# butcher weight



## rickochet (Aug 28, 2004)

whats the ideal weight to take the hogs to the butcher? I will use the weight formula in Miss Kathy's post, to find out my 2 hogs weight. Even though someone said this can be up to 50 lbs. off. I'd say mine are around 200 or more. Please advise. Happy holidays Rick


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## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

Hey Rick,
How goes it in the snow?
We take ours between 225 and 250 lbs.

We use the tape formula to weigh ours and we come real close every time.

Merry Christmas and a safe new year.

BTW a question? *How did you get them to grow so fast?*


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## Wanda (Dec 19, 2002)

If they are a good meaty type which most hogs today are I like one about #260-#280! Makes for big chops and nice bacon  The kill charge is the same no matter what the weight is and the pkg. will only be for a few pounds more. If it looks like they are putting on excesive amount of fat you may want to butcher at a lighter weight. Good luck and enjoy the good eating.
Mr Wanda
Mike


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## rickochet (Aug 28, 2004)

siryet&miss wanda thankyou for your quick response,I'll take both ideas in to consideration.Siryet,to answer your ? I dont know!But I got ole ornery to hold still(while they were eating of course)pulled at fabric tape did the math and came up with 198lbs,so I guess I was close.AS far as eats,dorries been bring a five gallon bucket of scraps home every night from where she works,believe it or not they wont eat cucumbers or carrots,which they get at five oclock.Other than that its a finishing feed called "Fatboy" that I get from the feed mill in Morrilton for 120$ a 1000lb.They really took off on this stuff which they"ve been on for a month. Before that it was grower pellets. Everyone tells me their quite healthy looking. I only see fat on their jowls and neck. I've noticed they like to play with buckets n balls. But I keep this short due to me having hot wire which I turn off when their playing. I guess it's time to take them off the slops and go only with finishing? Please advise. Until the next time, Happy Holidays take care Rick


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## rickochet (Aug 28, 2004)

siryet,as far as the snow goes.I thought I left all this stuff up north last year.by the way my wife spelled me on that last thread(due to limited typing abilities)their necks are solid as a rock except for a liitle fat on the bottom of their necks ,But I reckon thats par for the course.Or is it?Otherwise it looks like it will be a white Christmas which I'm sure all will enjoy!take care ,rick


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## Boleyz (Sep 7, 2004)

Top hogs (the meat you buy in the grocery) are butchered between 240 and 260 Lbs. Hogs lighter or heavier than this are "Docked" on the price. Hogs within this range bring top dollar, so that's the range commercial operators sell at. Hogs bigger than 260 tend to have more fat, which is fine if you're looking to make whole hog sausage. Hogs lighter than 240 tend to be more lean, which is also fine, if you're wanting leaner cuts of bacon and tenderloin. It just depends on what you plan to do with the hog. Butcher at the size you need to get the quality of meat you want. I know people who think it's a sin to butcher a hog before it reaches 300, but these are people who make sausage and love to pour off a panful of grease after every skillet-full of sausage. I figure if ya want to make sausage, gravy and bisquits every day, that's your business. Of course, your arteries will look like the pinch in the middle of an hourglass...


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## rickochet (Aug 28, 2004)

Mr.Boleyz,I thank you kindly for the info. I believe I'll shoot for the 240 250 mark. As I'm looking for lean meat. Thanks once again. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Take care and stay safe, Rick


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## jwcinpk (Jul 2, 2002)

It all depends on the person and the cut of meat you're wanting. Fatter for sausage and bacon. Leaner for chops and such. If you don't mind trimming the fat off select cuts let them grow. We never let ours get above 250, just because we like small lean tender pork chops and tenderloin. On the other hand our sausage lacks the fat I was accustomed to as a kid. Think next year we are gonna raise one big fat 300 - 350 lb hog just for sausage and 2 or 3 up to about 225 to get the lean cuts we want. Another option would be to see if the slaughter house you use could sell you some extra fat just for sausage.


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## BobK (Oct 28, 2004)

An older (thus larger) animal does not equal a fattier animal. I always raise my hogs to the 300+ range and never had a problem with a fatty pig...except one hog that seemed genetically predisposed to put on fat....all other sibs were fine but that one hog was the fattest thing I ever saw (raised that one 20 years ago and named it the "big tick" because it looked like an engourged tick on a dog). This year our hogs went 350 and 300 and we barely had enough fat to grind with the bacon. One of the hogs (300 lber) did not even need to have the chops trimmed for fat...back fat was only 1/4 inch thick.

err I meant sausage not bacon  but I must say the bacons are the meatiest slabs around...more like ham than bacon!


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## pjd (Dec 17, 2004)

What breed of hog are you raising? I raised a 250 lb Landrace cross and only got 15 lb of rendering fat. I am raising his brother to 300 lb.


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## BobK (Oct 28, 2004)

I typically raise Yorkshire or york/duroc crosses. This year we did not even get enough leaf lard to render the pigs were so lean...but big!


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

The last one we butchered a couple of months went 310 lbs. The sausage is so lean it will hardly hold together in the pan and I still only got back one grocery bag of fat. Bigger doesn't always mean fatter. It depends on the hog.


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