Oinkers! Sooeee!

[CuzChickens]

Who here raises pigs? Knowing all these animal loving folks, we gotta have a handful of pig people on here! We currently have three we are getting ready to harvest in the next few months, hopefully as it starts to get cold enough to cure some hams! Here they are as babies, I'll try to upload some current pictures later.

Share your pig pictures, experiences, stories, anything you'd like to share!

ALL BYC RULES APPLY

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They look nice and like they have a good place to live with lots of greenery.
How old are they now?
Are you going to butcher one at a time or all at once?
Growing up shoats for harvest is a fairly straightforward process. Boars, sows and piglets adds new dimensions.
I haven't raise pigs for a long time but as a boy, my job was castration of all the barrows. That was usually about a hundred a year.

You may want to visit this sister site.
http://www.backyardherds.com/

 

[CuzChickens]

Hi Chicken Canoe!

I really want to join Backyard Herds, I might get around to it someday!

They are 7 months old. (Approximately)

See the white/pink piglet on the far left? He has grown to be much bigger than the other two,so we'll harvest him first, give the others a chance to get bigger without him bullying, and then we plan to do the other two at the same time.

Yeah, I'm glad all we do is buy weanlings from someone and raise them and butcher them, its pretty easy that way, and they are gone by the time winter really sets in. I don't envy anyone who has that job one bit! Feeding and watering them is fine, but castration? No thank you. Lol

 

[donrae]

Ours are already harvested and in the freezer. Or the oven, we're having Asian Sesame country style ribs tonight

We've been buying a few weaners and raising them to butcher for a couple years. We sell off one or two, usually enough to get our meat for free. Once we move, I'd like to look into keeping a sow or two, that would be a whole new dimension to pigs for us. Maybe in a year or so.....we're pretty happy just doing what we are, now.

These were our pigs from 2015....



No pics of the last batch, I guess.....

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Ours are already harvested and in the freezer. Or the oven, we're having Asian Sesame country style ribs tonight We've been buying a few weaners and raising them to butcher for a couple years. We sell off one or two, usually enough to get our meat for free. Once we move, I'd like to look into keeping a sow or two, that would be a whole new dimension to pigs for us. Maybe in a year or so.....we're pretty happy just doing what we are, now. These were our pigs from 2015.... No pics of the last batch, I guess.....

Yum!! Any chance you'd share that recipe? It sounds delicious.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hi Chicken Canoe!

I really want to join Backyard Herds, I might get around to it someday!

They are 7 months old. (Approximately)

See the white/pink piglet on the far left? He has grown to be much bigger than the other two,so we'll harvest him first, give the others a chance to get bigger without him bullying, and then we plan to do the other two at the same time.

Yeah, I'm glad all we do is buy weanlings from someone and raise them and butcher them, its pretty easy that way, and they are gone by the time winter really sets in. I don't envy anyone who has that job one bit! Feeding and watering them is fine, but castration? No thank you. Lol

Do you know how much the big one weighs approximately?

Castration is easy at about 2 weeks of age (except catching them without getting killed by the sow). My dad couldn't do it because it made him nauseous so I started at about 10. I could do one in about a minute or so while he held them and looked the other way. I described the scene once and he started to gag.
Not a good trait for a farmer.

Ours are already harvested and in the freezer. Or the oven, we're having Asian Sesame country style ribs tonight

...

 

[donrae]

Yum!! Any chance you'd share that recipe? It sounds delicious.

Well....I'll let you know how it turns out, sure

We're looking to move soon, so I'm working on cleaning out some cabinets, including some old pantry storage in the garage. Found some old salad dressings that we're never gonna use. One was Toasted Sesame Asian or something like that. Poured that over the meat, covered with foil and have it baking at 275. It's been about 3 hours, I'll give it another hour or so and check it.

Few weeks ago I butchered two roosters and did the same thing with some raspberry vinegarette dressing, in the crock pot. Turned out great.

Since I have the oven going, I put two split breasts (store bought) in a pan, poured Italian dressing over them, and have them baking with the ribs. Should all be fall-apart tender, I hope!

So, not much of a "recipe"........

 

[CuzChickens]

Hi Chicken Canoe!


I really want to join Backyard Herds, I might get around to it someday!


They are 7 months old. (Approximately)


See the white/pink piglet on the far left? He has grown to be much bigger than the other two,so we'll harvest him first, give the others a chance to get bigger without him bullying, and then we plan to do the other two at the same time.


Yeah, I'm glad all we do is buy weanlings from someone and raise them and butcher them, its pretty easy that way, and they are gone by the time winter really sets in. I don't envy anyone who has that job one bit! Feeding and watering them is fine, but castration? No thank you. Lol

Do you know how much the big one weighs approximately?

Castration is easy at about 2 weeks of age (except catching them without getting killed by the sow). My dad couldn't do it because it made him nauseous so I started at about 10. I could do one in about a minute or so while he held them and looked the other way. I described the scene once and he started to gag.
Not a good trait for a farmer.

 
Ours are already harvested and in the freezer. Or the oven, we're having Asian Sesame country style ribs tonight 

...

We are estimating the big guy is about 200#, I might try to get some measurements on him tomorrow while he is eating, if he doesn't trample me first. OK, 2 weeks sounds doable, I was thinking a 6 month old boar three times my size. I don't have a very weak stomach. Never thrown up over anything farm related, or gagged. I just don't feel comfortable trying to work with animals so much bigger than me, its not that I'm scared I guess, I just have a very deep respect for them. That's why chickens are my thing.

 

[CuzChickens]

Oh, and I finally joined BYH! My username is CuzChickens there as well.

 

[CuzChickens]

I did the string measurement on the big guy last week, and he weighs 250# we are going to feed him till he reaches 300# and then its off with his head!