It's All Over But The Curing...

Thursday evening we decided that Friday would be the time to butcher the pig.  Please keep in mind, this is a big pig.  A very big pig.  We've never let one get this big before, and in hindsight I know why! 

When we butcher we try to make it as as quick, stress-free, and painless for the animal as possible.  Because of MP's size I was pretty sure that stunning her with the .22 wasn't going to do the job, so our dear friend Levi H offered to bring his guns.  So the plan was set.  Ben and Levi H would do the shot and then using a rope and Lil Blue (Bob's Ford Ranger) drag the pig from the pen to the hoist.  Keep in mind there's an 18" drop from the area outside the pigpen to inside the pig pen.  We had to get this big pig up that 18". 

Lil Blue was good enough to get the pig across the pig pen, but no matter how hard we tried, that truck was not pulling that pig up that incline.

So Levi H once again brought out a big gun....

And even his big Bronco couldn't get that pig up that incline.  So we ended up getting a length of chain, attaching it to the pig, and using the hoist to get her up out of the pen.  Here's a shot of us finally getting her through the gate.  This is a big pig.

Once we finally got her out of the pen the real work began.  It took the 3 of us to get her hoisted for processing.  I did manage to get the needed measurements for calculating her weight.

Body length (measured right behind the ear to right in front of the tail) was 57".  Heart girth (measuring around the body just behind the forelegs) was 56".  The pig weight calculator says she weighed 446.8 pounds.  That translates into approximately 324# of useable pork!  That's a big pig.

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures because we were so busy working.  I did get a shot of Ben holding up one of the hams.  This ham weighed 48.6 pounds....compare it to the size of Ben's waist!

It's taken us 2 full days to get it all cut, wrapped, and in the freezers.  The trimmings and belly are in the fridge until tomorrow when we will trim the bacon and start grinding and mixing sausage.