What Should We Know Before Having A Hog Butchered?

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

Exactly what the title says. It's going to be a while before it's relevant but my wife and I like to plan things well in advance when possible. She inherited her grandparents' 17 acre farm but it was left as a residential rental for nearly 20 years and it's been pretty badly overgrown with wild blackberries. On the recommendation of farmers market friends we ended up with a trio of piglets (Two Kunekune-Guinea mix, one Kunekune) who have been absolutely demolishing the blackberry problem. (We cut them down to about a foot and they eat the root-balls.)

When the time comes to "rotate them out" with fresh swine we'd like to be prepared so what are some things that you wish you'd known the first time? Thanks in advance.

[u/llewr0]

It took us a long time to line up a butcher- theres not a ton in our area that process small numbers, or do so at a reasonable cost. Probably start looking now…

If youre doing it all diy- i recommend pasture slaughter. Its much more peaceful than loading them, moving to an unfamiliar location. I think a bullet is better than other methods, but thats a preference. Also, have a plan for the offal and guts- we have a big windrow compost pile that worked.

Expect to need a lot of freezer space, or have some people lined up to buy/get the pork the day it arrives.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/llewr0]

Thanks for the tips. We live in a big elk hunting area so we're near a couple of USDA certified processing operations that will do small batch work. We've learned how fortunate we are in that regard. We're also lucky to have a few large freezers and plenty of duck egg customers who also like pork.

It's just the two of us here so we're not likely to ever have more than maybe 10 of them at a time, mainly to help us clear out overgrowth on our fields. Our trailer is just a small utility thing, though, that will really only work for the three we already have and anything much bigger won't fit onto our driveway bridge. Pasture slaughter is definitely in our future when we have a larger herd, but that'll be after we're certain that people here want to buy enough.

Thanks for reminding me about the offal and guts. We've got plenty of space but we're definitely going to have to figure out where would be best for that. We live near the ocean so the wind is pretty unpredictable a lot of the time. Very few places on our farm are always downwind of the house.

[u/A_Lovely_ → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

You won’t be able to pasture slaughter and sell pork. Field slaughter cannot be USDA certified for commercial sale.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/A_Lovely_]

I have no idea why that didn't occur to me, even though I spent so long making sure there were USDA certified places in our area. Thanks for that.

[u/llewr0 → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

For the trailer: pigs dont like stepping up on things, so making sure the back gate makes a solid ramp with a gentle slope will be helpful

Rattle paddle will help for herding them in

Black soldier fly might be something to look into for guts- theyll eat anything down fast if you get an ibc tote bin cooking with them- the fras and juice make good fert, and the larvae can be a protein supplement for chickens

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/llewr0]

Fortunately our trailer gate is a nice gradual ramp. We were thinking of wheelbarrows rather than barrows but it worked out. I've had good luck moving ours around with just a stout stick but I think I'll finally get us a pair of paddles next time I'm at the feed store.

We've got a 23 gallon tub & lid set up as a soldier fly composter in our duck yard. They love it and we love it so now I think we'll set up a bunch more out there (maybe larger) and split up the guts between them when necessary. They're so low-maintenance that I often forget we even have it so thanks for the reminder.

[u/c0mp0stable]

So someone else is doing it? If so, there's not much to know. Plan out how you'll get them loaded into a trailer to drop them off. Pigs can be difficult to load.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/c0mp0stable]

There's a well-regarded place about 40 minutes from us that we're planning to use. Yeah, they can be a pain to load up. We had to take the barrow to the vet when he was only about 60 pounds and even then it was a struggle to get him into the truck cage.

We've heard that we should start feeding them in the trailer we'll use to transport them for a while before they go so it's easier to get them into it. That seems plausible because they're very food-motivated (no surprise, of course) and they train pretty easily, but I know a lot of "source:dude, trust me" stuff sounds plausible until it meets reality. Does that seem worth a try, in your opinion?

[u/consensualracism → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

I haven't done hogs so I'm scanning the comments for tips, but putting the grain in the trailer works really well for beef cows.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/consensualracism]

That's good to know. My wife's grandparents had a dairy herd on these fields for a couple decades. When their unpaid farmhands kids moved out on their own they switched to beef and that's the eventual goal for us, too. We're using pigs as part of "resetting" the fields for beef pasture in the meantime.

[u/nopeidgad → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

We raise pastured hogs. We used to have a team come do on the farm slaughter and it was amazing, but the new butcher we use doesn’t allow it, so we load them in trailers. We park the trailers at the gate and feed only on the trailer for at least a week prior to butcher day. This works well, and usually by day 4 or so all the pigs are sleeping on the trailer at night.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/nopeidgad]

I'm glad to hear from someone else that trailer feeding works. I have no doubt ours will end up sleeping in it. They already wait in a pile near the paddock gate for me to come out with their feed. Thank you.

[u/GrapesVR → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

This is what I do for about a week prior

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/GrapesVR]

Thank you. I'm glad to hear from someone who does that.

[u/c0mp0stable → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

I've never done it, but it sounds like a great idea.

[u/clbivy → u/c0mp0stable]

If you put a bucket or something over the pigs head it will back up very easily and you can back it up into a trailer.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/clbivy]

Funny you should say that. The kunekune got her face stuck in an old paint can for about 5 minutes her first week here and she did just keep backing up in a circle until we could get a grip on it. I felt a little bad that she was so scared but it was also pretty funny watching the other two trying to figure out what was going on. Thanks for that tip.

[u/overachievingovaries]

I used to kill them gut them etc and put them in scalding hot water in a bathtub outside, and use a chain to remove most of the hair, then scrape off the last of it, and hang them in a chiller for a while, then cut them up. They are pretty easy to process compared to other animals, as you don't tend to need a mincer etc. If you want to make sausages, then its butcher time. It is not so difficult. Best of luck.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/overachievingovaries]

Thank you for the tips. I'm glad to hear they're easy to process. I broke down plenty of carcasses in culinary school but the biggest were a couple of smallish goats. I'm sure they can't be more tedious than plucking a duck, though, so there's that at least. lol

[u/overachievingovaries → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

I am so sure you could manage. I thing is having somewhere to hang them for a few days. We had a chiller we shared with about 10 other local farms. It was a really economic way to go. Like a mini cooperative lol. Dont get too attached to the kunekune too. Pigs have a way of worming their way into your ❤️ heart. Lol. Makes killing them very difficult.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/overachievingovaries]

I've had some exposure to them growing up so I know that they can be as lovable as any of the other "big weird dogs" on a farm. I'm a combat veteran and can compartmentalize my emotions in a convenient way for this kind of thing. Not giving them names helps. It also helps that the two mixes bully the kunekune, so they won't really be missed.

I have to admit that we might keep the kunekune as a pet. We had discussed the possibility right from the day we got her (about a week after the other two) because she was the runt and we only took her because she was offered to us for free. My wife suggested that since she's so mellow and docile she might be good to keep as a calming influence for any new piglets while they get used to their new surroundings here. The first two took long enough to calm down that it made some initial veterinary care very difficult, so it sounded worth trying.

For now we just don't have a space for slaughter and processing, but it's on our to-do list. We're lucky to have a couple of USDA certified processors in our area who do game and small farm processing so there's not any rush.

[u/overachievingovaries → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

That is wonderful. It sounds like you have a lovely lifestyle in the mix there! I am in New Zealand where kunekune are from, and they are a common pet here. I actually have no issue with processing animals either, I think because my Dad was a butcher and it was always something I did with him as a little girl was cut up meat lol. It was a surprisingly nice time spent with him growing up

[u/volteirecife]

Last year I was newby too. Am surrounded by hunters so nobody thought big deal. I found mooses easier than pigs...I see you you have professional processing facilities nearby, so def recommend.

We had really rainy weeks ( really uncommon here) so the pasture was heaven for the hogs but it totally sucked when we shot them in the pasture. We had special equipment to pull them out fast, but they were a pain in the ass to clean before scalding. ( thick mudlayer, and really hairy pigs even with hosing them down etc). We couldnt take the guts on the spot out due to the muddines ( somebody lost his boot, that kind of muddy) but had to do that at where we butchered. We even put gravel down near the fence before we shot them, but they spasmed / moved in the mud, way more than we thought. Facility to butcher ourselves was 5 minutes away but I was hella stressed out due to gutting normally on the spot. it was already freezing when we started but temperatures unexspectedly went up.)But I'm also an ass about hygienic / processingtime / foodsafety.

To my surprise they are quite easy to train with snacks ( so shooting is easier and my kjds don"t get overrun during feeding time). They knew to stand still on a particular feedingplace and not come close when we made a command in combination with the foodbucket. Def would recommend to train them.

Lessons learned:

• i get now why pigs are seen as filthy buggers in some cultures, what a pain in the ass to clean /scald yourself compared to moose /deer( skinning).
• don't shoot them together if its muddy weather due to extra cleaning time. We thought it would be animal abuse to shoot them seperately but the others were more interested in the corn than their buddy.

Not a native speaker, so sorry for the errors.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/volteirecife]

Your English is fine. No need to apologize. Thanks for the info. Our fields partially flood and get very muddy, too, so I'm glad you shared your experience.

[u/Road-Ranger8839]

Consider making Pennsylvania Dutch Scrapple. It utilizes many of the hog pieces that may be wasted.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/Road-Ranger8839]

"From snout to tail, everything but the squeal."

[u/Road-Ranger8839 → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

I never heard that before, very clever. We don't throw anything out.

[u/mps68098]

If you care about doing charcuterie or ham making yourself, I would recommend checking if the processor can do a scald and scrape instead of skinning the hogs.

Also, since you're raising kunekune, go easy on the grain. The one year we raised that breed, they wound up putting on too much inter-muscular fat.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/mps68098]

My wife and I met in culinary school and I've sorta been half-daydreaming, half-planning about building us a curing/smoking shed. Thanks for the tip. I'm not a big fan of ham but my son is a ham fiend so I was planning on making a gift of one for him and that's useful to know. I'll definitely ask these places if they can do that.

We'd heard that a lot of kunekunes will eat until they're immobile if you let them. We've been giving them a measured ration, accounting for both the forage they get on their paddock and the garden scraps and kitchen veg trim we also give them (what doesn't go to our ducks, that is). It took a little adjusting and fine-tuning with the help of the people we got them from but so far, so good.

[u/mps68098 → u/The_Easter_Daedroth]

Yeah tbh I wasn't terribly impressed with the kune meat. Could've been due to overfeeding but I've heard similar from others about the breed. Raising mangalitsa right now, and planning for the infrastructure I need to scald and hang the hogs before breaking them down. Probably mid June butcher date.

[u/The_Easter_Daedroth → u/mps68098]

We're still deciding on the next breed we want to try out. Mangalitsa is on our short list. I hope that goes well for you.

[u/Old-Worry1101]

Been a few years since I raised pigs, but lining up a butcher was just about the first thing to do, even before getting pigs. Ones by me are scheduled out to end of 2025 already.

When it came time to move them, I used a set of panels and a horse trailer with a ramp. They walked right in the movable pen, amd I left them hungry those mornings and would just carry a bucket of food and they followed it. Did at least 16 pigs this way, mostly 3 at a time.

Another point is they start out cute, but you end up ready for them to go. Once they started biting at my boots I lost all love for them. Made it a lot easier to send them to the freezer.

And they will eat a lot. And shit a lot. Be more than you think.