| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| gardening-girl |
Advice about pig costs please.We have been given three GOS weaners that are suposed to be a community project.After a rather nasty meeting on Sunday, the other pig person(OH being the other one) decided that he didn,t want any other input by other people from the allotments, and has now left us in a difficult position.The pigs are kept about 4 miles from home, and we cannot do both morning and evenings due to work, nor can we really afford to feed them all. We are wanting to try and work out costings IF we can get some other people involved. We sent of our Berkshires at about 85k, given that GOS are far bigger pigs, what is an ideal weight for slaughter? and at what age approx would they be good to go? They would be living outside, with plenty of spuds and fruit etc plus pig nuts. Would thisdiet be ok? or would anything else be better/ more cost effective. Advice please 
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| emmac |
Oh, I wish we were back in Somerset permanently and could help you out!
I was looking at pig keeping costs on here a while ago, as we plan to get some pigs in time... I found this thread here: http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?t=46284 Not sure if that is of any help? I am sure you will find some people to get involved locally - I would jump at it if I could! 
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| ros |
what about selling 1/2s on here with a deposit up front to help pay for the feed? -
Where's Nick when you need him ? |
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| Bebo |
85kg for a Berkshire is big (I thought most people sent them off at about 60kg). We normally aim for between 70kg and 80kg, preferably closer to 70kg. We normally have cross-breeds (last lot were tamworth / saddleback crosses) and they are normally around 5 months old when they are ready to go.
If we do three pigs at a time and I sell two it normally just about covers the costs for all three, so I get a pig either free or for very little. We normally sell the pork at £80 a half to friends and family. Not sure if that's any help. |
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| gardening-girl |
The pigs were heavier than we wanted due to the ear tags not arriving when ordered.They were two weeks over.
I had the idea that GOS were a bigger pig. |
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| Bebo |
Berkshires are a small pig and some people say that they produce the best pork. GOS are similar to saddlebacks and OSBs in size. | ||
| Nick |
I'm here! Wassup? ETA: Yep, the recent thread Stacey started should be helpful about feeding costs, and others. The things to look out for are the bulk of the costs turn up in the last month/days, as feed bills rise, and suddenly you need a tank of diesel, some tags, a slaughter and butchery bill. Then you're stuck with three hundred weight of pork, which you then try and sell. I overcame this by, as Ros says, selling them NOW. When I had batches of piglets, I'd offer them for sale at a rough date in the future, by the half. I wanted 50% of the money now, and 50% on collection/delivery. This helped the cash flow, and with up to 20 pigs at a time, this was VERY IMPORTANT.
The risks involved that you must consider (purely the financial ones) are primarily that feed prices can rise quickly and without warning. You don't get to go back and raise the price of your pigs. In one batch (so over around 5 months, my food price went from £5 for 25kg to nearly £9 for 20kg). This caused issues. The other worry is what happens if a pig dies. Maybe you have a spare, or refund, or promise one from your next batch. I found people who were prepared to invest in this process were willing to share the issues and I found it worked very, very well.
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