AGH--Breeders & eating them

I have two AGH and am raising to breed and butcher the babies.(when they are big enough) I'm so glad I started with this breed they forage so well! They have cleared a lot of area I needed cleaned out. They do love earthworms and I had to fence my garden to keep them from eating all my garden worms. They listen well and behave like great piggys. I picked them because of the size and the meat is suppose to be excellent.
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Well, as normal for me, I'm a little later than planned. Two months ain't bad! August Vice June but, with all the rain it just didn't happen.

Rosie & Tiny were bred and the two boys were delivered to the butcher this AM. Wednesday I will go there, watch the cutting & bring the meat home to package. Already thinking -- this is gonna be a BIG job! I basically have the week off from outside work, so I plan to devote Wed & Thur to "pig packing". Already thinking...maybe THEY need to pkg. But, I want it "my" way and vac sealed, so will see how it goes.

They are & have been very agreeable to handle, not aggressive but, as with any animal, watch for possible injury. I mean, don't feed them by hand unless you want to risk a finger. I loaded them into the mini horse trailer by myself (and several apples, on a scoop of feed ). They herd relatively well, if no distractions. And, were quite calm in the trailer waiting to go. Had to poke them a couple times to get them to unload -- but, hey there was a lot of unknowns there -- the majority of which were about 15 huge pigs in various pens along the walkway. WOW what pigs they were!! Lean, tall, buff -- like show hogs -- and white. So my two pudgy, short-legged, hairy little black boys were standouts, of sorts.

This family has been butchering for about 30 yrs, it's USDA, and they do mostly custom butchering. So, this little old lady was quite nice to me and understood that I just wanted my "own" cuts and not even sure what all was to be. We both appreciated each others thoughts. May take last two young goat bucklings there -- may barter out for my butchering with one. We are talking about it. Been a looooong time since I've worked with butchering, guess it's time to rev up again -- two sows will farrow early Dec. Sure have to do something with the piglets late Winter/early Spring, at weaning. Plan to sell most, keep a couple for next freezer fill if these current turn out well. Otherwise, all piggies will be sold. LOL.

So, late next week I will report whatever results there are for these chubby rascals. As a side note.....I feel that next time I will take them a little earlier as the last couple of months the growth has been fat....mostly belly....and how much lard do we need? But I waited to be able to have girls bred. Ahhhh, that's the next issue. Any off taste from that with these guys who did the deeds.

Stay tuned for updates next week.

Can't wait to hear your results. I've got two boars also - one has banded with the two females now that they are all free roaming, and the other big tub o'lard hangs out by himself. The other three stay fairly lean by walking the acerage, but he is a lazy fella and prefers to lay in a mud puddle all day and beg for food. He might be the one I butcher instead of the other, lol.

A fat ol' pig laying in a mud puddle and waiting for food.....yeah, I'd butcher him too.

But, on the other hand, he might be the smartest one! Why go out and forage if somebody will bring you your feed? He musta read my mind though because later today I found him, and the other three, as far out in the pasture as they can go. There's a small pond in the back of the acreage with a lot of undergrowth (that the goats usually keep cleaned up, but with all this rain THEY are the ones waiting in the barn for a handout) that they were all rooting around this afternoon. Since I've turned the pigs out to roam, I barely feed them at all. Today they got some boiled eggs that were a little past prime. Has really reduced my feed bill and I'm all about that!

Up early to feed & head to slaughter house for cut/pick up. Having a 45 min drive & wanting to be there about 7:30, I began with a caffeine fix -- coffee. Had TV on for quick news while I guzzled that & weather said "0" visibility for fog in my area and where I was headed. Up the blind and boy, they sure were right!! About 200'...

Began a little late but not letting up, so went on. Fog all the way!! 1.5 hrs to get there. No problem. They brought those rascals out -- and I discovered that my black hogs were white skinned -- which showed the USDA stamps quite well

My "kill & chill" included some cutting, as I advised & watched. Ok, they would cut & wrap but too costly. As we cut off the heads and into the body (basically, I had them slit lengthwise down back, then in thirds, for a shoulder/boston butt, rib cage, whole hams), I can tell you that I did gasp at the layer of fat. OMG -- was this a huge mistake? No matter, they had to come home with me.

My four huge containers full, two more for the heads/feet...I pay, get in the truck and said "WHAT were you THINKING??? One would be plenty, what's with all the fat, is there ANY meat?" Then, in the greatest of homesteader fashion I could muster, I took a few deep breaths & drove on. At this point I decided to stop for a sausage biscuit to eat on what I decided would be a pleasant ride home, not giving thought to more than the job at hand & making the best of it. Yes, selling the two bred girls at home was creeping into my thoughts, as was becoming a vegetarian but, quickly my gut said "just drive"!

As I opened a container & removed this chunk of meat I began removing the leaf fat. It was white and beautiful. Then I turned it over to remove the layer of skin & fat -- now I have two vats of fat going , then I looked over it and saw some very nice meat. Big section of lean bacon, lovely ribs that were meaty & marbled, the loin was lovely and larger than I expected, in fact, the area of chops is the size of my hand. Not too shabby. Ok, I'm feeling better about the pig.........but, so much of it!! It will take forever! I've cut it up, wrapped in plastic & in freezer to chill up for vac pkg later tonight. Couldn't cut up the chops until they chilled more. So, still working on it. Taking a break while it chills so that I can get the vacuum pkg done & throw into freezer to freeze. Tomorrow I will have a lovely roast and report back.

BUT....here are pics of my 14# whole ham, a shank end ham & end of loin where chops will be cut & a section of bacon that is laying on the rib cage. The grain is very fine, the color is almost that of beef.








I find that they do not weigh going in, only hang weight. My guestimate was 180-210 going in, which seems to be fairly close as hanging was 138 & 143. Roughly 70%. The pics look like I have trimmed all the fat, not so, just the pic I took to show the meats. Still plenty there

Tomorrow night, taste test results. Gotta go out and package now. Never doing 2 at a time again when I am only one to process! Daughter had to take my GrD to orientation for school (she will be a high school freshman), get class assignments, etc. So, she's tied up. Son...who knows!

Yippee! It looks great and gives me great expectations for what to expect when we butcher. Can't wait until tomorrow for the taste report!

Yippee! It looks great and gives me great expectations for what to expect when we butcher. Can't wait until tomorrow for the taste report!

I am really interested to hear how they taste. My husband butchers and he was amazed at how much fat there was when he first cut one open! We wouldn't have a use for all that fat, so they're not for us but still curious. Also did you track feed to know how much you have into them per pound of meat? Wondering how their food conversion is.

Sorry if you've already answered all these questions, I'm on my cell phone and it doesn't really like this site so much!

Sounds so good I posted twice! LOL