How our pigs out smarted us, for now!
We did our very best to load all 10 of our pigs for butcher day… but the pigs had other plans.
With temperatures sitting at -40°C and colder, we pushed as far as we reasonably could. In the end, we had to call it and accept that the day wasn’t going to go exactly how we planned. We managed to get 6 pigs loaded, which felt like a small win, and we still have 4 very smart pigs who decided they weren’t interested in cooperating just yet.
At that point, it wasn’t safe (or fair to anyone — pigs or farmers) to keep forcing it in that kind of cold. So for now, those four are staying put while we rethink our loading setup and make some adjustments to the chute before trying again. Farming has a funny way of keeping us humble.
The upside of all this?
We now have 4 pigs available as whole or half shares for anyone who’s been waiting.
Here’s how the pricing breaks down, so there are no surprises:
• $3.50 per lb hanging weight
• Average hanging weight is around 170 lbs
• That works out to roughly $595 for the meat
There is also a $300 base processing fee, which covers kill, cut, and wrap.
This brings the estimated total to about $895 for a whole pig.
After processing, you typically take home about 70% of the hanging weight once bones are removed. Using the average weight, that’s around 119 lbs of pork, working out to approximately $7.52 per pound for finished meat.
This pricing is using whole cuts only (no grinding, curing, or sausage by default).
Included cuts are:
• Roasts
• Chops
• Cutlets
• Pork tenderloin
• Baby back ribs
• Side ribs
Optional processing is available if you’d like to customize:
• Grinding: $0.65 / lb
• Curing (bacon/ham): $2.59 / lb
• Sausage: $3.49 / lb
(Grinding is required for ground pork and sausage.)
🗓 Butcher date: February 5
⏰ Deposits due: February 4 by 4:00 PM
As always, we’re happy to answer questions and help you decide if a whole or half pig is the right fit for your freezer. Sometimes the pigs outsmart us — but it usually works out just the way it’s supposed to.
