High Green Farm
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D Day tomorrowWell tomorrow is the day. The first of our pigs go to slaughter and I'm not really looking forward to it.
Busy night tonight with tags to do, and trying to get them a little cleaner (they do love their wallow!), before loading them into the stable for their last supper. 
But on the upside at least I have a day off work tomorrow, and we'll be knee deep in great pork by next week! 
6 Gloucester Old Spots arrive in September, with one to keep for breeding, so we should be even more self-sufficient come this time next year!
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judith
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Hope it goes smoothly for you tomorrow. If it is any comfort, I found the day before was worse than the actual day - there is too much to think about then.
And then, as you say, there is the pork to look forward to. And boy will it be good!
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Bugs
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Good luck, HGF, like Judith says I am sure when the time comes you'll be ready for it all. Hope it goes really well
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Mr O
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We took 4 of ours yesterday, the abbatoir we use is so good that it is totaly stress free for them. The first time is the worst as you end up worring about wheather you will cope or not. I have lost count of how many times we have done it now. We have 2 Gos litters due in August, if the new boar has done his job. Hope it goes well.
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tahir
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Sorry, didn't see this, hope everythings gone well for you, happy eating 
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Gertie
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I hope everything went smoothly today for you.
I have to say I have the utmost respect for people who raise their own stock and see it through to the end.
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farmwoody
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I hope it went well for you too. It isnt easy but you know they're the best cared for piggies that ever were.
A few years on and I still find the day difficult but i know its the right thing to do.
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High Green Farm
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All in all it went very well....thanks.
Loaded them into the stable from the field last night. Managed eventually to persuade two of them to cross the electric fence line and follow the bucket (my method), and then very quickly loaded the other two into the trailer and moved them that way (OH's method).
Think we'll use the trailer next time - I can still hear "I told you so" ringing in my ears!!  Ear tagging was remarkably easy with three of them not even noticing, and the fourth with a little squeal.
Gave them a quick brush this morning to take the rest of the dried mud from them. One of the gilts did her party piece of rolling over when brushed, and expecting her tummy to be scratched. (I'm looking for a guilty smiley, but can't find one).
All went well at the abattoir, and they unloaded down the ramp as easily as they had loaded in the first place.
The only unexpected thing today was that, as I sat down to write this, I get an Animal Health visit from DEFRA/Trading Standards to check my movement records! Hell of a coincidence that they choose today, and they had no phone number as they say they would have phoned to warn me!
Anyway easier than I thought it would be. Can't will till we get the meat back!
A few photos below from this morning.
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Bernie66
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It must be hard. I find it hard having an animal put down at the end of its life to ease its suffering, think i am either a big wuss or get too close to animals for my own good.
But then they never cheat on you, or lie to you, or do the dirty on you so i prefer animals company at times.I am not bitter or twisted, honestly, i just recognise the fact that animals do not have the same tendancies as some humans. With them its cupboard love and the like.
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Lloyd
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This just reaffirms to me that I'm too bloody soft to keep anything bigger than a chicken. Too upsetting otherwise!
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Mr BlueSky
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Well done HGF. Glad all was well in the end
Our doesn't go until November but I am sure we will be as troubled as you were. Just want to make sure it is done humanely. I am sure your Pork will offset the worrying.
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Andy B
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| Bernie66 wrote: | It must be hard. I find it hard having an animal put down at the end of its life to ease its suffering, think i am either a big wuss or get too close to animals for my own good.
But then they never cheat on you, or lie to you, or do the dirty on you so i prefer animals company at times.I am not bitter or twisted, honestly, i just recognise the fact that animals do not have the same tendancies as some humans. With them its cupboard love and the like. |
Agree, my problem as well!
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High Green Farm
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| Bernie66 wrote: | It must be hard. I find it hard having an animal put down at the end of its life to ease its suffering, think i am either a big wuss or get too close to animals for my own good.
But then they never cheat on you, or lie to you, or do the dirty on you so i prefer animals company at times.I am not bitter or twisted, honestly, i just recognise the fact that animals do not have the same tendancies as some humans. With them its cupboard love and the like. |
I can make a distinction between pets and stock in my mind. When we had to have our cat out down after it had been knocked down, and we had nursed it for three weeks in the hope that it would regain continence, I found that very distressing.
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Stacey
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I've found it hard with every different animal 'group' we've taken to the butchers. We started with lambs and a few weeks ago had our tamworth porkers sluaghtered. It's hard but it's meant to be IMO. Much better to acknowledge that the meat on our plate was once roaming our fields than some faceless, emotionless transaction at the supermarket. The good side is like others have said, we know our livestock has lived and died well. From a purely selfish perspective it measnw e also have a better quality of food as a result.
The next one for me is the beef steer. He'll be our first beef and he'll be 2 and a half when he goes - that'll be a tricky day. I promised myself at the start that if I couldn't cope with it I'd go veggie. I haven't reached that stage yet but as a family we're a lot more respectful of the meat we eat.
Did you/will you make any sausages?
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Andy B
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| High Green Farm wrote: | | Bernie66 wrote: | It must be hard. I find it hard having an animal put down at the end of its life to ease its suffering, think i am either a big wuss or get too close to animals for my own good.
But then they never cheat on you, or lie to you, or do the dirty on you so i prefer animals company at times.I am not bitter or twisted, honestly, i just recognise the fact that animals do not have the same tendancies as some humans. With them its cupboard love and the like. |
I can make a distinction between pets and stock in my mind. When we had to have our cat out down after it had been knocked down, and we had nursed it for three weeks in the hope that it would regain continence, I found that very distressing. |
Dont get me wrong, i think what you do is great. I would have to buy my meat from people like you because i know i wouldnt cope to well when it came to the animals going thats all. Best to recognise ones limitations i suppose.
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High Green Farm
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| stacey_guthrie wrote: | | Did you/will you make any sausages? |
We have a very good butcher who will be making the sausages, and should get around 10lb of sausages for each half, plus the joints, chops etc. As it is our first time, we are pretty much leaving it up to him, and if we want to change anything, we will do so with the next lot.
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High Green Farm
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| Andy B wrote: | | Dont get me wrong, i think what you do is great. I would have to buy my meat from people like you because i know i wouldnt cope to well when it came to the animals going thats all. Best to recognise ones limitations i suppose. |
Thanks. The first thing I thought about this morning was the pigs (probably because my morning routine has changed), and am still thinking about them. It's not something I'll ever take lightly, nor enjoy, but I am comfortable that as long as I eat meat, I would like to know where it came from, how it was reared etc.
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Bernie66
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[quote
Thanks. The first thing I thought about this morning was the pigs (probably because my morning routine has changed), and am still thinking about them. It's not something I'll ever take lightly, nor enjoy, but I am comfortable that as long as I eat meat, I would like to know where it came from, how it was reared etc.[/quote]
That means you are the right kind of person to be keeping animals for food then, if that is your attitude.{IMHO}
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Mr BlueSky
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| stacey_guthrie wrote: | I've found it hard with every different animal 'group' we've taken to the butchers. We started with lambs and a few weeks ago had our tamworth porkers sluaghtered. It's hard but it's meant to be IMO. Much better to acknowledge that the meat on our plate was once roaming our fields than some faceless, emotionless transaction at the supermarket. The good side is like others have said, we know our livestock has lived and died well. From a purely selfish perspective it measnw e also have a better quality of food as a result.
The next one for me is the beef steer. He'll be our first beef and he'll be 2 and a half when he goes - that'll be a tricky day. I promised myself at the start that if I couldn't cope with it I'd go veggie. I haven't reached that stage yet but as a family we're a lot more respectful of the meat we eat. |
Well said Stacey Guthrie!
I agree with absolutely every point you just made. If everybody thought the way you do then I think we'd have cracked it. No need for people to go veggie ... just for them to have the respect that you do for the meat they eat.
BRAVO!
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Debbie
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D DayGlad it went well for you High Green Farm. its never easy and to be honest I don't find it gets any easier the more you do it. But then I don't think it should do.
Totally agree with you Stacy Guthrie. Its important for us to know and remember what we are eating so that we appreciate it even more. My sister kept chickens and would throw their eggs away rather than eat them as it was too "real". When I asked her where she thought eggs came from then she said "safeways"  Try as I might I can't make her see reason. She will buy a chicken breast or bacon in a super market but will not eat anything we have reared as they were once "proper" animals. When we visit her (she lives in spain) she cannot understand why we only eat seafood and vegetarian meals when as she puts it "but you eat your pets what do you care?" Unfortunately she is not the only one with this attitude towards us
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Mr O
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Re: D Day | Debbie wrote: | Glad it went well for you High Green Farm. its never easy and to be honest I don't find it gets any easier the more you do it. But then I don't think it should do.
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It does get slightly easier as you do it more because you get into a routine which dispells part of the worry. When we started we found the whole thing stressfull, Loading, Tagging, reversing the trailer at the abbatoirs, dealing with the abbatoir. Now we are more confident with all of this and we only have to deal with the remorse, which if you feel like us, in that we want to know where our meat has come from and also are passionate that the animals have been treated correctly, then this is the only way to eat meat responsibly. I am passionate about the care of my stock and the way they are treated to the end and that is why I only eat what I have raised myself or by someone with like feelings to my own.
So for me it did get a bit easier but it never will be easy. If it got easy I would give up!
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Debbie
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D DayTotally agree The Orange that the mechanics of the day get easier with practice but the emotional side doesn't though.
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monkey1973
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I doff my cap to the lot of you. I have thought long and hard about whether or not I could kill and eat my hens and so far no is the answer but they were got for eggs only and are now more like pets (with names and the like). I have wondered, however, if I were to get more and keep them as tock whether that would soften the emotions somewhat. It would at least allow me to eat chicken again. 
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Lloyd
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Well, hens I have done and will do again. But big stuff like pigs, I would perceive in the same light as my dogs, or horse, probably. I think maybe size matters, in ths respect. Small cute stuff you can close your mind to but when it's big.............
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High Green Farm
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Well we picked up the pork this afternoon, and then sorted it amongst the 9 lucky people who were party to this batch.
Have to say that I am fairly pleased with the butchery, given that this was our first time and we left it pretty well up to him. That said 6 halves came back all packaged for the average size family, but two halves came back with one big bag of chops (24 each), and one big bag of belly rashers (21 each), plus a couple of very large joints, so I am not quite sure what happened there!
The sausages came back in four large bags, so needed further divisions, and I am very pleased we had a few freezer bags in stock.
Once we had everything sorted and weighed, we started on our deliveries and finished at some friends who very kindly cooked some sausages, and declared that they were the best sausages they had had for a long time. (Admittedly the red wine has been flowing, but I can't see a spelling mistake yet!) 
Anyway we are slow cooking the largest shoulder joint this weekend to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary....it barely fits the pan....if I am sober, I'll try to take a piccy!
Better go....5 hours till the train......
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Lloyd
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Brilliant!...I feel motivated!...Now need to find a baby porker!
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High Green Farm
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The only thing I forgot to say was how great it feels. I am (though I cringe as I write this) immensely proud of this pork.....sounds odd I know, but everyone that we sold was looking forward to tucking in.
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Jonnyboy
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Great to read this, looking forward to doing the same next year.
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Debbie
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D DayWell done High Green Farm....its the absolute best feeling isnīt it 
Madman....Our Kylie (our Berkshire gilt) had a litter of 6 x saddle backs early hours of Tuesday first litter for her and us
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Mr O
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Re: D Day | Debbie wrote: | Well done High Green Farm....its the absolute best feeling isnīt it
Madman....Our Kylie (our Berkshire gilt) had a litter of 6 x saddle backs early hours of Tuesday first litter for her and us |
Congrats on the litter Debbie we are expecting a litter from one of our GOS sows in 2 weeks time, it is not the first for us but it is still special!
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Mr O
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| High Green Farm wrote: | | The only thing I forgot to say was how great it feels. I am (though I cringe as I write this) immensely proud of this pork.....sounds odd I know, but everyone that we sold was looking forward to tucking in. |
You should be proud! It will show up the rubbish that people buy in supermarkets for sure, we can not keep up with the demand for our Pork, lamb or eggs! Beef is following soon!
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Lloyd
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That's lovely, Debbie. I know how it feels when you get natural increases in stock. I really wish I had more grit and determination though, but think it would be really hard to take them to the slaughterhouse, having nurtured them up to that point. 
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Debbie
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D DayI know madman. We do it with lambs (even those we bottle rear), chickens and ducks from day olds and its never easy. At least with lambs they are mostely in the field so no real twice a day contact for the last few months. Have a horrible feeling it will be worse with the piglets! Will let you know in about 8 months time!
We have just lost out on the 50 acres we were after so will only be able to keep three of the piglets........nice freerange homes wanted for the other three!
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