Pigs # 23 - Update
28 weeks old, and on the weigh in this week the tape measure is showing:
Pig 1: 72.2kg
Pig 2: 70.6kg
My 'customers' (workmates) are currently requesting:
1. Lots of sausages
2. Back bacon, unsmoked, thick slices
3. Hams (the kind you boil, smear with mustard etc and bake)
4. Roasting joints
Surprisingly (to me anyway) chops and ribs are really unpopular.
Although we still have quite a lot of frozen pork, we still buy smokey, streaky bacon, so it would be great to be able to create some of this. We had a delicious cooked breakfast last weekend at Usk Garden Centre ( www.uskgardencentre.co.uk/ - highly recommended, nice people) which came with black-pudding, which to my shame I hadn't actually eaten before. It was DELICIOUS, and I would love to get some of this made from these pigs too!
I can imagine plenty of people buying the 'full Welsh' breakfast pack on a Friday - smoked or back bacon, sausage, black pudding and free-range eggs! That will be our next promotion I think!
Ancient David Brown Tractor, Ben - Head of Sales!, The Great Oak, Monmouthshire Tymawr Farm
Showing posts with label Pigs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pigs. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Pigs # 22 - Update
The pigs are 26 weeks old, and I finally managed to get a tape-measure to them on Friday morning. The bigger they get, generally the more docile they are, and they were fairly happy to be measured during their lunch! Their vital statistics are:
Pig 1: Chest 37", Back of ears to base of tail 42"
Pig 2: Chest 37", Back of ears to base of tail 40"
Using the tried and tested formula, that gives:
Pig 1: 65.33kg liveweight
Pig 2: 62.22kg liveweight
My growth charts are on my other computer so I can't compare directly (update later this week), but from memory they're about the same as the Saddlebacks at this stage. I'd like to get them to about 30 weeks, or 75 to 80kgs in weight before they 'go'.
I popped in to see James & Richard at Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture in Coedypaen today and saw some new-born piglets, which must have been only a few kgs in weight each. What amazingly productive animals pigs are!
The pigs are 26 weeks old, and I finally managed to get a tape-measure to them on Friday morning. The bigger they get, generally the more docile they are, and they were fairly happy to be measured during their lunch! Their vital statistics are:
Pig 1: Chest 37", Back of ears to base of tail 42"
Pig 2: Chest 37", Back of ears to base of tail 40"
Using the tried and tested formula, that gives:
Pig 1: 65.33kg liveweight
Pig 2: 62.22kg liveweight
My growth charts are on my other computer so I can't compare directly (update later this week), but from memory they're about the same as the Saddlebacks at this stage. I'd like to get them to about 30 weeks, or 75 to 80kgs in weight before they 'go'.
I popped in to see James & Richard at Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture in Coedypaen today and saw some new-born piglets, which must have been only a few kgs in weight each. What amazingly productive animals pigs are!
Thursday, 3 January 2013
Pigs # 21 - Pastures New
Until yesterday the pigs were still in their 'barn', which, although I wouldn't have chosen to keep them inside like that, has actually provided them with warm, spacious accommodation. I've tried a few times experimentally to 'lead' them either with the bucket, or in one miserable failure, to loop a rope around their middles and to 'put them on a lead'. Easier said than done with two now quite hefty, stubborn and still-wary girls. So, having given up on leading, I had really resolved to keep them as 'barn' animals until the time comes for them to 'go' at the end of January.
I wasn't really happy about this situation, but couldn't readily see a solution that I could feasibly implement. The pigs' outside enclosure is about 100ft or more from the 'barn' and I my heart sinks every time I think about their last escape. I didn't think I could take the risk.
Reflecting on this problem, I kept half-remembering something I read about pigs eating soil (which after some research I discovered was Lady Eve Balfour's "The Living Soil" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Soil-Lady-Eve-Balfour/dp/0571107133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357244978&sr=8-1)). After refreshing myself on this I thought that if I couldn't bring the pigs to the outside, then the least I could do was to bring a bit of the outside to them. I shovelled a nice, dark, humussy (?!) load of soil into a barrow, and mixed their 'tea' into it, then dumped it into the barn.
What fun they had! They carefully rooted through each particle of soil, eating plenty of it I expect, and also finding every grain of food. They grunted ecstatically, noses down, tails up, happily curled! Within ten minutes I had made up my mind - by hook or by crook I would get the pigs outside for their last month with us!
The next day I surveyed the route and my materials. The route actually has the house along one side for perhaps 30 feet, which could make up one side of a secure path. There are a few other opportunities of this nature - the side of their barn, the great bonfire heap that I am hoping will eventually dry out enough to burn, the 'white container' which I use to store firewood. Using these natural advantages on one side I would then use the materials which I had on hand to make the other side of the secure path, and then, simply and easily lead the pigs to (relative) freedom! The materials consist of: various corrugated iron sheets salvaged from hedges and fallen-down buildings, a roll of stock-fence around 30ft long, lots of barbed wire, a VW Polo, some sad, rusty and mis-shapen sheep hurdles, lots of MDF shelves donated by my father in-law from a surplus-to-requirements warehouse and finally a bath-panel which I took from a '"free" - help-yourself' box outside our local branch of Homebase.
A few hours later the route looked like this:
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| First few yards: Barn on the left and sheep hurdles on right |
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| Next section: house on the right, pig fencing on the left |
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| Homemade Hazel fence post cable tied to pig fencing |
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| Coming into the 'corrugated iron' section |
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| Corrugated iron on the left, more homemade Hazel posts Note use of Polo and bath panel on the right! |
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| Sectional wooden boxes supporting MDF sheets, then bath panel |
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| The weak link? Bonfire / tree stump / plywood barrier |
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| In their natural habitat at last! |
Monday, 12 November 2012
Pigs #20 - Progress!
Major breakthrough yesterday - I sat down in the pig's barn with some food in a pan, poured it out on the floor next to me and sat quietly until they plucked up enough courage to come and eat it right next to me! After a minute I was able to scratch behind their ears - only for a few seconds before they backed away, but it was really nice to be able to interact with them like that, its the closest I've got to them so far. I think if I keep this up each night from now on, and spend a bit more quality time with them on the weekend we should be able to get them to bucket-following stage pretty soon.
James from Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture (https://www.facebook.com/#!/morrismeats) came over on the weekend and had a look at the pigs' outside enclosure. I've been a bit nervous (understandably!) about putting them out into their pen, so a second opinion was really helpful. He thought that with another strand or two of wire here or there we should be able to safely put them out. I can't wait to see them out there, rooting around and enjoying exploring and ploughing up the area!
Major breakthrough yesterday - I sat down in the pig's barn with some food in a pan, poured it out on the floor next to me and sat quietly until they plucked up enough courage to come and eat it right next to me! After a minute I was able to scratch behind their ears - only for a few seconds before they backed away, but it was really nice to be able to interact with them like that, its the closest I've got to them so far. I think if I keep this up each night from now on, and spend a bit more quality time with them on the weekend we should be able to get them to bucket-following stage pretty soon.
James from Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture (https://www.facebook.com/#!/morrismeats) came over on the weekend and had a look at the pigs' outside enclosure. I've been a bit nervous (understandably!) about putting them out into their pen, so a second opinion was really helpful. He thought that with another strand or two of wire here or there we should be able to safely put them out. I can't wait to see them out there, rooting around and enjoying exploring and ploughing up the area!
Monday, 29 October 2012
Pigs #19 - Update
The Tymawr Two are still enjoying life in the Alpaca shed, full of beans and with great appetites. I'm going to keep them in for 2 more weeks until they have grown a bit more and follow the bucket a bit more reliably. They're getting a bit braver and more used to me, and are happy to eat their food next to me (if I'm safely the other side of the gate!), but are still far from friendly!
You may be able to get a sense for it in this photo, but a rule in pig keeping seems to be 'Lop Ears' = 'well behaved pigs' and 'Prick Ears' = 'naughty pigs'. I think in future I will be exclusively keeping lop eared pigs!
The Tymawr Two are still enjoying life in the Alpaca shed, full of beans and with great appetites. I'm going to keep them in for 2 more weeks until they have grown a bit more and follow the bucket a bit more reliably. They're getting a bit braver and more used to me, and are happy to eat their food next to me (if I'm safely the other side of the gate!), but are still far from friendly!
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| The Tymawr Two! |
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Pigs # 18 - The Tymawr Two!
Sunday was not the proudest day in my farming career! In the morning I found I'd lost a chicken to a fox, due to my slack shutting up last night (normally meticulous in doing the headcount and chasing up any escapees, just missed it last night).
James arrived with the weaners at 11:30ish, I'd double checked all the fence, cleaned their water / food troughs, really excited about their arrival. Around 2 minutes after James drove off both weaners escaped through the fence! They are only about 10 weeks old and are TINY in comparison to the pigs we had last time (16 & 20 weeks) and I just underestimated this when I went around the boundary.
The chase started badly, their escape route took them straight onto the lane (luckily just an access road for us and our 3 neighbours so no traffic), and they galloped madly away into the distance. Their first stop was our neighbour's garden (thankfully they were away for the day but they will have some interesting CCTV to watch on their return!!). I so nearly had them, but unlike our previous pigs, who obediently followed the food bucket, being newly weaned, and with me being an unfamiliar human, they were more scared than greedy. Within about 10 minutes one pig had escaped into a 5 acre field on our neighbour's farm. After several attempts to use some plastic garden furniture as a barrier to trap the remaining pig into a corner of the garden the second pig rushed past me and back up the lane. Jo, Ben & Kate then did a brilliant job of fielding her back into our yard. I puffed back a few seconds later (note to self, do more exercise!), in time to watch her easily going through the fence again, back onto the lane and down to our neighbour's house again. The pig rushed up and into a field with 4 or 5 horses in it, and covering around 4 acres. Again, I very nearly had it several times until it ran back up the lane, to be successfully navigated back into the yard by Jo, Ben & Kate.
The short summary is that I then spent the next 2 hours with my neighbours tracking down one pig around a mile away, culminating in a brilliant rugby tackle from Matthew Lawrence. I was totally overwhelmed by the kindness of our neighbours who spent hours of their valuable time helping me. Just hope I can repay it one day. About 2 hours later (time which I spent trudging around the woodland / fields / stream with James) we got a call from Barbara down on the common who had spotted another pig near her house. We jumped into the cars and sped down, and after 10 minutes or so James and his dog managed to track down and corner the remaining weaner, which we then managed to put in the boot of my car. After the 2 hours running around muddy fields and woodland, topped off with me slamming his head with the car boot, I'm pretty sure that James will refuse to do business with me ever again!
Lessons learnt:
1. Your neighbours are brilliant - help them freely - it will be repaid tenfold!
2. Weaners are small and scared - keep them in a barn or shed for a few weeks until they are used to you, follow a bucket and are a bit bigger!
3. Don't give up on a search! No animal gets left behind!
All's well that ends well, but I went to bed that night painfully aware that I'd wasted lots of good people's time and come VERY close to losing 2 lives prematurely. Other than learning the lessons above it just makes me increase my resolve to start farming properly and doing whatever it takes to change our lives for the better!
Cute pig photos to follow!!
Sunday was not the proudest day in my farming career! In the morning I found I'd lost a chicken to a fox, due to my slack shutting up last night (normally meticulous in doing the headcount and chasing up any escapees, just missed it last night).
James arrived with the weaners at 11:30ish, I'd double checked all the fence, cleaned their water / food troughs, really excited about their arrival. Around 2 minutes after James drove off both weaners escaped through the fence! They are only about 10 weeks old and are TINY in comparison to the pigs we had last time (16 & 20 weeks) and I just underestimated this when I went around the boundary.
The chase started badly, their escape route took them straight onto the lane (luckily just an access road for us and our 3 neighbours so no traffic), and they galloped madly away into the distance. Their first stop was our neighbour's garden (thankfully they were away for the day but they will have some interesting CCTV to watch on their return!!). I so nearly had them, but unlike our previous pigs, who obediently followed the food bucket, being newly weaned, and with me being an unfamiliar human, they were more scared than greedy. Within about 10 minutes one pig had escaped into a 5 acre field on our neighbour's farm. After several attempts to use some plastic garden furniture as a barrier to trap the remaining pig into a corner of the garden the second pig rushed past me and back up the lane. Jo, Ben & Kate then did a brilliant job of fielding her back into our yard. I puffed back a few seconds later (note to self, do more exercise!), in time to watch her easily going through the fence again, back onto the lane and down to our neighbour's house again. The pig rushed up and into a field with 4 or 5 horses in it, and covering around 4 acres. Again, I very nearly had it several times until it ran back up the lane, to be successfully navigated back into the yard by Jo, Ben & Kate.
The short summary is that I then spent the next 2 hours with my neighbours tracking down one pig around a mile away, culminating in a brilliant rugby tackle from Matthew Lawrence. I was totally overwhelmed by the kindness of our neighbours who spent hours of their valuable time helping me. Just hope I can repay it one day. About 2 hours later (time which I spent trudging around the woodland / fields / stream with James) we got a call from Barbara down on the common who had spotted another pig near her house. We jumped into the cars and sped down, and after 10 minutes or so James and his dog managed to track down and corner the remaining weaner, which we then managed to put in the boot of my car. After the 2 hours running around muddy fields and woodland, topped off with me slamming his head with the car boot, I'm pretty sure that James will refuse to do business with me ever again!
Lessons learnt:
1. Your neighbours are brilliant - help them freely - it will be repaid tenfold!
2. Weaners are small and scared - keep them in a barn or shed for a few weeks until they are used to you, follow a bucket and are a bit bigger!
3. Don't give up on a search! No animal gets left behind!
All's well that ends well, but I went to bed that night painfully aware that I'd wasted lots of good people's time and come VERY close to losing 2 lives prematurely. Other than learning the lessons above it just makes me increase my resolve to start farming properly and doing whatever it takes to change our lives for the better!
Cute pig photos to follow!!
Friday, 5 October 2012
Pigs # 17 - New Weaners Coming Tomorrow!
Organised with James from Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture (https://www.facebook.com/#!/morrismeats) to get 2 new Welsh-Pietrain cross weaners tomorrow! I've got a few bits and pieces to organise (fix a leak in the water trough, improvise a feeding trough) early in in the morning. The pigs are TINY (in comparison to the last 2 pigs we bought) but they are around 10 weeks old instead of the roughly 18 weeks old that the last pigs we bought were. Its made me think that perhaps the work I did last weekend on the boundary fence maybe needs to be improved! I'll try to spend another hour on it tomorrow morning I think too.
After this batch of pigs, I think we will invest in a really good pedigree sow (most likely either a British Saddleback or British Lop), and some quality semen, almost certainly from a Duroc boar. Putting the 2 together should give us a characterful, tasty, docile, friendly and efficient pig. Combining that with an interesting woodland environment should give GREAT pork!
Organised with James from Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture (https://www.facebook.com/#!/morrismeats) to get 2 new Welsh-Pietrain cross weaners tomorrow! I've got a few bits and pieces to organise (fix a leak in the water trough, improvise a feeding trough) early in in the morning. The pigs are TINY (in comparison to the last 2 pigs we bought) but they are around 10 weeks old instead of the roughly 18 weeks old that the last pigs we bought were. Its made me think that perhaps the work I did last weekend on the boundary fence maybe needs to be improved! I'll try to spend another hour on it tomorrow morning I think too.
After this batch of pigs, I think we will invest in a really good pedigree sow (most likely either a British Saddleback or British Lop), and some quality semen, almost certainly from a Duroc boar. Putting the 2 together should give us a characterful, tasty, docile, friendly and efficient pig. Combining that with an interesting woodland environment should give GREAT pork!
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Pigs # 16 - New Pigs Nearly Here!
This weekend I arranged with James at Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture in Coedypaen to have 2 more weaners (Welsh Pigs this time) in the next couple of weeks. Exciting! As we're getting them at a much more sensible age (about 10 weeks instead of 16 & 20 weeks last time) they are obviously going to be much smaller, and James had advised me to go around the boundary of their enclosure again with this in mind to make sure it's secure for 'little pigs'.
The fence posts in the photo above are Yew - homemade and hopefully indestructible! Hope to be reporting on their good condition in 20 years!
The house is cleaned, the fence is in good condition, just need to mend the leak in their water trough now before we're ready for our new arrivals. Really excited!
Our plan for these 2 pigs is to try to sell them as 1/4 or 1/2 pigs - check out our SPECIAL OFFERS for full details - if you are in Usk or the surrounding area it would be brilliant to supply you with some wonderful free range pork! We'll keep the pigs until they are around 30 weeks old, so they should be ready late January or early February - can't wait!
This weekend I arranged with James at Morris Free Range Meats & Horticulture in Coedypaen to have 2 more weaners (Welsh Pigs this time) in the next couple of weeks. Exciting! As we're getting them at a much more sensible age (about 10 weeks instead of 16 & 20 weeks last time) they are obviously going to be much smaller, and James had advised me to go around the boundary of their enclosure again with this in mind to make sure it's secure for 'little pigs'.
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| An extra 'little pig' strand above the bottom! |
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| Back fence - scene of the last escape! |
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| An interesting and natural environment! |
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Pigs # 15 - The Tymawr Pig Company!
We're full of enthusiasm now, having had great success in the last week with 'farm gate' egg sales, we're missing the pigs and their area is greening up nicely after the application of 'green-manure mega-mix'! These three factors combined mean one thing: we need to put together a plan to buy a LOT more pigs, get organised with our marketing and production and go for it!
There is around two and a half acres of woodland here at Tymawr Farm, and we plan three uses for it:
The Woodland pig element will consist of small paddocks, each containing three weaners, of around 200 sq.m size, and with a pig house of approximately 3 sq.m in size (internal space), with a roof size of 4 sq.m. Each pig can drink up to 1.5 gallons (6.81 litres) water per day http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/3/feed-and-nutrition/1610/). As we don't have mains water in all areas it would be great if the pig's water could come from the roof - we have an abundance of rain water in this part of Monmouthshire! Using data from the met-office (see below), and assuming an 'opening stock' (IBC?) of 500litres of water, 'self contained' pig-paddocks like this are definately possible.
Each acre has 4050 sq.m in it, assume 20% is lost to pathways, that leaves 4050x80%/200 = 16 pens. Therefore if we can turn 1 acre of the 2 1/2 over to pigs, leaving another acre for luxury camping / yurtage, we can keep 48 pigs in relative luxury! As we aim to buy at 10 weeks, and slaughter at around 30 weeks, we should be able to process 2 batches per year in our woods.
In each paddock I'd like to fell 30% of the trees, logging them up for firewood, and after the pigs move on, having left lots of lovely manure and urine, I'd replant them with high quality replacement trees. The aim would would be to eventually create a surplus of wood for sale, ideally as timber for carpentry and joinery.
We're full of enthusiasm now, having had great success in the last week with 'farm gate' egg sales, we're missing the pigs and their area is greening up nicely after the application of 'green-manure mega-mix'! These three factors combined mean one thing: we need to put together a plan to buy a LOT more pigs, get organised with our marketing and production and go for it!
There is around two and a half acres of woodland here at Tymawr Farm, and we plan three uses for it:
- Woodland pigs
- Yurts / luxury camping
- A firewood supply (the low capital, high efficiency solar solution!)
The Woodland pig element will consist of small paddocks, each containing three weaners, of around 200 sq.m size, and with a pig house of approximately 3 sq.m in size (internal space), with a roof size of 4 sq.m. Each pig can drink up to 1.5 gallons (6.81 litres) water per day http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/3/feed-and-nutrition/1610/). As we don't have mains water in all areas it would be great if the pig's water could come from the roof - we have an abundance of rain water in this part of Monmouthshire! Using data from the met-office (see below), and assuming an 'opening stock' (IBC?) of 500litres of water, 'self contained' pig-paddocks like this are definately possible.
| http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/datasets/Rainfall/date/England_SW_and_S_Wales.txt | ||||||||||||
| Accessed on 03.08.2012 | ||||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Days | 31 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 31 |
| 2008 | 181 | 60 | 133 | 72 | 93 | 61 | 158 | 167 | 125 | 155 | 107 | 86 |
| 2009 | 155 | 61 | 63 | 74 | 72 | 63 | 220 | 77 | 42 | 117 | 260 | 138 |
| 2010 | 98 | 78 | 91 | 40 | 46 | 35 | 106 | 111 | 116 | 98 | 131 | 47 |
| 2011 | 135 | 98 | 28 | 19 | 59 | 103 | 76 | 80 | 99 | 114 | 87 | 172 |
| 2012 | 104 | 44 | 30 | 176 | 58 | 182 | ||||||
| Av. | 134 | 68 | 69 | 76 | 66 | 89 | 140 | 109 | 96 | 121 | 146 | 110 |
| All above in mm | ||||||||||||
| Water consumption of 3 pigs, assuming 1 gallon per day per pig | ||||||||||||
| Con. | 422 | 395 | 422 | 409 | 422 | 409 | 422 | 422 | 409 | 422 | 409 | 422 |
| Above in litres | ||||||||||||
| Water capture based on roof area of 4sq.m | ||||||||||||
| Cap. | 538 | 273 | 276 | 305 | 262 | 356 | 560 | 435 | 383 | 485 | 585 | 442 |
| Above in litres | ||||||||||||
| Cumulative net consumption (capture less consumption), with 500 litres opening reserve | ||||||||||||
| Net | 616 | 494 | 348 | 244 | 84 | 31 | 168 | 181 | 155 | 217 | 394 | 414 |
| Above in litres | ||||||||||||
Each acre has 4050 sq.m in it, assume 20% is lost to pathways, that leaves 4050x80%/200 = 16 pens. Therefore if we can turn 1 acre of the 2 1/2 over to pigs, leaving another acre for luxury camping / yurtage, we can keep 48 pigs in relative luxury! As we aim to buy at 10 weeks, and slaughter at around 30 weeks, we should be able to process 2 batches per year in our woods.
In each paddock I'd like to fell 30% of the trees, logging them up for firewood, and after the pigs move on, having left lots of lovely manure and urine, I'd replant them with high quality replacement trees. The aim would would be to eventually create a surplus of wood for sale, ideally as timber for carpentry and joinery.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Pigs #14: My Wonderful Jo!
The pigs went to slaughter on the 25th June, and returned from www.NSJames.co.uk as meat on the 29th. Unfortunately I had to work away from home that week, so didn't return until about 10PM on the 29th, leaving Jo to deal with all the meat in my absence.
I had expected that she would basically just get it all somehow into the freezer, in the shortest possible time, which would be entirely reasonable considering that she has got 2 little children to look after (plus arguably one big one!).
However, what actually happened was:
Richard from Morris Free Range Meats and Horticulture dropped the 4 great big cardboard boxes of meat back from www.NSJames.co.uk at about 4PM on Friday. Jo had the kitchen thoroughly scrubbed / bleached / disposable plastic table cloth in place, freezer bags, permanent pen, weighing scales all in position. She decanted the sausages from approx. 9kg bags into quantities of 6, weighed each bag and recorded, broke down the chops from bags of 4 to bags of 2 (they were BIG chops), cut up the Loin roast into sensible sized joints, and generally worked incredibly hard until about 9:30PM putting the meat away! I am so lucky to have such a brilliant, clever and hard working wife! I am now totally confident that when we do finally take the plunge and do this full time, we will complement each other brilliantly and make a great success of it!
I should also point out that Jo did this in the midst of managing a poorly cat, a broody chicken, an under-the-weather little boy and an absent husband! She is wonderful!
Summarising the data that Jo recorded, and comparing it with the brilliant [ http://www.askthemeatman.com/pork_carcass_breakdown.htm , accessed 8th May 2012] we get:
I'm pretty happy with the percentages above. I think the fairly large differences between shoulders (higher), loin & belly (lower) are explained by me asking that the Shoulders & 'All Trimmings' be made into sausages or mince, meaning that in Jo's data I can't distinguish between the main cuts and the 'trimmings' from each. Therefore the shoulders are probably boosted by the 'trimmings' from the loins & belly.
The detailed breakdown of exactly what we did with the pigs is detailed below:
We aren't able to sell meat from these pigs, just to use it ourselves and give it as gifts to friends / family, but will make sure that we have all the necessary paperwork etc. in place so that we can sell the next batch.
If we were able to sell any, having had a quick look at the 'extra special' or 'finest' ranges in the supermarkets, our prices would be:
If you are local and interested please use the 'Contact Us' form to reserve some from the next batch! Alternatively if you are a 'Friend or Family' (or think you might qualify!) give us a call!
Pictures below of the first Tymawr-Farm Roast Dinner! Absolutely delicious!
The pigs went to slaughter on the 25th June, and returned from www.NSJames.co.uk as meat on the 29th. Unfortunately I had to work away from home that week, so didn't return until about 10PM on the 29th, leaving Jo to deal with all the meat in my absence.
I had expected that she would basically just get it all somehow into the freezer, in the shortest possible time, which would be entirely reasonable considering that she has got 2 little children to look after (plus arguably one big one!).
However, what actually happened was:
Richard from Morris Free Range Meats and Horticulture dropped the 4 great big cardboard boxes of meat back from www.NSJames.co.uk at about 4PM on Friday. Jo had the kitchen thoroughly scrubbed / bleached / disposable plastic table cloth in place, freezer bags, permanent pen, weighing scales all in position. She decanted the sausages from approx. 9kg bags into quantities of 6, weighed each bag and recorded, broke down the chops from bags of 4 to bags of 2 (they were BIG chops), cut up the Loin roast into sensible sized joints, and generally worked incredibly hard until about 9:30PM putting the meat away! I am so lucky to have such a brilliant, clever and hard working wife! I am now totally confident that when we do finally take the plunge and do this full time, we will complement each other brilliantly and make a great success of it!
I should also point out that Jo did this in the midst of managing a poorly cat, a broody chicken, an under-the-weather little boy and an absent husband! She is wonderful!
Summarising the data that Jo recorded, and comparing it with the brilliant [ http://www.askthemeatman.com/pork_carcass_breakdown.htm , accessed 8th May 2012] we get:
| % Liveweight | |||
| Meatman 'Standard Pig' | Big Pig | Small Pig | |
| Shoulders: | 10.60% | 17.20% | 13.54% |
| Loins: | 12.16% | 10.46% | 9.98% |
| Belly: | 13.56% | 7.43% | 7.29% |
| Legs: | 13.44% | 14.43% | 14.56% |
| Total Useable: | 49.76% | 49.52% | 45.36% |
| Based on Liveweight (kg) | 114 | 84 | 73 |
I'm pretty happy with the percentages above. I think the fairly large differences between shoulders (higher), loin & belly (lower) are explained by me asking that the Shoulders & 'All Trimmings' be made into sausages or mince, meaning that in Jo's data I can't distinguish between the main cuts and the 'trimmings' from each. Therefore the shoulders are probably boosted by the 'trimmings' from the loins & belly.
The detailed breakdown of exactly what we did with the pigs is detailed below:
| Big Pig | ||||
| Weight (g) | ||||
| Shoulder & Trimmings: | Sausages: | 18059 | ||
| Leg: | Joints: | 12120 | ||
| Belly: | Ribs: | 6242 | ||
| Loins: | Chops: | 8786 | ||
| Offal: | Kidneys / Liver: | 2017 | ||
| Total | 43612.2 | |||
| Small Pig | ||||
| Shoulder & Trimmings: | Mince: | 9882 | ||
| Leg: | Joints: | 10628 | ||
| Belly: | Rolled Joints: | 5319 | ||
| Loins: | Chops: | 7286 | ||
| Offal: | Kidneys / Liver: | 1400 | ||
| Total: | 34515 |
We aren't able to sell meat from these pigs, just to use it ourselves and give it as gifts to friends / family, but will make sure that we have all the necessary paperwork etc. in place so that we can sell the next batch.
If we were able to sell any, having had a quick look at the 'extra special' or 'finest' ranges in the supermarkets, our prices would be:
| Per Kilo | Per Pack | Normal Pack size (g) | Notes | |
| Sausages: | £7.00 | £2.80 | 400 | Approx. 6 good sized sausages |
| Leg Joints: | £8.00 | £14.00 | 1750 | Very generously serves 6 and probably 8 |
| Rolled Belly Joints: | £7.00 | £5.60 | 800 | Generously serves 4 |
| Chops: | £8.00 | £3.60 | 450 | 2 Large Chops |
| Ribs: | £7.50 | £7.50 | 1000 | Barbeque Favourite |
| Offal: | £5.00 | £1.25 | 250 | Kidneys or Liver |
If you are local and interested please use the 'Contact Us' form to reserve some from the next batch! Alternatively if you are a 'Friend or Family' (or think you might qualify!) give us a call!
Pictures below of the first Tymawr-Farm Roast Dinner! Absolutely delicious!
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