# Carcass/meat ratio? Convert Hanging Weight / Live Weight?



## Ruff Times

I just got my meat back from the butcher and was a bit perplexed by the quantity. it worked out to a little over 40% of the hanging weight. 

Hanging weight in this case is defined by removing the skin, blood, and guts. 

Seems very low. Is this normal? The cost per pound in total worked out to almost $11 per lb. Unreal. The hanging cost was 3.15 per lb. Craigslist pigs go for $2.50. The premium for mine was in diet. Still, the non-premium would have been $8 to $9 a lb. 

Thoughts?


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## gerold

Ruff Times said:


> I just got my meat back from the butcher and was a bit perplexed by the quantity. it worked out to a little over 40% of the hanging weight.
> 
> Hanging weight in this case is defined by removing the skin, blood, and guts.
> 
> Seems very low. Is this normal? The cost per pound in total worked out to almost $11 per lb. Unreal. The hanging cost was 3.15 per lb. Craigslist pigs go for $2.50. The premium for mine was in diet. Still, the non-premium would have been $8 to $9 a lb.
> 
> Thoughts?


The weights vary so much per pig. Breed,condition,feed they were on, how the butcher does the job etc. 

I do my own butchering. Yorkshires. I get 68% commercial cuts of the hanging weight. I also save the head and feet and liver. I use just about everything on the pig.


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## paul98604

I'm sure he'll jump on here if he sees your post but I'm going to post a link in case he doesn't see your post for some reason. Walter Jeffries has the perfect explanation on his website for the amount of meat from a pig share. Here is the link. http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2006/07/04/what-is-a-half-pig-share/


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## paul98604

gerold said:


> The weights vary so much per pig. Breed,condition,feed they were on, how the butcher does the job etc.
> 
> I do my own butchering. Yorkshires. I get 68% commercial cuts of the hanging weight. I also save the head and feet and liver. I use just about everything on the pig.


I've been thinking of butchering my own pigs this fall. I have six Berkshires. Do you scald or skin? I would prefer to scald a couple as I've never had the pleasure of cooking pork with the full layer of fat and skin. I've also heard that its easier to render the lard with the skin on. Can you give me a brief description of how you scald. I get the idea but have never done it myself. Any tips you can give me would be appreciated.


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## BACOG

paul98604 said:


> I've been thinking of butchering my own pigs this fall. I have six Berkshires. Do you scald or skin? I would prefer to scald a couple as I've never had the pleasure of cooking pork with the full layer of fat and skin. I've also heard that its easier to render the lard with the skin on. Can you give me a brief description of how you scald. I get the idea but have never done it myself. Any tips you can give me would be appreciated.


 
Bakers Green Acres on Youtube has some excellent videos on farm butchering hogs. It is a series of 3 & you can watch the first one here. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkh5yp70OdA[/ame] They touch on scalding in the first one & then give a very good demo in the second one.


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## highlands

It will vary greatly with the pig breed and the pig's condition (fat) as well as how the butchering is done. Bone out on a fat pig with no saving of oddments, fat or skin could produce the yield you described.

Our pigs are reasonably lean, about 0.75" of back fat. At about 180 to 220 lbs hanging weight our pigs typically yield:

Hanging Weight = 72% Live Weight
Commercial Cuts = 67% of Hanging Weight

Thus:

Commercial Cuts = 48% Live Weight

There is some loss to drip (blood) during chilling and trim - typically 3% to 5%.

e.g., a 250 lb live pig gives a 180 lbs hanging gives 120 lbs commercial cuts.

Now there is a lot of good eating between those two numbers of Hanging Weight (HW) and Commercial Cuts (CC) - the oddments that many people throw away. All that's good to eat. Our family tends to eat those low on the hog items as they're often left over each week after sales.

Here's some more information about cuts and what's a pig:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2012/05/03/what-good-is-a-pig-cuts-of-pork-nose-to-tail/

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2012/05/12/of-sausage-and-law/

and there's the half pig article someone mentioned above:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2006/07/04/what-is-a-half-pig-share/

Ratios will vary with the pig, the breed, how it was raised and how it was cut so don't take anything too absolute.

Processing does tend to be very expensive, and it varies greatly regionally and with what you're having done as well as inspection level. All told USDA Inspected Processing costs us about half of every pig we sell, sometimes less, sometimes more depending on what is being done (e.g., smoking, sausage linking, etc). 

If you learn to do the slaughter and butchering yourself you'll save a bundle of money. There are many good books and videos as well as articles on the internet. The first time doing slaughter I strongly, strongly recommend doing with someone who is well experienced.

Cheers,

-Walter


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## gerold

paul98604 said:


> I've been thinking of butchering my own pigs this fall. I have six Berkshires. Do you scald or skin? I would prefer to scald a couple as I've never had the pleasure of cooking pork with the full layer of fat and skin. I've also heard that its easier to render the lard with the skin on. Can you give me a brief description of how you scald. I get the idea but have never done it myself. Any tips you can give me would be appreciated.


I have done both. Skin and scald. The video at Bakers Green Acres is very good. 
Watch it 6-7 times and it should be a big help to you. 
One thing on Scalding. At Bakers it is a different pig than what you will be scalding. So. when you scalding at 155 degree just leave it in the water for a couple 2-3 mins. checking close to see when the hair is loose and then pull the pig out of the water and lay it on a place to remove the hair. If you leave the pig in the water as long as the video showed it will set the hair on the pig and will be very hard to get it off. You may end up shaving the pig or skinning it if the hair gets set. Also helps to have one or two guys helping removing the hair so it is removed quickly before it cools down. I use an old bath tub like he used in the video for scalding the pig. Helps a lot if you have a tractor with bucket on it to move the pig around. Very important to check the temp. of water to make sure it is as close to 155 degree as possible. Don't scald with the water over 160 degree or under 150 degree. If the hair cools down to much just put a toesack or cloth of some kind over the pig and pour 155 degree water over it and let it stay couple mins.till the hair get loose.

Careful not to cut the gut while removing the guts. If you do cut it wash it off the meat good. Like the video showed it is best to butcher when cool so the flies won't be a problem.

The second and 3rd. pig you scald will go a lot faster than the 1st one you do


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## paul98604

Thanks for the video link Bacog. Gerold thanks for the detailed tips on scalding. I have heard about setting the hair, etc. so I appreciate the details on water temp and timing. I do have a tractor with a bucket so I'll use that and I'll watch videos and get some books and jump into it. I will process in November and I'm taking a couple of butchering classes but I learn best with the "sink or swim" method! LOL. I'm sure I'll have a story to tell after the first time. I have butchered deer and have been involved in cattle butchering to a point but have never scalded a pig...I'm looking forward to it.


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## BACOG

There are enough free videos on YouTube that deal with butchering that you shouldn't have to buy any. 

Also different people have different styles. I like to catch several of them to get a better idea.


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## gerold

BACOG said:


> There are enough free videos on YouTube that deal with butchering that you shouldn't have to buy any.
> 
> Also different people have different styles. I like to catch several of them to get a better idea.


http://www.legourmet.tv/learn/pork_butchering_overview.html

I like the above link. Very good on butchering.


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## gerold

paul98604 said:


> Thanks for the video link Bacog. Gerold thanks for the detailed tips on scalding. I have heard about setting the hair, etc. so I appreciate the details on water temp and timing. I do have a tractor with a bucket so I'll use that and I'll watch videos and get some books and jump into it. I will process in November and I'm taking a couple of butchering classes but I learn best with the "sink or swim" method! LOL. I'm sure I'll have a story to tell after the first time. I have butchered deer and have been involved in cattle butchering to a point but have never scalded a pig...I'm looking forward to it.


posted a link but it didn't come out right. Deleted it.


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## Spysar

What's a CARCUS?

If we're going to have a sticky, the title should be spelled Carcass.....You know, if someone was going to search this topic....


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## highlands

Fixed.


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## Spysar

Ok, I estimated my pigs weight by measuring. Then I weighed them hanging, skins off, guts out, feet cut off, and heads cut off. They weighed 155, 187, 188, 195, hanging. How much would they have been live???


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## jwal10

Should weigh what you cut off/out, then you would know to the pound....James


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## Spysar

Yeah, I know that.....I couldn't weigh the guts and skin and head and feet.....kinda tough to put that stuff on a hook scale.

Looking for a percent for hanging to live.


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## highlands

The conversion factor, the yield, does vary with the slaughter technique. With scald and scrape:

HW = 72% LW

so

LW = HW / 72%

Check out these threads in the archives where people have discussed this and related issues:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/485584-hanging-weight-percentage.html

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/489404-butchering-fees.html

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/495788-estimating-weight-pigs.html

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/484317-pig-weight-formula.html

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/497169-attn-highlands-re-pig-weights.html


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## Spysar

I read all those threads, and I stated that it was skinned, headless, and feetless, so I couldn't use the scalded %'s. But thanks, I did find what I was looking for in one of them.

*Hanging = 62% Live Weight if skinned, headless and footless
*


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## highlands

Note that in that post the 62% was a theoretical number I derived by subtracting out those parts. It is not from actual measurement on skinning. That is why I don't tend to give LW=62%HW since it is not based on actual measurements and why I suggested checking those threads.

Yield is a topic that comes up with some frequency. The tricky part is different slaughterers do it differently. e.g., head on, head off, skin on, skin off, trotters on, trotters off, scald vs skin, etc. On a closely related note, some charge by the hanging pound which makes this all vary considerably and som simply charge a flat rate per animal and some a flat rate and then an additional per pound for animals over a certain weight.


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## jwal10

Spysar said:


> Yeah, I know that.....I couldn't weigh the guts and skin and head and feet.....kinda tough to put that stuff on a hook scale.
> 
> Looking for a percent for hanging to live.


Hang bucket, subtract weight, fill, weigh. Every animal is different....James


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## Ruff Times

Ruff Times said:


> I just got my meat back from the butcher and was a bit perplexed by the quantity. it worked out to a little over 40% of the hanging weight.
> 
> Hanging weight in this case is defined by removing the skin, blood, and guts.
> 
> Seems very low. Is this normal? The cost per pound in total worked out to almost $11 per lb. Unreal. The hanging cost was 3.15 per lb. Craigslist pigs go for $2.50. The premium for mine was in diet. Still, the non-premium would have been $8 to $9 a lb.
> 
> Thoughts?


Just thought I would chime in seeing that this post is now a sticky...my problem was human error. Was only counting my cured meat. Of course by adding back my uncured meat, I came to a reasonable proportion.


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## Greyrooster==

paul98604 : " but have never scalded a pig...I'm looking forward to it." Ha, ha. You may end up hating those words. 
I drive mine two hundred miles and spend 2 hours at the bar down the street to have mine scalded and machine scraped. My restaurant customers only take them skin on and stamped anyway. I have a custom meat processor ten miles away but he only skins them. He does give back a nice percentage as he removes all the meat from the head for sausage. A hogs skin, guts and head are heavy. We average a good price per lb from him. 52 cents per lb for cut and wrap as you want and no charge for making patty sausage. Another 50 cents per lb if you want smoked links. Which I always do. I make my own cured hams and bacon. Sometimes I have them grind the pork and make my own sausage. That's plenty of work for me. Doing an entire hog yourself means a good meat grinder, butch paper, tape, twine, casings, stuffers and lots of practice wrapping the chops, ribs, sausage, etc: Then there is the smoking of hams, link sausage and bacon. THAT'S AFTER YOU DO THE SCALDING, SCRAPING, GUT REMOVAL, KILLING, HANGING AND CLEANING UP THE MESS. You're going to need at the very least, a bell scraper, good knifes, a way to hang him up, scalding barrel, method of heating the water, meat saw, etc:
But go for it. Everyone should have the experience. Just remember you'll be paying retail for everything you buy which means you may end up paying as much as if you have it professionally done.
How many times have I received calls from friends and neighbors on Saturday morning saying "can you please come down and help me before I bury this hog". More than I care to remember.
You can't put a dollar amount on the pride of doing it yourself. Have to factor that in. But if you expect to save a lot a money? I'm not so sure and if appearance means anything you just can't wrap meat to look as good as those gals who do it all day everyday.
Have fun and good luck.


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## highlands

Ruff Times said:


> Just thought I would chime in seeing that this post is now a sticky...my problem was human error. Was only counting my cured meat. Of course by adding back my uncured meat, I came to a reasonable proportion.


On cured meats there is both the green weight (fresh pork before brining), the brined or cured weight (after brining) and the final smoked weight (after smoking and dripping).

Wet Brined Weight > Green weight because your adding salt and moisture

Dry Cured Weight may be more OR less than Green weight because your adding salt but taking out moisture

Smoked weight is generally 90% Green weight because of drying during smoking, drip, etc.

Thus if you send in 10 lbs of bacon to be smoked you will probably get 9 lbs back.

There is also trim to be considered and if the bacon goes in with skin on it might get the skin removed before slicing so that also reduces the weight.

I've never smoked but my kids want to learn how so it is in our future. (Good parents encourage their kids to smoke, bacon.  )


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## Jhammett

So I just took three pigs to market live weights 282,274 and 224. What should I expect in return?


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## barnbilder

I just thought I would add what an old guy told me once. He had butchered a lot of hogs, so I tend to respect what he had to say. He said that to estimate the live weight of a hog, weigh the head, skin on, and multiply times ten. Often a small hanging scale that weighs up to 25 or 50 pounds is available, but most people don't have a 500 pound scale lying around. I would like to see this theory tested, but it always seemed plausible to me, 220 pound hog=22 pound head. I am not advocating using this as a certified weight, just an estimate.


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## highlands

Interesting....

I just happen to have such a weight right in front of me:

The head with skin, ears, jowl, snout and tongue is 13.78 lbs.
The hanging weight of the pig (skin & scald) was 149 lbs.
But, if you take off the head 149-14=135 lbs which is pretty darn close to what that fellow suggested.

Interesting.


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## gerold

Just got back meat from processor from Bluebutt boar. I Shot and gutted him and the hanging weigh at the butcher shop was 638 lbs. 
Dressed table cuts 440 lbs. Bacon will be cured and smoked plus side meat. Had the hams and shoulders all ground up into sausage.
Total price $ 200. 

Plus i kept liver and heart before taking in for processing. 

Cost was about 45 cent a pound to process.


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## linnell

Our new butcher now is able to give us a live weight of hogs we bring in. Our last two were:

Live weight-230lbs. Hanging Weight-164lbs. hanging weight was 71% of live weight.
This was a 9 month old mule foot/large black 

Live weight-330lbs. Hanging weight-226lbs. & 68% on this one. 
This was a 13 month old mule foot/large black


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## KeepRiverRange

I have two pigs that are about a 4-6 weeks out from making a trip to the butcher. I'm hoping that they turn out better this time. If not, no more pig raising for me. 

Last year I had three (two gilts and a barrow), and they were all a little bit sick, and had some skin problems when I got them at about 40 pounds. I gave them ivomec and it seemed to fix everything. The feed I gave them was a pig grower ration from a reputable local mill. I know dozens of people who buy from them for all kinds of livestock. The butcher I took them to had done good work on a few sheep in the past. It took us about a month to get the meat back from him, and I wonder if it was because of something that went wrong. Anyway, a large amount of the meat had a really strange flavor and smelt strongly (the roasts, the bacon particularly, and sausage). The chops seemed fine. The roasts wouldn't even pull apart after cooking in the crock pot. Anyone had any similar issues?

This time I got slightly older (60 pound) weaners from a different breeder. They seemed much healthier (wormed them anyway), and I plan on taking them to a different butcher who did great on a couple steers in the past. 

Oh, the live weights on the group from last year were 214, 245, and 260. I took them in at different times. I think I each of them made around 65% of liveweight in finished product.


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## highlands

Please fill in your location information which makes it easier to answer questions. At the very least your zone. See this thread:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/505485-please-fill-location-info.html


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## KeepRiverRange

Done. I think. Zone 5b.


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## Homesteader1

After 38 years in the meat business I'm fortunate enough to do my own and others around me. After I cure my bacon about 12 days and my hams 14-16 days they go in the smoker. Not much goes to waist really, between smoking the hocks for beans and soups the rest is all cut retail. The liver,heart, lungs, kidney, is used for my dogs. I do not use the gut it's self for casing, takes to long to clean at least for me. The head is cooked down for scrapple along with the toung. Lord willing I'll make a video of the cutting process in the fall.


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## woodsman14

Found this some time back, a study done at the University of Kentucky on heritage breed pigs.

https://dhn-hes.ca.uky.edu/content/heritage-hog-carcass-yields


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