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tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 12:58 pm Post subject: Pigs For Beginners
Nick Howe's excellent article on pig rearing is up now: https://www.downsizer.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=120

Daydreaming

Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 291

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 1:46 pm Post subject:
Inspirational! I am getting to like this site more and more!

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 2:05 pm Post subject:
I really enjoyed this one - it's on a scale that is approachable to a lot of people, and it covers a lot of the questions that you ask yourself when you think about keeping livestock. And it was funny too

Daydreaming

Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 291

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 7:02 pm Post subject:
Only thing is.... I'm all confused today, maybe you'll have to excuse me but didn't he say he bought a 'couple' of pigs; one of each sex? How come the pictures have 3 then?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 7:07 pm Post subject:
Because some of the pics are pigs belonging to HighGreenFarm (thanks to both of you)

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 7:38 pm Post subject:

I don't think it'll convince OH! I made him watch the RC series (when we both should have been working!) and we decided that when we get our farm (ha!) we can handle chickens and cows and sheep, but that pigs would just have too much personality to eat. I know - we're soft southern townies

. It's a pity, cos I love the idea of processing pigs, perhaps we can work up to it gradually.

Nick's kids have clearly put me to shame! I did enjoy the article though, and look forward to the next in the series.

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun May 15, 05 8:00 pm Post subject:
Pigs are delicious to raise. Lots of character and taste.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Mon May 16, 05 9:14 am Post subject:
Yes, I made the mistake of keeping almost all of my pigs, in one form or another, but none of them appear in any pictures. The various pics aren't mine, with the odd exception, and those are from this year's batch.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon May 16, 05 9:52 am Post subject:
Excellent article, really showed the human side of things. Hopefully it will be a great boost to those of us soon to own pigs. Neil, If you don't mind, how much did it cost to buy the pigs?

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Mon May 16, 05 12:54 pm Post subject:
Assuming you meant me, and not someone else... I paid �80 for the pair. This year, they were �150 for 4. I can work out all the maths, if anyone's interested, but, bear in mind that I did it for my own freezer, with no economics in mind, so I probably over fed, financially.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon May 16, 05 1:44 pm Post subject:

NickHowe wrote:

Assuming you meant me, and not someone else...

I paid �80 for the pair. This year, they were �150 for 4. I can work out all the maths, if anyone's interested, but, bear in mind that I did it for my own freezer, with no economics in mind, so I probably over fed, financially.

I'd be very interested in the finances, my motivations would be the same as yours.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon May 16, 05 2:49 pm Post subject:
One thing Nick, was it really the best bacon you've ever tasted?

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Mon May 16, 05 4:03 pm Post subject:
Well, yes, by a country mile. I would be prepared to lose against other bacon, if someone else was doing a taste test, however, on the grounds that I raised it, paid for it, sweated for it, butchered it and processed it myself, yes, without doubt, the best bacon I've ever had. Tastewise, it was pretty bloody good, too.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Tue May 17, 05 8:15 am Post subject:

OK, did some fag packet maths.

Pigs cost �40 each.
I kept them for about 7 months, during which the pair consumed about 1,350 kilos of pig nuts, costing about �135 per pig. Slaughter and butchery worked out at �110 for the pair, and I got nearly 200kg of product back.

There were also downstream costs, for sausage skins, salt, etc etc, and I've not included the cost of setting up the fencing, and such, as I've viewed this as capital investment.

The food cost is one I've calculated, rather than monitored, and it will be less, as I didn't feed them a full ration of nuts everyday. Often they had scraps, vegetables, and wind fallen apples instead.

Hope that helps, but if I've missed anything, yell!

Neil.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45671
Location: Essex

Posted: Tue May 17, 05 9:09 am Post subject:
Sorry Nick but how much do you reckon your 200kg of pig product would be (roughly) worth?

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