Keeping Pigs?

Question

I am in Bristol, England. Where can I purchase a piglet to keep in my garden and how long can I expect before it is ready to be slaughtered?

Do I need any particular paper work for the pig and how much can I expect to pay for the piglet and how much will an an abbatoir charge to slaughter the beast?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Don't know about England but here they can be bought for $20 or$30 depending on weight /fed 6 months (bigest cost) then butchered at first cold snap(It isn't hard but there is a lot of boiling and scrapeing.Lazy people just skin them but you waste a lot that way)

Answer 2

after like three years u wont to kill

but make sure that u  get it fat.

Answer 3

In order to keep any cloven hoofed animal in England you need to have a holding number for your premises, this you can get from Defra, a hassle but free. Pigs are classed as high offenders for spreading disease and if you are wanting to keep one for consumption you will be vet checked quarterly,at a cost of about £50 a time. The actual piglet won't cost you a lot but there are strict regs regarding what you can feed them, you are no longer allowed to boil up your own gruel and the price of pig feed has risen drastically. Abattoir/butchering costs vary but you'll be looking towards £100 for it to be done properly. At the end of the day though you will have a freezer full of very nice pork. To make it anywhere near viable you'd need to keep more than one pig and sell some over....then you run into other problems...trading standards etc. Sorry to sound pessimistic but with the tightening of the laws you can't do much at all on the cheap with regards raising your own meat.

Answer 4

once you buy the little pig

you will fall in  love with it

and make it a pet

so how could you kill and eat our pet

Answer 5

P don't know the law but as it appears in the advertisement you may have to have the license for keeping and selling the pig.

Make sure you buy it from a known source and it is not suffering from any disease transmittable to humans.

You may contact the no. mentioned below for details of cost and license details.  

You may have to decise when to sell the pig i.e. at what body weight you want to sell it.

It triples its body weight in first 4-5 months and then slows down. In a 2-3 years it will be 6-11 times the body weigt.

The address :

PIGS FOR SALE Weaners & Pokers, pigs bought for cash, always needed, holders licence must be held. Tel: [phone]

Frm internet.

Answer 6

You could buy it from a farmer who raises pigs. I'm not familiar with your laws, but you will probably have to have a permit if you live in the city, and may not be to raise one at all. Whatever type of garden you plan to raise him won't last long. he will either eat it or root it all up in short order. Add up the cost of the pig, the cost of feed, and the cost of killing, packing, and curing of the hams and bacon, you will save a small amount over buying in a grocer or butcher shop. You will however enjoy the meat more and you will know how it was raised.

Answer 7

Hello,

I am in America, but that, nevertheless & not withstanding,  is after the fact of my being a "country farmer" sort. I could be...from any where "rural" on the globe, at least anywhere a pig can do well....

Master Pig is a good converter of food waste, well worth the effort to find and keep Him, that is --- if you have a bit o waste, or lush weeds fit for a pig king's meal.

Pigs are to be had from a fellow who's had them a while, a country sort, making a little money on the side breeding piglets. Look for this fellow at the edge of the city, in this thin margin, between town and country. He's there, trust me...ask around...you'll find him. Pay him a fair price, and you'll get a good deal next year...

And please, forget the government regulations... what they don't know... won't make them "hot". Quietly, responcibly, do a good job with feeding and raising the pig, build a tight pen, feed and water the pig every day, as much extra as you have, garden weeds, garden culls, table scrapes, spoiled or spent grain, whey, dairy wastes. Then, while it fattens...research pork products, cuts of pork, how to use them, sausage making and home made meat products, where to buy symple sausage stuffers & sausage"casings" and so forth, get a good set of knives...above all... find someone to help you, willing and able to shere the work and the costs. Share the meat...remember to thank Master Pig for His generosity.

If at first you fail, try again and so shall you, therfore, suceed. Master pig  has, through out history, been called : "mortgage lifter" for a reason. Of this fact I am absolutly positive...having become accuainted with Master Pig myself. ~Savvy-ma

Answer 8

It takes one awfully tough fence system to restrain a pig. One would certainly not want that pig in a place that it could escape to neighborhood lawns and gardens, to the street, or into people's sheds.

Pigs tend to produce some awful manure smells. So plan on how you will deal with that.

You have to fence that yard not only to prevent the pig escaping, but also to keep out people.

Yes, even children getting in and being savaged, or a poacher stealing the nearly mature pig.

In your garden, EXPECT NOT ONE LIVING PLANT to survive.

Answer 9

You can buy a little piggy from the market if you like, they are pretty cheap. But don't forget to ask the vet for some oinkment, they get a little crackling in thier ears and it lasts for weeeeeeeeeks.... You use every part of the pig after it's slaughtered, apart from the SQUEELS.