Pig keepers

[happy larry]

Do we have any pig keepers on the forum,just wondered like as i dont recall ever seeing any pig posts.At the moment i have 11 saddlebacks,1 breeding sow and 10 porkers 9 that will be going for slaughter in december.I cant wait to eat some,i will put the biggest in my freezer and sell the other 8 thus keeping 1 as a companion for the sow.Then when the sow farrows in feb send the other pig for bacon and sausage.

[happy larry]

[Mr Smith]

You are making my mouth water, I have a local farmer that slaughters Gloucester Black spots, really good bacon and normally he throws a packet in with the rest of the meat I buy off him, :)

[happy larry]

lol mr smith, my mouth waters every time i see the pigs,on top of there brought feed rations they have been fed on milk,fodder beet,and masses of veg/salad leaves plus the natural food they glean from being reared out door.Im hoping for around 1 inch of fat per carcass to make some realy good crackling and dripping.

[lottie lou]

HL, have you tried roast suckling pig.  Its gorgeous - no fat to speak of and a crisp crackling with melt in the mouth flesh.  Sadly only had it once.

[happy larry]

No LL never tried suckling pig,thought about it but i would be gutted to kill a pig so young and not reap the full rewards regarding quantity of meat.

[lottie lou]

No LL never tried suckling pig,thought about it but i would be gutted to kill a pig so young and not reap the full rewards regarding quantity of meat.

But what about quality?

[lorna]

I am jealous happy Larry. In the late 70's my late husband decided he would like 6 pigs, I should have known him better, he never did anything by halves. With a lot of help from knowledgeable friends we landed up with approx 200!! My mouth still waters when I think of the taste of the ones we had slaughtered for our own use.