What Is the Best Age to Butcher a Pig

Im going to walk you through the 10 most popular meat pig breeds that are raised today. However we have a friend that works on a hog farm.

Slaughtering And Butchering Backwoods Home Magazine

The hormones that cause the taint start to build up in the fat when the pig becomes sexually active.

. But how old is a pig usually to get to that weight. He often has to dispatch and waste the meat of pigs that dont grow to size. It was also beneficial that the cooler weather helped preserve the meat.

Lets assume that youve raised a pig and that the porker is now about the right size 175 to 250 pounds and age 8 to 10 months. If you are targeting more in the 300 pound range allow for another month or so. They are are about 320 lbs a pice now.

I know that prime slaughter weight for a pig would be around 225 lbs. And finally the older pigs such as sows female pigs and boars uncastrated male pigs. For those of you who have eaten pigs older than the standard 6-8 months.

Lay It to Rest. Who told us about the Brucella which causes Brucellosis. Aging is controlled rot says Danforth.

As a child on the farm we had pigs we scraped the hair on the pigs when butchering them. First off lets get to the bottom line here-all pigs have meat as their ultimate purpose. Bleeding out skinning and gutting a pig takes about an hour.

So youve decided to get pigs for your farm. Sheep and goats should be nine months or under. Edit we have since learned after a few more years of raising pigs that certain breeds-or certain individual pigs-are harder to take.

Butchering them depends on size you like we go for 300-400 lbs nice chops but much larger just too hard to handle about yr old. More detailed information is in the table below. With a proper diet expect weight gains of about 15 to 17 pounds per day up to approximately 110 pounds.

One is pure berkshire other two are berk x spot. The fattening pigs intended for pork and bacon which are 4 months to one year old. MY two pigs are around 4 months old now.

They should reach 225-250 lbs by that age as long as they have been healthy since birth and they are of a breed that allows that size. Aging is an ancient practice which consists of hanging the carcass in a cool environment such as a barn or a walk-in cooler for a number of hours days or weeks. If it has shown no sign of being active then there is less chance of the meat having the taint.

One well-placed shot and they are down. They should reach 225-250 lbs by that age as long as they have been healthy since birth and they are of a breed that allows that size. There is a specific place to aim for between the eyes but slightly above.

You can butcher them at any agesize. The best time to castrate a pig is when it is 1 to 21 days old. The big one is probably less than 100 lbs Im guessing and the little one which was the runt cant be much more than 50 lbs.

Such an animal at six to eight weeks of age costs 5-12 dollars. I was just talking to an old time farmer down the road who said the pigs are a little to large to butcher and the meat will be a little tough and really fatty. Once the pig is skinned and gutted the hard part is actually pretty well over but the work is just beginning.

First time raising pigs and taking them to the butcher tomorrow. How to Butcher a Pig. Ill tell you upfront we used to raise pigs.

Normally pigs of 4 months to one-year-old are slaughtered for pork and bacon because that is when they reach the ideal weight for those products. The different meat pig breeds all offer different pros and cons. Because a pig eats approximately 4 of its body weight per day they require a number of essential nutrients to meet their daily needs ie water carbohydrates fats protein amino acids minerals and vitamins.

Generally they can be divided into piglets which are 15 to 3 months old. When And Where To Slaughter Your Hog. Age it right.

This is because piglets are easier to castrate and there are unique benefits to the animal that can only be had when castration is performed early on. Bigger is not better do not use a larger caliber gun which will kill the hog instantly and it will not bleed out. We do not have a butcher house so he took the meat to a processor.

We use a 22 rifle. The first thing youve got to do when butchering a pig is kill them. How to Butcher a Pig.

The meat obtained from piglets is subdivided into more meaty or more fatty determined by the thickness of bacon. Cutting the pig into 1 to 2-pound packages and vacuum sealing along with chopping sausage meat into small pieces to fit through the grinder takes us 3-4 hours in total. I quickly realized how much work they were and we stopped raising them.

Most time I seen them used at 50-60lbs usually should be 2-4 months. Traditionally pigs have been slaughtered in the fall after fattening up on the summers abundance. The shot must be placed so that the animal is stunned unconscious but not dead.

A young pig or two should be bought in the spring a March or April born pig is best. The American Veterinary Medical Associations AVMA however who are more concerned with striking just the right balance between animal welfare. Past wisdom dictated that 250 pounds was optimum butchering weight for a pig but after your porkers reach 225 the ratio of weight gain going to fat versus lean meat increases dramatically.

The best breed of pig for meat is a meat specific breed or cross of breeds including Hampshire Duroc andor Berkshire. Meat Pig Breeds. The best weight to butcher a pig is subject to what types of meat it is going to be processed further into.

Now you need to figure out what meat pig breed or breeds you want to raise. This is for a 250-260 pound pig. Typically when they grow like they should and are fed a really good supply of food they will be ready to butcher between 6-8 months old.

After many years of experimentation I try for 200 pounds. How to Butcher a Homestead-Raised Hog. Pigs should be just slightly jowly.

It just depends on what size pit you have. Beside above what age do you butcher pigs. We got over 200 pounds of finished meat.

Most pigs will reach butchering size and weight at 55-6 months of age. These breeds of pigs are selected for superior carcass traits and growth which give you more meat per finished pig. I am conservative but feel that around 6-7 months is about as long as one could go without the risk of boar taint.

Proper aging is the key to making meat from older animals tender and delicious. This is done with a single shot from the 22 caliber rifle. You can butcher them at any agesize.

Stunning And Sticking The Hog. Expected Pig Growth Rates. Step one in how to butcher a pig is to render the hog unconscious.

My son got a pig he skinned it that was a first for both of us. Typically when they grow like they should and are fed a really good supply of food they will be ready to butcher between 6-8 months old.

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