into American Guinea Hogs. @frustratedearthmother raises them and can tell you more details.

 

[misfitmorgan]

They are pot belly pigs and I ended up getting two of them thanks for all your great info.
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Thats good then....i was really worried about you trying to raise mini's for any kind of economical meat price. They are cute and should make you some nice bacon.

 

[Mraya]

Thats good then....i was really worried about you trying to raise mini's for any kind of economical meat price. They are cute and should make you some nice bacon.

You gave me a lot to think about so I went back and made sure of what I was getting. It turns out the guy I got them from said they were mini pigs for fear I would not want to butcher what many consider as pets not port.
Thanks again for your help
Mraya

 

[misfitmorgan]

Oh yeah some people do worry about that. We butchered a potbelly last year, for us the meat was sweeter then normal pork so i wasnt a fan of it but this pig was also almost 3yrs old and had had piglets not to long before butcher.

 

[Mraya]

Oh yeah some people do worry about that. We butchered a potbelly last year, for us the meat was sweeter then normal pork so i wasnt a fan of it but this pig was also almost 3yrs old and had had piglets not to long before butcher.

I know that is will be awhile before they are big enough to butcher. I like to think of them as" Pets with a purpose"

 

[Baymule]

It helps to give them names like Bacon, Pork Chop, Sausage......meathead......

 

[Mraya]

It helps to give them names like Bacon, Pork Chop, Sausage......meathead......

We named them Bonnie and Clyde because they gave us such a .........Hard time catching them. I was running them down in their muddy 800 sq ft pen for about an hour, all I keep thinking was Bacon, Ham, Chop....ribs....