Selfsufficientish.com

well it's that time again and no matter how many times i do it it doesn't seem to get any easier our 4 old spots are off to the abattoir tomorrow. so yesterday we set up their new house so that i can shut them in tonight for an early start in the morning i usually do it a week before and take them for a few spins first but the slaughterman phoned me yesterday and told me to bring them in sooner. so that's it first ferry tomorrow




still i can't wait to get ours back and make a start on him

They're looking good. We have a Berkshire going to slaughter next Tuesday - just for us this time. She's 28 weeks old and a bit more solid than yours, but then she's going to slaughter a couple of weeks late thanks to the FMD restrictions.



I've never found it difficult to take them to slaughter. They're nice pigs and I enjoy having them around, but I also enjoy eating them and have absolutely no qualms about having them killed.

I am hoping to put our 2 Berkshire Gilts away in 5 weeks. They will be at 23 weeks then. I am following Elaine's feeding regime - 4lb of organic pig nuts a day. Split into 2 feeds upto about 12 weeks and then down to one feed a day for the remaining 10.

They do get cucumbers, courgettes etc that are beginning to go over, although these 2 are not too fussed - they are often still lying in the evening!

I too don't mind putting them away. From day one I tell them (i.e. me!) that they are going to be tasty - feeling the meat, seeing them with "cut here" lines on them. I do feel mildly sad the first time I see their run empty though.... when they don't come running out of the woods to see you....

I will shortly be moving the pigs onto the veg acre - I let them root through it for rogue potatoes so they don't sprout in the spring. Given I had 1000 tattie plants drown in the clay soil in the June rain, there's loads of marble sized tatties for them to hoover up.

Will try for a photo too, but am on static caravan demolition duty for a couple of days.... oh joy.

Thurston Garden wrote:I am hoping to put our 2 Berkshire Gilts away in 5 weeks. They will be at 23 weeks then. I am following Elaine's feeding regime - 4lb of organic pig nuts a day. Split into 2 feeds upto about 12 weeks and then down to one feed a day for the remaining 10.

That's about same weight as we feed and ours also love clearing the potato field. Their favourite treats, though, are mangels.

I think I would find eating my own pig difficult. I dont have a problem with my chickens and I am soon to be eating a lamb that I picked out and have fed & stroked but theres something more about pigs that I think I would find hard to do.

I think I owuld be ok - though yet to be tested having not kept pigs (yet) - but I figure I either have to be ok about it, or give up pork - so looks like I will have to be ok about it!

the planets must be all lined up today my whole day has gone like clockwork. up at 6 and off for first ferry at 8, got in q at 7:30 checked pigs, asleep arrived in broadford 8:40 to post a cheque and raid cash machine, pigs still asleep stopped halfway to dingwall to phone mrs c and check pigs, still asleep gave one a prod to see if it was still alive all ok so continued onto abattoir. got them in no prob then went to look for a friends house (directions given by mrs c ) much to my amazement found it no prob. went to lidl and got everything on my list , had arranged to meet a complete stranger on the car park to buy a tow bar and he turned up bang on time just as i'd finished my shopping went to LSUK in inverness on the off chance that a part i'd ordered for landy had turned up, it had next i went to pick up a wheel for my trailer that i'd paid for in december and all but given up on. to my disbelief there it was right where the man said it would be got back to the ferry in plenty of time to find all the stuff i'd ordered from the agri merchant waiting for me got it all loaded into the trailer and home for 5:15

what IS going to go wrong tomorrow

Thurston Garden wrote:Will try for a photo too, but am on static caravan demolition duty for a couple of days.... oh joy.

Voila!

lovely berkshires guys

cheers, paul

Ours has torn an ear around her eartag, so I'm now waiting to hear from Animal Health to see if we're going to be allowed to take her to slaughter without risk of her being condemned as unfit.

Theoretically, as she's not unwell, is eating well and is in very fine fettle she should be right and only the ear would be rejected (which is okay as we don't get the head back anyway). But, if there's even the slightest sign of infection on Tuesday, then she may be rejected.

We can't give antibiotics as there's a 10-day withdrawal period, so all I can do is spray it with iodine, keep it clean and wait for a phone call.

camillitech wrote:what IS going to go wrong tomorrow

Dont ask, just rejoice in a good day and remember it when you have a bad day when everything goes wrong.

Zoe

Thomzo wrote:

camillitech wrote:what IS going to go wrong tomorrow

Dont ask, just rejoice in a good day and remember it when you have a bad day when everything goes wrong.

Zoe

well zoe, tomorrow is nearly over and apart from missing milly,molly,mandy and morris it's been a good day. took the dude (young CT) swimming and spotted these



wind turbines

then went out fishing with him and caught these



all in the one pot so they will do nicely till we get our pig back

I was surprised to see you'd hadn't hitched one of the wind turbines up to the Land Rover to haul home to add to your power generation set-up. That would power a few freezers...

Stonehead wrote:I was surprised to see you'd hadn't hitched one of the wind turbines up to the Land Rover to haul home to add to your power generation set-up. That would power a few freezers...

it had crossed my mind

camillitech wrote:and apart from missing milly,molly,mandy and morris it's been a good day.

Ahhhh! (can't remember, are they the hens, or the poor piggies? )