I am off to hunt wild boar with the AR group this week. Looking forward to this.

However, being a unashamed pot hunter, it pains me that I can't get one of these tasty beasts home. I have been thinking of addressing this for some time. Anyway, a few weeks back I bit the bullet. Here we now have the latest addition to the Dabbler menagerie, free range pig, (with apologies to Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall) :



10 week old Tamworth weaners, from a litter reared by my cousin. The food miles these beasts accumulate will be minimal, I would guess five at the most.

They have been christened Sausage and Bacon by my kids.



D-day for these boys should be roughly late March - early April next year.

Not exactly European big game, but the net result will be the same.

Nice pigs.

Will you kill them with a .22?

Mmm.. Looks tasty!
Your kids have a great sense of humor, btw!

quote:

Originally posted by Boghossian:
Nice pigs.

Will you kill them with a .22?

Gabe, I won't kill them myself. There is a guy a couple of miles away has a farm shop and his own little licensed abbatoir and butchery. He will do the needful when they are ready. He does great dry cured bacon and ham. Really good sausages also.


This is not in any way a serious enterprise, it is really just for a bit of fun for myself (mainly) and the kids. We also have some chickens.

brian

great idea, i was contemplating doing the same with a few wild boar here on the farm(maybe even releasing a few ) dry cured bacon is about as good as it gets.

best

peter

Brian,

Sausage & Bacon!



Well done!



What? You're allowing them to live in the House?!

Brian,

That's a great idea.

I just got back from Cyprus where my dad had given over one of his pens to his neighbour to rear 3 pigs into. The last one was slaughtered on Monday and there was a big BBQ for all "big guys" in the village. I managed to get out before the whiskey got too out of hand as they had finished 3 bottles by the time I was on my second chop, (you've seen the speed I eat!!)

Id reccomend that you make your own bacon. I have some hanging in the chiller right now with some gammon and pancetta from half a pig we bought a couple of weeks ago. It's great fun trying to have a go yourself.

K

They look like a good job Brian, my girlfriend's brother occasionally keeps pigs, when he can get them. Their slaughter house only works part of the year so he usually gets them in late spring or early summer and has them slaughtered about the end of September. He does quite well out of them. He was told that he should try and feed them on apples in the weeks coming up to slaughter as this improves the taste and he did try this and felt it had very slightly positive effects.

They are also great for digging up the ground. There was a problem with rushes and iris on the croft so he put the pigs on top of that area and they dug and ate everything so they seem effective at that sort of weed control. Not sure if that is something useful to you but worth considering.

The kids loved them as well which is always another useful benefit.

Brian,
when I saw this thread, I honestly thought there was going to be an invite to sample some bacon butties.

regards
griff

Griff, I will turn those piggies into bacon butties, just not in time for the next Baldock bash...

Maybe the following year...

Now the kids have named them, whats the betting they get the reprieve when it comes time for the slaughter man?

It happened to a mate of mine when his daughter named the pigs and then became a veggie.

6 years later they still have one very large sow, named Mrs Cushion, Mrs Pin died of some gastric problem about 3 years ago

Brian,

I took the first slices off of the latest bacon on saturday. It was pretty bloody good even if I do say so myself. Remind me when the time conmes and I'll sort out the kit for you as it is really easy, and you can get the kids involved too.

My Pancetta is drying now in the fridge so I'm assuming it will be ready in 2-4 months.

Anyway today I'm making Leon some Pheasant and venison Burgers. he's only 18mths but gets through a 200g burger easily, I wonder who he takes after...???

FB

There will be no reprieve for these porkers. My 6 year old daughter wants to know if she can go to the abbatoir and see the slaughter. I don't think she is ready for this yet.

Kiri, I have been thinking about the home curing thing, I want to smoke some bacon for sure. I was also thinking about dedicating a leg to a parma ham. How long do they need to hang for?

Can we even do this in our wet climate?