Tag: pigs

After reaching 6 months old, their departure is getting ever closer so I’m monitoring the progress of our two weaners more closely to provide some useful reference information for the future. Even after having them for just 3-4 months I cannot imagine a situation in the future when I wouldn’t have some pigs for at least part of the year.

The 26 week weigh-in

The usual calculation has been repeated yet again…

Twirly

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.91 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 1.00 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.91 ² x 1.00 x 69.3) = 57.4 kg

No Tail

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 1.00 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 1.05 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (1.00 ² x 1.05 x 69.3) = 72.8 kg

Conclusion

The measurements and weight calculations each week may not have any direct effect on the results but it is very useful to have a record of their progress over the final month or two. It will be particularly interesting to compare the difference in weight gain for these two with any future pigs we have because there is still no obvious explanation for it.

There are just one or two more important jobs left to be done – firstly, collecting our shiny new trailer which will be needed to transport them to the abattoir and secondly deciding on a cutting list so that the butcher knows how we would like the carcasses dealt with.

I’m still having difficulties imagining what two pigs worth of pork will look like but luckily we have a chest freezer which is fairly empty so just ave to hope it will all fit!

The sausage making trial last weekend was a minor shambles and a timely reminder that you get what you pay for. The cheap and cheerful manual mincer we originally tried using was just not up to the job so a proper electric mincer/stuffer is now on order!

As we get closer to their departure it’s a good idea to keep track of their progress more closely. We may not be able to change much this time around but it should be useful reference information for the future.

The 24 week weigh-in

The usual calculation has been repeated but this time I took measurements a number of the times over the weekend to give an average figure.

Twirly

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.89 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 0.97 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.89 ² x 0.97 x 69.3) = 53.25 kg

No Tail

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.94 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 1.03 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.94 ² x 1.03 x 69.3) = 63.07 kg

Conclusion

It seems that No Tail is still growing faster than Twirly despite living in the same environment and being fed twice a day with the same feed. We were told that they are not directly related, at best cousins, so there might be some difference resulting from the family tree perhaps.

With just 5 weeks to go, the reality of the situation is becoming all too clear. There are many things to get organised in advance but at least the abattoir is booked. Next on our list of jobs is picking up our shiny new trailer (hopefully in a week or two) and preparing the cutting list for the butcher.

We plan to try making our own sausages and curing bacon but the rest is headed straight for the freezer with a roasting joint top of the list for the oven!

The countdown clock is ticking …

A few more weeks further down the line and it’s time for yet another Pig check point!

The 22 week weigh-in

The same calculation will be repeated but after the slightly surprising result last time it is becoming more obvious that one pig is noticeably heavier than the other.

Twirly

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.85 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 0.95 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.86 ² x 0.95 x 69.3) = 48.7 kg

No Tail

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.9m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 1.0 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.9 ² x 1.0 x 69.3) = 56.1 kg

Conclusion

As time goes by I can feel that, despite my best efforts, there is a definite sense of attachment growing. However I’m doing my best to get past that and there will be no change to our original rule that the pigs are only here until November. Besides we’ve already ordered our shiny new livestock trailer so we can take them to the abattoir – which reminds me, that needs to be booked in advance so I mustn’t forget to do that.

The gap between the two is now clearly noticeable when you see them together but they get fed at the same time and there are no obvious signs of bullying while they eat? Perhaps the one with a tail is just less efficient when it comes to rooting out extra food while foraging in their woods?

We will no doubt need to keep an eye on this and possibly adjust the feeding level for the final couple of months to avoid the larger one putting on any extra weight. Hopefully it won’t matter too much if they are slightly different weights but I’d definitely rather not have one too fat and one too thin!

Four weeks on from the previous pig measurement session seems like a good time to check on the progress of our two Tamworth weaners.

By doing this it also brings home that they will not be with us for too much longer if we meet the planned schedule for taking them to slaughter in early/mid November at about 26 weeks.

In 2 months or less there will be no more tramping off to the woods twice a day with a bucket of pig feed which will be good. However it also means that one of the best bits about having them – the “pig watching” moments – will also come to an end.

To distract myself from any melancholy feelings, I’m focusing on the great meat they will provide us, the sausages and bacon we can make and I’m also thinking about the next 2 or 3 weaners we plan to get in spring next year.

Our resolve to raise our own animals for meat will have been tested for the first time and hopefully we will have risen to the challenge

The 19 week weigh-in

The same calculation for pig weight from metric measurements applies and I’ve included it below for easy reference::

Heart Girth ² x Length x 69.3

This time I decided to measure up each pig separately as they’re getting that much older but as we have not given either of them specific “pet” names I’ll resort to temporary names based on their physical appearance – Twirly and No Tail – although the difference is not visible in the picture above

Twirly

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.78 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 0.96 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.78 ² x 0.96 x 69.3) = 40.48 kg

No Tail

Heart Girth (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) = 0.81 m

Length (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) = 0.94 m

This means that the approximate weight is: (0.81 ² x 0.94 x 69.3) = 42.7 kg

Conclusion

Rather unexpectedly, the “Twirly” pig is slightly behind the other despite apparently being  slightly larger when we first got them. However, allowing for discrepancies as a result of my measuring skills, the difference is negligible particularly since this is only a rough estimate to monitor progress.

Although I have no past experience to go by, I’m still hoping that they will be around 60-65kg by the time they go to slaughter if all goes to plan. We’ve supplemented their food from time to time with the occasional cabbage (including juicy caterpillars) and reduced their pig feed ration a little to compensate particularly as they have such a wonderful spot in the woods to root around in.

It’s possible that our inexperience means we’ve over estimated the reduction in feed and they’re certainly keen to get their food each meal time but they don’t look or feel malnourished and I can vouch for their weight as they often stand on my toes when I’m feeding them!

The two Tamworth weaners arrived on 20 July so they’ve only been here for just over 4 weeks now but to me it seems longer. The twice daily feeds are hugely entertaining and they look to be having a wonderful time in the woods.

One thing I’ve certainly been surprised by is their impressive turn of speed on the rare occasions that I manage to quietly sneak up on them before  rattling the food bucket. Maybe I should start running regular piglet racing events in the North Pennines?

They were born around 1 May so they are around 15 weeks old or if all goes well just over half way there according to the information I’ve read.

They will be going off to slaughter at about 26 weeks of age but this is only a rough guide and working out the weight helps clarify this as I’m aiming for around 60-65kg if all goes to plan.

The first weigh-in

According to a range of sources the calculation for weight from measurements using metric units goes something like this:

Heart Girth ²  x Length x 69.3

Now that they are more comfortable around humans it is possible to think about measuring them to gauge their progress. Distracting them with their breakfast also helps to keep them occupied and there were none of the problems I’d expected.

The “Heart Girth” (measuring around the body just behind the front legs) was about 71 cm  which is 0.71 metres (because this calculation uses metres).

The length was roughly 85 cm (measured from between the ears to the base of the tail) which is 0.85 metres

So using the approximate measurements I’ve taken on the larger of the two pigs I get this:

Heart Girth = 0.71 x 0.71 = 0.5041

Girth Result * Length = 0.5041 * 0.85  = 0.428485

Approximate weight = 0.428485 * 69.3 = 29.69 kg

However I noticed in the Haynes Pig Manual (by Liz Shankland – http://www.biggingerpigs.com/) that a small deduction should be made for Tamworths because “they don’t have much of a rear end”.

According to this calculation the larger pig weighs somewhere between 25-30kg so perhaps a little behind schedule for their age. However I’m aware that the slower growing rare breeds like Tamworths can easily put on a little fat if you’re not careful so I’m happy with the general progress and will only increase their feed a bit at a time.

The plan is to take them off to the abattoir around the beginning of November which is about 11 – 12 weeks from now and by then they will be 26 weeks or just a little over. A second weigh-in at the end of September will give a better idea of how they are doing though.

Their handiwork

All the predictions about the rooting capabilities are proving right so it’s lucky that they are in some well-established woodland which can take the beating…

They were particularly fond of something which was growing among a patch of nettles but I can’t name that plant because they ate it all very quickly! Luckily the dry stone wall is very solidly built and has probably stood for many years so they’ll have to work hard to knock it down!

Within a day or two of getting our two piglets we spotted a rash on their bellies which was a bit disconcerting for us first time pig keepers. As far as I remember this rash wasn’t there when they were collected earlier in the week but we kept a close eye on things over the next day or so.

My thinking at the time was that this rash had appeared on their bellies because there are so few bristles which means there  is less protection for them. Also as that is closest to the ground they’re more likely to come into contact with something that might have caused it.

I suppose this might have been a reaction to something they ate given that they came from a stone barn with straw and ended up free ranging in mature woodland. I doubt that pigs have allergies but I don’t know that for certain and I suppose anything is possible/ However there were no obvious signs of these bumps anywhere else on their bodies so my money was on a reaction to something external.

Are pigs susceptible to stinging nettles? When we first put them in their patch they spent quite a lot of time munching on something which was growing among the nettles.  I’m not sure what that plant was (perhaps some kind of low-growing elder?) but  it’s all been eaten now anyway and the rashes are considerably improved as well.

We’ll obviously continue to keep an eye on things but for the moment the rashes are fading. Most importantly, the pigs are both happily eating, drinking and occasionally running around like lunatics in their expanse of woodland which must be a good sign!

So the big day finally arrived on Saturday and we headed off to pick up the latest additions with a combination of excitement, anticipation and trepidation. Despite the preparations over the past months with a day at a breeders, an introduction to smallholding day and plenty of reading on the subject, nothing matches the feeling when you actually get started with something new like this!

Given that the car journey back again from Yearle Tamworths took about 90 minutes, I was surprised to see quite how chilled out they were by the time we got them back home. Even more surprising perhaps given that they are not used to a great deal of human contact and certainly not used to us clumsy beginners.

Even after unloading from the back of the car they were still quite content to just look around for a couple of minutes while we arranged things for the short trip round the back to the woods. I can’t help thinking that if we’d left it any longer then we would have had to borrow a bigger dog cage from the local vets.

There had been a fair amount of thought about which breed to try for our first weaners but in the end the fact that we expected to “free range” them in the woods led to the idea of a couple of Tamworths. Maybe next time we’ll try a different breed but we have plenty to learn with these first two I think.

I hope they appreciate their new home in the woods but they’ll never truly understand the effort needed to drag a pig ark through 3 fields and a wood with a quad bike. It’s certainly not something I’d want to do too often but at least the ark made it in one piece.

And below I have included a better close up picture which I have labelled Pig 1 and Pig 2 because they won’t be given any names. It just seems safer as they will only be with us until early November – we’ll give them the best life we can until that point but ultimately we are raising them for meat and mustn’t forget that.

I did wonder whether Butty and Chop would have been good names though?