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Updated to add: This is a real farm and the subject of this post is a real castration. Photos may be too graphic for some readers.
The pig man came out to “cut” (castrate) Sausage this weekend. He brought the wife and daughter. Cutting pigs is a family affair. Even Jack was interested. Till the screaming started.
There was a lot of screaming.
And I mean SCREAMING.
If we had any neighbors, they would have been calling the police, sure there was a mafia mass hit going on over here. I haven’t heard so much screaming since the last time I watched a horror movie. Pigs can SCREAM.
I’m not sure if he was actually in that much pain. He started screaming as soon as the pig man picked him up, long before the knife got involved. But Sausage is a boy and we don’t want Sausage and Patty making any bacon bits, so it was off with his package whether he liked it or not.
Notice the pig man’s daughter, a true farm girl, right in there with the pig and all the screaming. She’s been there, done that, and knows exactly what to do and isn’t too squeamish to do it.
I think Morgan was up in her room styling her hair or something.
The purple spray is an antiseptic.
He offered up Sausage’s package for our dining pleasure, suggesting we take it up to the house and fry it. He said they are delicacies and people eat them, just like they do calf nuts.
We said, uh, you can have it!
He gave it to Boomer.
We had rings put in both pigs’ noses, too. With rings, we can pasture them and they won’t be able to root and dig out under the fences.
Pigs aren’t dumb.
Sausage, to Patty: “My name’s Sausage, your name’s Patty. I say we make a break for it.”
I don’t like keeping animals confined. Right now, Sausage and Patty are in a pen in the meadow bottom. A comfy pen on a shady rise by the creek with lots of fresh vegetables from the farmers market and dry straw regularly bedded down, but I still don’t like it. I want them on pasture. We’ve got a bit more securing to do to the fences and gates to make sure they can’t get out–they’re still not that big–but hopefully soon they will be out in the fresh grass. Sausage and Patty are late spring babies, so they won’t be ready for……(I can hardly say it)….the FRYING PAN!! till January. We’re planning to trade one of them for some farm-fresh beef and lamb.
I try to not look them in the eye…………..
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Keep an eye out for any signs of infection in the castrated guy. He is looking good. Nice and fat looking little guy. But they do have some growing to do to get to a decent butchering size. Hopefully, they will take off growing in length soon. You are going to have some great tasting pork there. Think sausage, bacon, ham, lard for pies, not to mention, chops, roasts, stir fries, etc. Isn’t a pig amazing. So many different delicious meals. You are giving them a much better life than if you purchased the meat in the store from a confinement grown hog. The only way to avoid death in animals is not have any (they all die someday even if they aren’t intended for the table).
Locally raised lamb, oh boy are your going to love that too! Sooooo much better than the stuff in the store.
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You’re blog is superb & I truly enjoy reading what you have to say!God bless!
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We’re getting ready to order both a pig and a lamb in October.
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But now its done. Yay!!!
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~Jenny~
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I was okay with that.
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Didn’t mind frying up the bacon, tho!
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It will break their hearts to someday be separated.
Please, Please, Please………
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Breakfast was one yummy pig – we sold the others at butchering time.
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Juli
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pork chops to be nameless. lol
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Unless…and here’s your challenge:
You can watch him shot between the eyes with a 22 rifle, his throat cut before he hits the ground, and see him wenched up to a strong tree limb with a block and tackle to “bleed out” before he’s dipped in a 55 gallon barrel of boiling water so you can scrape the hair off his body and gut him. (Imagine Springsteen singing “Gory Days” in the background. You’ll need some kind of distraction.)
If you can do that, I’ll applaud you and congratulate you for becoming a real farm girl. But remember…you still have to EAT that pig!
Trust me,it will be much better and easier going down if it’s a pig you don’t know. BTW, if you do manage that, I love your blog, but PLEASE don’t take pictures. The ones emblazoned in my memory are quite enough.
I’d have been better off starring in a Disney movie where I helped all the animals escape (and disappear) on the eve before slaughter day.
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LOL Bacon Bits LOL
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Now I am mad, just a tad. Wake up people: The cow doesn’t grow in cellophane wrap–it was alive once too. At least on a small farm, the animals get fresh grass and love and attention. Take a look at your food supply for a minute and thank Suzanne for teaching those of us who what to be sustainable and responsible how to do these things that we grew up with, but have forgotten how to do. Shame on you.
Thank you Suzanne and please post future posts that give us the lowdown on what to do and expect.
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I do eat pork but I ask Burger not to watch.
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Anyway, when we had our pony colt gelded, the vet told us that it’s supposed to be good luck to throw the testicles over the barn roof. Ever heard that one?
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I never had a problem eating what we raised. The best fried chicken I ever ate was a rooster that had chased me and pinned me against the back door, floggin me the whole time.
My daddy also worked for a time on a cattle ranch and every year at brandin, doctorin time, they would have a calf fry that evenin. There would be at least 2 or 3 5 gallon buckets full of Mountain Oysters to clean and fry up. Yum.
I know some people would not enjoy seeing the “ugly” side of farm life and that’s ok. But please do not put anyone down that is showing how it really is. I saw the warning at the top of the post. Off my soap box now. Good Eats Suzanne.
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And, Pigs scream for a reason, you’d scream too, if someone tackled you and cut you balls off.
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Like somebody else said..for every piece of meat..an animal died, so don’t fool yourself that is it comes in a plastic wrap it is ok and what Susanne does isn’t!!
We castrate the bulls in the spring (cousins farm) and yes we castrate our cats too.
That is a 3 minute job…and done before they realize what hit them.
Our turkeys are going to be butchered in 2 weeks (thanksgiving is in October in Canada) they had an awesome life, with veggies, room to roam indoor and outdoor etc, I;m pretty sure, the Turkeys you buy in the store are raised quite different.
Keep on going Suzanne.
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Thanks for posting the “real” stuff Suzanne. I love your blog!
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I applaud you for you blog and your farm life. I was raised in town, but a lot of my adult life has been working with livestock. I hate to say that I worked in a hog confinement setting for about 9 years, but learned so much about handling pigs. And worked a little at the University farm. There are things that HAVE to be done when you are raising livestock. I, too, hope that you ignore the negative comments that some folks have written. Your blog is about REAL life on a farm, and I love hearing about it since someday I would love to own a little property with many animals. I can learn a lot from you and also enjoy in your daily activities. THANK YOU!! and YOU GO GIRL!!!
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I laughed out loud at the people who suggested a vet and sedation, mostly because that’s what a vet would do if you suggested it- Laugh out loud. At you.
Way to go Suzanne for being one of the people who understands that 15 minutes of a crappy day is worth the other benefits it provides those animals. Poor people: “Oh, I could never eat those (poor, well-cared for, free-range, organic) animals; I get all my meat at the store.” Yep- those animals-also castrated- and living horrible lives in tiny, filthy, cement cages. I hope someday I can be self-supporting and practice sustainable farming like you. For now I have to content myself with buying from those who do and are.
I simply love this blog.
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I’d hate to be on the receiving end (on the other side of the barn) of that one.
My husband is making me put this joke on here…now, be warned, it won’t be for all…
There is a Frenchman working for a farmer. One day, they are castrating the bull calves. That night for supper they had beef fries. A few days later, they castrate their pigs. That night, they have pork fries for supper. The next day, they finish chores early and the farmer tells the Frenchman he can go in early and get ready for supper. A few minutes later, the Frenchman comes running out of the house, jumps in his truck and drives away. The farmer asks his wife why he left so quickly. His wife says, she doesn’t know but that he asked what was for supper and she had replied french fries.
I warned you.
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The pigs will scream even if you touch them. It has nothing to do with castration. Banding is much simpler…something similar to docking lamb’s tails.
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Thanks for sharing!
Emma D.
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just wonderin’
Suzanne, I love this stuff. I know that the reason we aren’t as aware of what we eat, or allow all sorts of chemicals and junk in our food growing culture is beCAUSE we don’t know what it means to do it the right way. We got duped along the way.
laur