Goodbye Porkers

Today I said farewell to Pancetta, Loin and Harry, my three pigs. This was the second time I have raised porkers from weaners and this time the effort to move them to Cradoc Hill  abattoir was simple. Thanks to a friend who has an excellent trailer set up, after a few minutes of looking at their favourite apples in the trailer, they slowly walked on in and started munching. The gate was then shut for the short drive to their destination. I still found it a little emotional this second time round as I lead them to their quarters for the night, but at least they have lived a good life. Nothing like those poor things that live their life on concrete  where they are unable to run around and frolick about.

The porkers a month ago.

Pigs bring a great deal of personality to your small holding. You do need to have some good strong fencing and if not some quality electrical fencing. When they get to 50kgs, their incessant need to rub and scratch can do some serious damage to infrastructure. I put some effort into building my fencing and have got through raising two lots without the need for electrical fencing, however next time round I will use a solar electrical system as the fencing is slowly weakening.

They say pigs have the intelligence of a 3 year old which I would agree with. For their water source, I salvaged an old laundry tub and put it into the ground. It still had the old plug which the porkers learnt to pull out. After frustration, the plug was removed and water repellent glue was put in to ensure they did not drain their water source.

A good wallow is also required. I dug some holes which the porkers widened, however I will need to widen and deepen this wallow next time round as on hot days it dried out quickly and I had to keep turning the hose on to replenish.

Whilst death is never fun, like tax it is a necessity if you want to raise your own meat source.

Farewell to Pancetta, Loin and Harry.

some sausages and pepperoni made from the first lots of pigs.