butchering time is soon, what should I be feeding my hog?

[ohiofarmgirl]

congrats BBH!

nah - dont let him out. really. just keep same same. contained is best. not only for him but for you. dont underestimate the damage he can cause and he's not going to just come running. and if he does, do you really want 230 lbs running right at you? nope. just keep everything the same same.

pour on the corn corn corn and more corn.

if you want it extra yummy put some in a bucket fill with water and let set for a day or so. milk if you have it. i'd take him off any bagged feed except for corn corn corn and more corn.

the day before "B Day" feed lightly and you might want to take up the water the night before provided your apptment is in the morning.

and dont psych yourself out. it will be fine. honest.

 

[old fashioned]

 

[big brown horse]

Ok CORN it is! Thanks OFG!

Thanks everyone!

Jam, I was so expecting it to be more! WOW, not bad!

 

[Jamsoundsgood]

Well, it has been 2 years since we did pigs last. But we just did a steer last fall at it only cost about that so I don't think it should cost much different. For a while they did start adding a "gas surcharge" as well, but I'm not sure if they do that anymore. Where are you having the meat taken to?

 

[big brown horse]

Here in PO, a place called "Farmer George's". It is a meat market too.

 

[big brown horse]

One last question, how will I know for sure it will be my pork that comes back all packaged up?

 

[Dace]

Dang, big boy is that big?!

We need a pictorial....day one to the end

I still can not believe you found a pig in your yard!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

One last question, how will I know for sure it will be my pork that comes back all packaged up?

I would imagine based upon weight of the meat you get back. There is a typical loss for organs, etc. but you should be able to estimate how much meat you will get. I don't have that formula, unfortunately, but I bet someone in internet-land does. Do you want some bones back for your dogs?

 

[bibliophile birds]

do you have woods on your property? Salatin runs his pigs in his woods for 2 weeks before slaughter. they supposedly get really tasty rooting around in there and they make the forest super healthy!

 

[Jamsoundsgood]

It's tagged throughout the process. But mostly, trust. You pay for the hanging weight of the carcass and then after they cut it all up you lose about 1/4-1/3 of it to by-producty stuff. This made me mad the first time. I didn't like paying for unusuable things. Just don't be surprised that the weight of the meat you take home is not going to be the same as the weight of the actual animal. The first packing house we went to didn't explain that to us, which is why I was so mad. Also make sure to tell them that you want all the fat so they don't throw it it away. Rendering lard is easy and it makes the best fried eggs and biscuits ever, not to mention no-fail pie crusts.

Geeze, my husband needs to get the hot-wire up so we can get some pigs, dern it!