# Eating Pot Belly Pigs â How I Do it.



## Ryan NC (Jan 29, 2009)

Before we start with the post I want to offer my apologies for the pics, they were taken with my cell that desperately needs replaced! 

Iâve been there done that on catching flack for eating PBâsâ¦ Thereâs tons of fat, you donât get enough meat, how can you eat someoneâs pet, Isnât that illegal?, you canâtâ¦ fill in your own blank. 

95% of the people that make these statements will either stop talking or admit that theyâve never butchered a PB if confronted about it and will start talking about how sallyâs sisters friends half brother twice removed told sallyâs 2 year old son about it once upon a time. Simply put PBâs are still pigs, NO you are not going to get 200lbs of finished pork from one but youâre also not going to have to buy a new freezer, pay a butcher bill, and can likely raise the meat for little of nothing if you do it all yourself.

:soap:
Iâll get off my soapbox and get on with the postâ¦

I butchered a PB that was just shy of 4 months last week, The longer you wait the more meat youâll get but I prefer the younger animals and rarely will butcher past 9 months at the longest. It took me a little over an hour to clean, skin, quarter, ice out, and clean up all the while taking time to teach one of my friends 14 & 15 year old sons how to clean a pig. This is one of the first differences between a full size market hog and a PB, it would take me at least this long to kill, gut, & skin a 200+lb hog. 

After quartering the PB I soak them in ice water with a bunch of non-iodized salt. After 2 days in a salt brine (replenishing ice as needed) Iâll move the quartered pig to large plastic bags and place in the fridge as near the bottom as I can get it for about 3-4 days to age it out a bit more. After that time I start trimming what little fat is on the pig and start breaking it down into cookable cuts. 

This is the point that a Full size hog has a PB beat hands down! There are not going to be any chops to speak of on a PB they are about the size of an old silver dollar, and all of the cuts are going to be much smaller. I split the rib sections and leave everything attached to the ribs and have extra meaty ribs thatâll knock your socks off.

I debone the hind legs and slap them in the freezer for a few to stiffen up a bit and slice into pork steaks that are very reminiscent of chops from a market hog. Please note in the picture that ONE leg is laid out on the platter in the pic, ate the other before it crossed my mind to take pictures. The scrap from the shank goes into the grind pile.

Itâs not worth it on young pigs to mess much with the front legs and I simply remove the shoulder roast on both and cook them at the same time, at four months theyâll only weigh about 2lbs a piece which works out for our family of 4 if we cook them both. 

About the only thing left are the bones, meat scraps, and the belly flaps. On the PB that I just did there was roughly 2lbs of fat and 3lbs of trimmings, to make 60/40 sausage thereâd only be about Â½ lb of fat left over to go in the trash. Iâll normally just save the meat scraps and we make a Chinese style teriyaki dish out of them and will get at least 2 meals this way. 

The bones I cook down in to stock. The belly flaps get a coat of adolphâs seasoned meat tenderizer and rolled up and placed in the freezer until pretty much firm set, once they are almost frozen you can slice them and make a surprising similar replica of thick cut bacon without going through the trouble of curing and smoking for what amounts to about 2-3lbâs of meat. (itâs not exactly bacon but taste like bacon with a hint of Canadian sausage.) 

All in it takes me about 2 hours to process a PB from hoof to freezer, the PB in the pictures was only about 4 months old so the total take is lower but there is still about 10 meals worth of finished meat. (a little over 20lbs) 

The main power of the PBâs in my opinion is the cost of raising them! I have a grand total of $2.00 for the ice use in processing this pig, it was given to me by a friend as a thank you gift for a favor. Iâve raised 4 now and have never went through more than a bag of GP feed using mainly table scraps and what not for feed. With PBâs Iâm able to raise my own pork for about 30-40 cents a pound finished in the freezer in a worst case. The pig that give me these pictures cost about 9 cents a pound finished, it would have been less if I hadnât bought the ice to transport over to my friends house and if you donât count my time. The first two I raised we had $2.50 in each one at 5 months. 

I consider PBâs to be a good source of great tasting protein with a very limited expenses, we normally get these as rejects from breeders for free. One could just as easily keep a breeding pair and raise the piglets for meat. So long as they are feed correctly they produce excellent pork, eliminate most of the major safety hazards with full size hogs, (which I still like and am not finished with BTW) and simply put they break every taboo placed on them by the pet market which is dying faster than a fly sprayed with raid. 

Could not get pics uploaded on the site so I added them at: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/22589269 password is potbelly (sorry for the PW, some of my city friends still think that meat naturally comes wrapped in plastic from the grocery store)


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## MissyMoo (Jan 29, 2009)

I think its wonderful how you do the above, you have it all planned out so well. 
I too do not like the flack >_<
I was considering raising PB's for meat to sell and use for my family, but I figured with all the flack out there and myths about PB's, that I figured that I probably wouldnt be able to sell many due to the above ignorance that you mentioned, so I am going to be crossing my huge female potbelly (we believe she is a mix with a farm pig) with a hampshire boar to have meat for us and sell the rest of the piglets to the local public. I guess I will have to list them as Hampshire crosses (to avoid saying the two words = "potbelly" and "meat or pork" all in the same ad).........Ridiculous!


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## dezeeuwgoats (Jan 12, 2006)

I raise pb crosses - VERY cheap protein. Easy to butcher. My thirteen year old son can do it. 

Thanks for all of your details - I might use some of those tips next time!


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## fixer1958 (Dec 12, 2005)

What is your 'dispatching' method. I have been considering doing it myself.


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## Ryan NC (Jan 29, 2009)

fixer1958 said:


> What is your 'dispatching' method. I have been considering doing it myself.


.22 point blank to the head while eating grain.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

THANK YOU fellow PB enthusiast! 

I call them Asian Heirloom Hogs when I'm around "sensitives." 

LOVE your description of the pet trade. Once the market is fully glutted (it's pretty much there now), I'll have more PotBellies than I know what to do with as once someone knows you'll take them? You'll get them. Mostly FREE.

So far I've had plenty of meat for the table, gotten a 4 year old barrow given to me that I'm using as a rototiller in a pen that the goats lived in for 8 years(yeah, they root but not like a full-size hog and he'll make the pen into compost and be quite a bit of meat), and have found a "long-nose" sow that has an extremely long loin that I plan to use as more breeding stock. And I bought her son as a boar because HIS loin is long too (and he's a pretty tri-color - livestock needs to be nice looking)!!

So far? My girlfriend (HEY, Bonnie!) and I have spent $40 (not counting feed of course) on *all* my AHH/PB that I've procured over the last like two years... I now have 12 pigs in varying sizes and, as Windridge Farm points out, it's a pantry on the hoof (to paraphrase) and I've got a freezer with plenty of pork in it... AND I don't have to worry about processing fees, dirty handling, etc. of the meat I put on my table...

It's a fabulously easy animal to raise, cheap, cheap to feed (I feed a hog grower with no issues - they actually prefer pasture or hay - I feed the leftover hay the goats won't eat), easy to butcher for one person, and easy to wrap and freeze. 

Great ideas, great commentary, keep those LOW-COST PB/AHH animals coming! At some point I can see that I'll not even have to have sows farrowing as they'll be so many of them I'll be begged to take them... The rescues are FULL of them as they are cute and fun when they are little, but not so much full-grown.

Oh, and I got given a pygmy doe that will be butchered as well. Pygmys are meat goats, don'cha know... Really. They are. Look it up.


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## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

Thanks for the info!

We _almost_ got a breeding pair of PB pigs a couple of weeks ago. The person emailed DH and said we could pick them up and to call for directions. When we called, she said she "forgot" and had given them to someone else. :grump:


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## MissyMoo (Jan 29, 2009)

This is a photo of my large potbelly sow named "Bacon".
I am going to raise at least one baby out of her for meat for us. I am looking forward to trying the meat after all I have heard on here about it. :goodjob: I am crossing her with a high-quality hampshire cross boar.


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## Mountain Mick (Sep 10, 2005)

I wish we could have PB pigs in Oz. but no go. Mick


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

The photos in the above link, of the processed meat, show alot of fat. That is one of the reasons that people don't like PBP's for meat. Even though we have pet PBP's, I can understand someone slaughtering ones that were raised not as pets but for meat. I suppose if you are looking for a lard pig, this might work out okay.

We'll stick with our berkshire/ hampshire and berkshire/ duroc/ chester white crosses. 

Thanks for giving the detailed explanation and link to the photos. Very educational.


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## Ryan NC (Jan 29, 2009)

Farmgirl, the plate in the front right is the scrap fat. What little fat is on the meat was left there for cooking purposes, it&#8217;s almost to lean as far as marbling and I only trim to within about 1/16 of an inch on most cuts to keep it from drying out. I commonly do the same thing with a regular market hog. The pictures don't do justice to the meat, about the only cut that'll have any further trim work might be the ribs so long as they don't go on the grill. If I was to render every drop of fat on this pig I'd be lucky to get 1lb of lard, after the cost of rendering it'd likely be cheaper just to buy it.

I prefer hamp's to just about anything else for large scale production but I personally find they just don't stack up to these little guys on small scale production dollar for dollar. There is no right or wrong in my opinion, I&#8217;ve done it both ways and PB's are never going to be a substitute for commercial hogs. If however you are just looking for meat for your personal consumption I don't think they can be beat... Although the more I hear about guinea hogs the more I think they'll give them a run for their money.


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## Bornacentury2L8 (Apr 16, 2009)

What about full grown PBs? I find people giving them away, but dont know if it would be good for processing. Usually boars are what's free.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

Boars don't castrate easily the way "normal" hogs do. There is an inguinal ring that needs stitched or there is an open "hole" into the intestines. The testicles are more into the body than externally expressed as in normal hogs. As always, hold the animal and feed for a month to run through any wormer or other chemical they may have in their systems.

Boars, if there is any strong smell (and Walter says to not feed out with feed - hay or pasture is better) or taste (boar taint), you could always feed to your dogs, grind and flavor as sausage and/or bbq. Wild boar tends towards gaminess so if you like gaminess? It's all good.

That being said? Free is free. I wouldn't have any problem taking free.


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## Mare Owner (Feb 20, 2008)

Thank you Ryan in NC for posting this! After reading your post I decided to butcher my own hog instead of calling the butcher.

I had a 10 month old Guinea Hog and after skinning and gutting, cutting in half, we weighed the two halves and had 50 pounds of hog. I had a friend's son cut up half the hog for me, he used to be a butcher and he said there wasn't any more fat on him than on a normal hog. This was our first butcher hog of this breed and they are lard hogs so I wondered what a butcher would think of the carcass...

The meat got rave reviews from family and friends this last saturday! It was an un-cut boar that is housed next to females, though none were in heat at the time we butchered him. Excellent pork.


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## Laura Workman (May 10, 2002)

Hi Gailann, Do the people giving you these pigs know you're going to butcher them? If so, how do you explain it? I've had trouble even buying full-priced breeding stock when people know I'll be raising them for meat.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

The fellow that gave me the 4 yr old barrow, now butchered btw, BEGGED me to butcher him. He had him for his "petting zoo" and Wilbur got big, got tusks (mini things that I smiled over - only about 3" long), and got aggressive. Even as a barrow he showed aggressiveness that was not desirable in a petting zoo animal. The fellow was also very irritated because Wilbur would put his snout down in the pasture and PLOW it up from one side to the other. Grubs and worms and other delectible delights for a pig I'm guessing. Natural for a pig? But us humans abhor the sight of tilled pasture, seems like. LOL.

Wilbur butchered out after I'd held him for over a month to make sure all was "clean" with him. He did have an large amount of fat, but that's what I wanted for my soap and dogs going into winter. His fresh hams weighed 8# each unboned. I was very pleased. I have 16# of grind to make sausage with. And I save the foreshanks for browning for pork & vegetable soup. Lots of gelatin and flavor there if they're browned first. Front shoulders, loins, etc. Simply perfect. Oh, and the previous owner? Wants me to make soap from the fat and give some to him. Wow. REALLY disliked that pig! So butchering him was the INTENTION of that owner. And he didn't want him to go to waste. He bought a YOUNG pig from my friend to replace Wilbur. My friend is a breeder and had given this guy my name as someone who would utilize the meat. Thanks to my breeder friend! She "gets" it. Not all pigs are pets... I got Juanpiggie (my boar) from her. Lenny (the young long-loined tri-color boar) is gonna be a fine fellow. Juanpiggie will probably go into sausage at some point... 

Anyway. To your specific question. I tell the owners (mostly people frustrated by pigs natural tendency to root and grunt and eat and grow to 110#+) that I will give them the best possible home as best I can. And that they are going to a farm with other pigs, horses, chickens, guineas and goats. That seems to make them relax a bit. However, if the animal becomes aggressive or has some other issues, I will do what is necessary. I ALWAYS hold the "foreign" animals for at least a month. I can assess how they will interact and make decisions about their future. I tend to buy gilts or sows as their value to me is evident. 

If the owners are adamant that the animal cannot be butchered for any reason or want $50+ for an older pig or for their pet? I'm polite, observe their setup (you can always get tips on how to make YOUR place more efficient) and I pass on them but give the owner my name and phone number. I have gotten calls later to "COME AND GET THIS PIG! FREE!" 

Sad really. We all want our animals to have a forever home, but that doesn't exist. Ever. Our forever is not like Black Beauty where the animal gets to live out it's existence under an apple tree... 

Yeah, I'm heartbroken about their animals too? But I'm more heartbroken that human children go hungry and cold. I don't beat my animals, feed them well, give them straw and comfort from the elements and dispatch them humanely. 

I could die tomorrow and then who would take care of MY animals? As my girlfriend Diya said one time, quietly, when I was instructing her how the animals should be fed and cared for after my death, "It won't be the same. It can't be the same. You'll be gone and we'll go on. And maybe your animals won't." She's very wise.


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## MissyMoo (Jan 29, 2009)

Gailann, 
how do you make soap out of the potbelly's (AHH's) fat/lard?

oh and I wanted to tell you that I traded a couple small nigerian goats for 2 potbelly/AHH girls (sisters). they are 3 1/2 mons and sooo cute. black and white. I named them "Lucy & Ethel". :bouncy: 
Now i have 3 female potbelly pigs and 1 boar. plus 1 poland-china/spot pig young female and 1 young boar.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

We butchered and BBQ'd two about 5-month boar PBP's who had within the last month been around our big pigs in heat. They would have been interested if they could have reached. They tasted wonderful! Everyone who participated are enthusiastically looking forward to the next ones we're given. There's a gentleman about 100 miles away who raises them for the pet trade, but has been giving us the extra boars he can't sell. I have to say, I'm thrilled.

We also raise Berkshires, but these fit on the BBQ and, well, free is cheaper than I sell the Berks for anyway. Just enough fat on these two for flavor and tenderness, no extra at all to do anything other than eat.
Kit


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

this is an interesting thread! How much space is needed for them? I'm always looking for new ways to feed us ourselves. I have a large backyard with tons of acorns in it. Its fenced in completely. Are they hard to keep in? Noisy? Could I process them by myself? If for nothing else other than dog food and lard this might be a good idea.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I've been thinking of bringing some home, myself. I do most of my butchering myself. I'm a 19 year old girl, a whopping 120lbs on a 'heavy' day - so small is the way to go for me! I also raise miniature meat goats that get about 75lbs full grown because it's a size I can handle from birth to table, all by myself. 

Can you keep potbellies in with goats, on pasture? I've heard pigs will eat other animals like chickens or baby goats. If not, I have a separate area for them. I've never owned pigs but I've wanted to - I need to get a good book on them first I think. 

I've been seeing ads for PPB's for about 50.00 each, seems priced well. Some are the 'micro' ones, though I'm not sure what that means besides them being really small? I assume that's a pet market thing, huh?

I'd like to at least keep them in our garden during the fall, winter, and spring. They can till in there as much as they want, and fertilize it as they do!


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

MissyMoo: I will render out the lard from the fat by cooking it. You MUST do it outside as the cooking fat puts out a whole lot of particulate matter - water vapor and fat particles. Not the best for an enclosed home. A little rendered in the crock pot is fine, but I have about 30# to do.

I have the cast iron pots and tripods to do this fairly easily. If anything is ever easy. I'll pick a cold day, little wind, build a fire inside a ring to intensify the heat, put some water in the bottom of the kettle (very important to keep it from burning/sticking), put the cubed fat in and cook until it 'sings.' When fat is about finished? The bubbles get small and crackly. It 'sings.'

Then I make soap from the fat.  I've been making soap for 32 years now... I make cold-process primarily.


Pigs are individual. Some are talkers, some are squealers, some are quiet. My pigs are both. AND it depends on whether you are bringing feed/if they are hungry too! Juanpiggie the older boar likes to talk to me as quiet, contemplative grunts. LN sow(Long Nose) is a screamer/squealer (DARNIT!), her son, Lenny Kravitz (he's an exotic, colorful character with blue eyes) is quiet, my small black gilt is noisy, Petunia (the older gilt that was only fed rice to keep her small -idiot owners)- is quiet. My point is that it depends on the pig, just like people. If you want quiet pigs? Get quiet ones. Butcher the noisy ones (I did and do). 

I have several chickens that hang out in the pigs pens. If they'd die in there? Yeah, I suppose the pigs would decide to eat them. They are like crocs and gators - they take advantage of a situation. However, my pigs were puzzled over eggs. I had to cook them and break them for them before the lightbulb went on. Pumpkins are preferred to be cooked (smiles). But they'll eat them raw eventually. 

I bought and scrounged pig panels as the babies can WALK RIGHT THROUGH CATTLE PANEL openings. Even at 5+ months I had a boarlet walking through the fence. I closed the holes and now he's in. They do root and it was becoming a minefield where I had to walk and pull a wheelbarrow. So in he went! Chainlink works. Electric fence inside chainlink or panels works. Woven wire works. Some folks train to electric and just use that! 

The farmers always used to (and some wise ones still do) pick the corn, run cows in, pigs after, then poultry after that to glean the fields. Otherwise, you're wasting feed and the corn is a pesky problem come spring when it germinates. 

I have yet to see a micro, but I suppose they exist. Petunia was only fed rice and it screwed up her front legs as she evidently got rickets. Now? She's very very very food aggressive, partially blind, and can't hear well. If she'd been fed correctly? She'd have been bigger, happier and healthier. I've got her in with Lenny and if she doesn't farrow ok, I'll be eating her as she's aggressive - or maybe she's just trying to find food, I don't know for sure. Poor baby.


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## MissyMoo (Jan 29, 2009)

Gailann, Thank you much for the details, because it interests me and I intend on trying to make soap someday (not sure the exact day yet). 
Potbellies (AHH), I LOVE hearing your stories about your pigs :goodjob: ....brilliant names by the way (lenny, etc) I LOVE them! (LOL). 
My pigs are all in a 24ft x 27 1/2ft pen (which is part wood fence boards and part wire/livestock panels) with enclosed 12ft x 12ft shelter inside of it and the pigs are in with goats and laying hens. NEVER have they even attempted to harm a goat or chicken. My one sow "Bacon" she is naughty about swiping my eggs :grit: (HAHA) but I fixed her wagon, by putting the egg nests up on the wall (which I shouldve done in the first place). now she cant reach them, hahaha  I caught her with her face planted in a chicken nest and she saw me behind her and looked up at me with fresh egg yolk all over her face as she chomped on the egg (shell and all). She was happy as can be, hahaha  
thinking potbelly meat (FOOD)....I put up an ad on craigslist looking for potbellies that noone wanted or could keep anymore and would pay up to $20. each for them. 
I got 2 responses within a few hours. 
1 person wants me to pick up their 5 to 6 year old boar that they have had since he was 6 weeks old. they named him Jackson. saying that he was black with a white "Glove" (LOL). they only want $10. or a sack of potbelly food - in trade for him, but they said he needs to be picked up ASAP because they dont want their 2 sows bred.
they said he is small for his age.
then another person wrote and she said she had TONS of potbellies that I could have for $20. each (she is a breeder of potbellies for the pet trade). she asked me how many I want, what ages, sizes, colors, etc. (hmmm.....still thinking on that one). 
What do you think? any advice or what would you do?
I am not sure how many to get right now or how to narrow down the choices (size-wise, age-wise, etc).


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

The boar may be strong-flavored or not. I was told to NOT feed a boar corn for a while before I wanted to butcher. It contributes to the strong flavor. Hay and other food preferred. However, if you are going to bbq or make strong-flavored sausage, who cares?! I like that someone (I'm sorry, my brain is fried) reports that she soaks the pig in salted ice water overnight and then drains and chills it for another 3 days. 

Personally? I'd not offer ANY money until I saw the pig and talked to the owners. A "I take unwanted PotBelly Pigs" might get you out from under a monetary committment and still leave it open to pay if you want to...

That breeder could be a REAL great source for you! Her clients like small, cutesy pigs. When they get fullgrown? They aren't. So some folks like to "trade off" pigs to get a cute baby. Where does that leave the adult? Uh huh. Free piggie. You might talk to her and let her know what your plan is. If she has 10 pigs? That's a LOT of money!!! You might buy the first pig or two and then offer to trade something. Like learn to make soap and trade 5-10 bars for each pig? That's about a $20 trade! And you are out very little. Or whatever else you could barter for. Fresh eggs? Couple chickens? 

Younger animals have less fat, are less aggressive, easier to move and may taste better, imho. I'd pursue the breeder castoffs, definitely. But watch the outlay of $$ as it could break you.  Good Luck, fellow traveler!


$50 is pretty high for a PotBelly pig. That's pet trade cost. Truly. You can buy a weaner full-sized piglet for $50 easy. Don't do it. As Walter (Highlands) pointed out you can buy a $10-$20 weaner and only grow them to the size you want. Now, they're gonna take more FOOD as those pigs tend towards being like Rock Cornish cross chickens. Built for fast growth and fast killin' (6-8 weeks only on the RCX). But $50 would buy me 2-3 weaners to grow for a month and then butcher and eat. The highest I've paid is $20 for LN (Long Nose/long loin) as a sow. She's now like 2 1/2' high and loooooooong like a regular pig. If I hadn't seen her PotBelly parents I would guess she was part commercial hog. Nope. Lotsa different AHH out there. You get to pick!


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

How much meat would you get off a 4-5 yrs old 85 lb PB? I am guessing on the weight- cannot measure him as he is aggressive- but comparing him to our other piggy I think it is close. He is an example of a free PB pig that was a pet that was not socialized. He got along OK with his owner as I could see, but no one else. After putting up for a couple of weeks with his attitude- out to the pen he went- and stayed since even with trying to tame him down- it has not worked. That was 8 months ago. Now that it has gotten cold- he is doing more than just snapping and charging- he is actually trying to bite. Past owner said she wanted him back if he didn;t work out- but was contacted 3 times in the last 2 weeks with no reply other than one right after we emailed her- give her a week to figure out what to do as she moved. Last 2 emails unanswered, so looks like he will be taking the trip with the last of the broilers to the amish processor. Just hoping we can lift him in a crate into the truck.
We have another PB now that is sweet as can be- about a year old and about 70 lbs. He is a house pig and other than being like a 2 yr old getting into things...he is doing remarkably well. No agression at all and smart...already learned sit, circle and up and is 99% house trained in 2 weeks. Now to figure out how to keep him from tearing down the xmas tree...


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

35-40+ lbs dressed out plus fat for soap, dogs, etc.

AND skin and such if you feed the dogs those things.

Don't feel bad about butchering him. It's what needs done. He's not happy, you aren't happy, the previous owner would have come and seen him if she'd wanted.

You can tell the butcher to save EVERYTHING and they will.

Or do it yourself and save the $$.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

She finally answered back...she wants to wait another week to hear back from- get this- the petting zoo! Did she not read a word my husband wrote about his agression being the reason he is not wanted? Did she not read that he is now doing more than just snapping- he is trying to take a bite? I told hubby if she wants him to go to a petting zoo- we are NOT taking him. She will have to do it as I will not be responsible for a child being bitten. I tell my niece and young visitors not to put their fingers in or over the fence...not that they really need to warning as he tries to charge through the fence. Heck, we were trying to figure out how to transport him to the butcher safely. Hubby thinks he is more like 100 lbs now and will not fit in my airline dog crates. Only thing we have that will hold his size is one of my extra large crates- but those are fold downs- it won't support carrying a 100 lb animal. Hubby is planning on making a crate out of 2 by 4's and plywood- but that will be pricey just for a one time use. If he was not mean and could get a harness on him, it would have been an option to put a ramp into the back of the truck and set the large crate in that and guide and tempt him with food to go up and into the crate. But that is not happening with him. Any suggestions on how to transport him...hopefully to the processors. I have no expereince in butchering myself....except for rabbits. I don't have the tools to get the job done nor the place to do it. I was hoping I could find a processor closer that I could pay to come pick him up, but so far only found an Amish family about 35 miles away- and they don't have a truck of course.


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## jode (Oct 24, 2007)

I just read in another post where someone had calmed a pig down by feeding him loaves of bread soaked in beer.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

I couldn't find a local processor who would handle AHH or PBP's. All the answers were NO, or NO WAY, or less nice.
We ended up doing it ourselves, and it turned out to be sooo much easier than I thought. Then you wouldn't have to load him. Frankly, I'd much rather butcher myself than contemplate trying to get him into a tall pickup truck bed. Most pigs not trained to it won't go up a steep ramp, and you'd have to build sides on it so he felt safe enough not to fall off. 
Kit


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

jode said:


> I just read in another post where someone had calmed a pig down by feeding him loaves of bread soaked in beer.


Well heck- pigs will drink beer without the bread LOL I was not sure if giving alchohol would affect the meat...and how much can you give a pig and not kill him. I mean I want him alive when he gets to the processor as I don;t know that they would do a dead pig.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

KIT.S said:


> I couldn't find a local processor who would handle AHH or PBP's. All the answers were NO, or NO WAY, or less nice.
> We ended up doing it ourselves, and it turned out to be sooo much easier than I thought. Then you wouldn't have to load him. Frankly, I'd much rather butcher myself than contemplate trying to get him into a tall pickup truck bed. Most pigs not trained to it won't go up a steep ramp, and you'd have to build sides on it so he felt safe enough not to fall off.
> Kit


If he was not mean and could have a harbness placed on him, we could lead him to a mound we have here and back the truck up to it- open the tail gate and have him not have to go up a ramp....just the mound of weed covered dirt that our neighbor was so nice to put at the property line when he built his house.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Willowynd said:


> Well heck- pigs will drink beer without the bread LOL I was not sure if giving alchohol would affect the meat...and how much can you give a pig and not kill him. I mean I want him alive when he gets to the processor as I don;t know that they would do a dead pig.


must of never heard of beer brats, just a little premarinating shoot if your really worried about the beer use wine! it would take a lot of either to kill it but drunks are not always fun to deal with, mean sober meaner drunk!


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