Producing your own Sunday joint (From Smallholder)

Producing your own Sunday joint

11:40am Friday 9th September 2011 in Livestock

Pork is one of this country’s favourite Sunday lunches. Just the thought of that succulent meat and crispy crackling makes one’s mouth water, but have you ever thought of rearing a couple of pigs to provide pork or bacon for your own table?

It may be easier than you think, if you already have some land.

Traditional breeds such as Saddlebacks, Gloucester Old Spots, Tamworths, Berkshires or Middle Whites will provide real taste and flavour. These breeds are very hardy and mature more slowly than the modern commercial breeds. Their thicker coats mean they are happy to survive outdoors. These pigs also have a higher amount of fat than the new breeds, which also adds to the flavour of the cooked meat. Just listen to any TV chef today and they sing the praises of the traditional animal. As with any new venture it is always advisable to take advice from someone who knows, so do seek out an experienced pig farmer and get his or her views before you start on this enterprise. Initially you may find it preferable to buy in weaners at eight to nine weeks old, rather than rear your own.

You should check that they are in good health and conform to the characteristics of their breed. The pigs should move easily showing no signs of lameness or stiffness and they should take their feed happily.

Pigs are greedy feeders. They will eat anything they can find—grass, nuts, berries, etc. This is why, years ago, it was popular to keep a pig in the backyard and feed it on the household scraps. However, after the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the practice of feeding waste food to pigs was made illegal. There is a wide variety of good quality compound feeds on the market for you to choose from.

Nutrition does not need to be complicated. You will need to fatten your pigs to 70kg for pork or 85-90kg for bacon, which will take about 4-5 months. Feed Pig Nuts to the weaners ad lib until 25kg bodyweight, then feed 1-1.5kg of per day, rising by 0.5kg per day for each further month of age, to a maximum of 2.5kg per day for a bacon weight pig.

It is best to split their daily ration into two separate feeds. Although pigs have healthy appetites, you do need to monitor that they are getting the right amount of food. It is important that you keep your feed store vermin-proof as pig nuts can be very appealing to rats and mice.

It is recommended that you have a minimum of 175 square metres of land with some woodland for shade and scratching. Choose level, free-draining ground. You are likely to get the best results, where pigs are kept on grass. Chalk and sandy soils are ideal as they are porous; clays are unsuitable. Shelter Your pigs will need some form of shelter: this can be a purpose-built arc, an old stable or sty. Whatever form it takes, the shelter will need plenty of dry straw bedding and be cleaned out weekly; pigs need easy access to open ground so they can root around. Pigs also need a supply of fresh drinking water which is checked regularly, cleaned out and refilled.

You should also be aware of their special needs in summer.

A lot of their sweat glands do not work, so they are not able to sweat as efficiently as humans in the hotter weather. One means of cooling which they enjoy is wallowing in the mud because as the mud dries on their skin, heat is lost through evaporation.

If there is no natural wallow on your land, simply dig out a shallow hole and fill it with water to provide them with a mud bath. The caked mud also works like a sun block as pigs are prone to sun burn, especially the lighter coloured ones.

Pigs usually have good temperaments and individual characters but do watch out for an aggressive or timid pig.

The former may be a problem to you or anyone else visiting your enterprise and the latter may prove difficult to catch. Do enjoy rearing your pigs and, of course, that delicious meat that will result from happy pigs.