Permsteading.com

Yesterday was a sad one.

The little pig that had her side gashed open because she got stepped on, developed respiratory distress. Soon after noticing that she was in a bad way, I seperated her and went into research mode and gave her a dose of LA 200 (a long acting antibiotic). My wife shortened the learning curve by calling the vet. He recommended a stronger, fast acting antibiotic and fluids delivered via syringe. She flew to town, got the needed supplies and we spent the rest of the day trying to nurse her back to health.

Whatever caused the respiratory distress worsened over the course of the day and by about 1800 hours it was obvious that the antibiotics and TLC would be insufficient to affect the outcome. I made the tough call and put her down.

I pray her malady was either secondary to lung damage from having been stepped on or aspiration pneumonia (the vet's guess). Knowing that even strong antibiotics had no effect, the only other things that would cause her cluster of symptoms are seemingly viral in nature. Since I have purposely not vaccinated, and since I am keeping a friend's pig (albeit a hundred yards away) thereby providing a potential disease vector, the next few days will be tense ones.

As for the tomatoes, a more strategic placing of the hot wire that keeps Linda from testing the fence now keeps her little ones out of my tomatoes.

In other news, it APPEARS that Lou's abdomen has started swelling. If I've guessed right, November 17th might see our second litter hitting the ground.

Also, we have decided, assuming no further losses, to keep the best looking one of the gilts as this will be the only pig born on our farm for quite some time that will be completely unrelated to our boar, Mr. Bingley. In the picture above that shows them all nursing, she is the second from the distant end and is unique in that she has a spot on her forehead. Her name is Tiffany and she is the dominate force in the litter and has been since day #1.

That's terrible news George. I was reluctant to use any medication at first but my tamworth has gone done twice now and I've been at the mercy of vet med to get her moving again. Either way, though, I'm sorry you lost one.

Yeah George, sorry to hear about the little one. That's always hard, harder I think when you do all you can like you guys did. I'm glad to hear you have a good gilt picked out though, and that there's another litter on the way.

I titled this Cloud o'Dust.

I never get tired of watching the babies play like that. Appropriate title George. I bet the kids are loving the entertainment.

I see Tiffany is taking no Guff!

First Berkshire hog delivered to the processing plant thing morning.

This will be the second boar we've slaughtered or had slaughtered.

Congrats George, big day there. Is it USDA processing? Are you going that route, selling cuts, or is it still custom slaughter?

This hog is entirely for personal consumption, so it was a custom slaughter at a state inspected facility.

First supper once we have the meat home is going to be:
- fried pork chops
- fall peas
- baked sweet potatoes slathered with butter and brown sugar
- fried okra
- rice and gravy
- cornbread
- iced tea that is entirely too sweet

I talked to the owner today (who is also a good friend and one of the finest fellows I know) and he can handle about 15 pigs per day. That works out well since I'll be topping out seven of Linda's litter which I hope to deliver to his facility somewhere about March or April, 2014.

We just got our fresh pork back from the processor. We fried up a couple pounds of the sausage for lunch and there is absolutely no evidence of "boar taint." Quite the opposite actually - the meat is exquisite.

Based on the hanging weight of 220 lbs, we calculated a live weight of 305 lbs. The weight of the meat that we actually put in our freezer, as determined by digital bathroom sales, was 209.4 lbs. That equates to a 69% yield (this yield does not include the head, lungs, liver, etc. which we gave to a neighbor. Nor does it include the fat which I am rendering now. It does include "neck bones" and "hock bones" which some might consider "trash meat" unless they've ever experienced these cuts smoked like ribs. If so, they would prize them as or more highly than pork chops.)

As near as we can figure, our total cost of meat in the freezer was:
-$200 for the pig
-$200 for the feed
-$200 for the butcher

$600/209.4 lbs = $2.87/lb.