Feeder Pigs

[ninnymary]

Great plan and that's a nice looking trailer. Did you paint it? Looks new!

Mary

 

[Devonviolet]

Friday is go to slaughter day for the pigs. I can't say that I'll miss them. I am ready to reclaim my garden. Hopefully the pigs have improved the garden soil (if you ignore the DEEP and BIG holes they rooted) I hope the pine shaving mulch, 2 trailer loads of leaves/pine straw, bags of leaves and pig poop has helped out the sandy soil. Maybe I stand a chance of not only having a better garden this year, but having a garden at all.

Friends have told me that when it came time to load their pigs, they chased and wrestled the pigs into the trailer. Sometimes the pigs chased them back! The idea of a pig rodeo really didn't appeal to me--I could see myself as the loser in a contest with 3 big pigs. So being the brilliant person I am, I came up with a better way.

This morning our friend and neighbor Russell came over with Cooper, his 7 year old son. We hitched the trailer to his tractor, then I lured the pigs to the far corner with pecans. Russell got the tractor to the gate, Cooper opened the gate and Russell backed the trailer in. We unhitched the trailer, Russell drove the tractor out and Cooper shut the gate. Then we proceeded to fence the trailer off from the pigs. The pigs will chew wires, tires, lights or anything else they can get to. Cooper stayed safely outside and shook a paper feed sack at the pigs when they came too close.


Russell said that it might take a few days for the pigs to go in the trailer, but I didn't think so. Sure enough, one of them got in the trailer to snoop around. I moved their water and feed containers in the trailer, if they want to eat and drink, the trailer is the place to find it. The way I see it, why chase them, just let them load themselves. A day or two before Friday, I'll lure them in the trailer with something stinky and then just close the end gate.

@Devonviolet are you ready for some bacon??

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Woo Hooo! Bring her on!

I've done something similar to what you're doing, to get the pigs in the trailer.

Catching chickens (to butcher), after dark, is a lot easier than chasing them around in daylight. We snatch them off the roost & keep them in a dog kennel until next morning.
The benefit is 3 fold:
1. Don't have to chase chickens
2. It's best if chickens don't eat for at least 12 hours before butchering - they do get water.
3. Chickens are calm, so stress hormones don't taint the meat.

When we were planning to drive cross country, with our cats, we set up their travel crates a month before the trip & fed them in the crates. By the time we put them in the crates, for the trip, they seemed comfortable in them.

@baymule, keep me informed of the details. We are looking forward to getting Bacon at last. YUM!

 

[ducks4you]

I'm awaiting the taste results! GOT to be aMAZING if it's anything like the meat I get from my birds. Btw, DH bought me a net to catch my chickens, and I've had to use it on other occasions besides butchering day. I wasn't raised to bring up meat animals--only been butchering about 7 years now--so I don't have the heart to take away their last feeding. I just carefully remove the contents of their guts and crop while I am dressing. Besides the fact that my chickens, ALSO not pets, are convinced that everytime I touch them I am going to eat them! Still, they gather close to the gate every morning hoping for treats from ME!
Interesting that they have torn up the pasture. There is always pasture maintenance with big animals, and I've been reviving my 3 acre pasture by keeping my horses off of it since last November and the 3/4 acre pasture will soon be empty to reseed until 2017.
I'll bet you can plant ANYTHING in the pig pasture and it'll take off!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think your plan could work, Bay. Good luck with it.

Dad used to butcher his hogs but after he got the job at the shirt factory he didn't have the time anymore. So he shipped them off to be processed. The way he loaded his hogs was to put a .22 between their eyes, cut the throat to bleed them out, then use a block and tackle to get them on the truck bed. It was a farm truck so some blood on it wasn't a big deal. It dried.

 

[ducks4you]

Really, if you learn to do it, the butchering is more humane that at a meat locker. I'm tasting your ham already!!
(kinda jelly here )

 

[Nyboy]

How long does it take to butcher a pig ?

 

[Carol Dee]

@baymule you are one SMART lady! I think your plan should work great. Love the trailer. It looks wet. Getting rain?
@Nyboy if you have a crew and the right equipment it should not take long. We used to help older brother with his in trade for some meat!

 

[Nyboy]

Pork

 

[baymule]

@ducks4you I can't wait for a taste test either! I expected the pigs to root up the place. it is 100'x70' and there is a patch in the middle that they never tore up. They rooted up a big hole at the end of the Hawg Hut and right now it looks like a sinking boat. The hole is full of water and the Hawg Hut is listing heavily in the hole.

@Nyboy I have butchered wild hogs before and deer, it didn't take a real long time. Making sausage is time consuming.

@Ridgerunner I might try my hand at butchering a pig, but I'll make it after I get caught up on things around here. The pigs have already gone up in the trailer.

@Carol Dee yes the trailer was wet. It was raining. But that's when help showed up and I sure wasn't going to say no. Not like I'd melt anyway.

I am excited to take them to slaughter. I really want a fried pork chop!

 

[Smart Red]

Awe, days of pig poo in that beautiful trailer!