So my uncle is one of the heads of a local hog farm, brother works there and I might have access to some of the whole animals that are killed due to broken legs/etc.

I'm assuming I have to avoid the ones that have died from things such as respiratory disease..etc because they are medicated. Just want some input on the whole thing.

Is it a good idea to even feed this?

Does any of you slaughter your own hogs? What pieces should I avoid giving to the dogs, like bones/etc?

 Quote: heather perring

Is it a good idea to even feed this?

D--n skippy it is!:smile:

 Quote: heather perring

Does any of you slaughter your own hogs? What pieces should I avoid giving to the dogs, like bones/etc?

Dang near everything on a hog is edible.

Guts: Whatever you want to store. If you have room, everything would be perfectly fine to feed. If you don't have lots of x-tra space then keep the good stuff. Heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs. Nothing wrong with the digestive tract, it is just the first thing that I would choose to leave if I didn't have space. Strictly personal opinion.

Bones: On a young animal, I'd take everything. I might not let mine consume the entire leg bones, but would let the dog pull and gnaw the meat off the bone itself. ON A YOUNG, LIGHTER WEIGHT HOG ONLY.

Pigs feet are a good addition. Maybe not a meal on their own, but good for gnawing and a different source of bone.

On a larger animal, I would err on the side of caution and leave the leg bones. If you know your dogs eating habits well, and don't think they would try to break the leg bones down, then you could still let the dogs eat the meat off the leg bones. Taking the bone away when they were done stripping it.

All other bones are fair game, IMO. From nose to tail.

The cool thing about butchering your own meat for the dogs is you can leave it in the most whole form possible. If I am butchering a deer for dog food, I don't bother removing hide. You could do the same with the hogs. The tough hide will make the meals a little more challenging which is just plain ole' fun for a dog. It will also be an added dental benefit since the dogs have to sit there and work to gnaw skin off meat and bone.:wink:

VERY good source you got there. You've made a lot of us mumble under our breath about "the lucky girl and her hogs".

 Quote: Heather Perring

I'm assuming I have to avoid the ones that have died from things such as respiratory disease..etc because they are medicated.

Yes, you are right about leaving any that are medicated.

Wow, as always, thank you Michael for the great information! My brother said he'd probably try and get me a 50lb one or so. I'm scared about the freezer space, as we just went on a huge food shopping spree and both freezers are kind of packed, one with our food and one with ours and the dogs chicken. I'm sure we could somehow make it fit-or my bf can! Haha. He's way better at organizing than I am.

Just gotta get the thumbs up from my uncle on snagging a hog every once in awhile-brother says it should be no big deal and is already planning to haul it in his truck.

50 lbs. is a great size edible bone-wise.

If it t'were me, and I had limited space, I would:

De-bone the legs and just keep the meat.

Cut the neck off at the shoulders and the base of the skull. This will give you a whole, meaty neck as a giant, complicated RMB. My favorite.:smile:

Remove the shoulder blade at the joint, leaving as much meat attached as I could. Like a pork butt shoulder roast you would get at the store. Another good RMB there.:smile:

Remove the loin meat from the backbone. If you had space, it would be nice to leave it on there and have it as big RMB's, but the meat is better than nothin'.

Ribs, when left in bigger slabs like I prefer, take up a lot of space. If you can find room for them, cool, if not then admire all the other free stuff you got and don't lose any sleep over the ribs.:wink:

Even if all you get is the meat, remember that this is an animal that would otherwise be wasted or sent of to a rendering facility. Its awesome that you are going to be able to make use of them.

To go even farther, I would still be happy with just the meaty neck, all the meat, and whatever organs you wanted to keep, if any.

Don't let freezer space worry you. Get what you can remembering that money-wise, you will be saving more by getting the meat.

Meat will give you the most bang for your freezer space. You can always get chicken backs cheap.

Another thing for the future, too.

Save freezer space for the free hog parts.

Let the grocery store keep the chicken. They will always have it there. It might mean more trips to the store for non-pork stuff, but you will still save ton's in the long run with this source of meat you've gotten.

Just an update to this.. Kind of long!

So Eric and I have a large fenced backyard and a huge leftover rabbit hutch from when we let a family member keep some rabbits out there. We decided to raise rabbits! Partly because we weren't sure on the hog answer-didn't want anyone to get in trouble sticking their neck out for us.

So the same uncle who was going to give me the answer on the hog idea had a rabbit hutch and gave it to us to help out-THEN as we picked it up told me and Eric to feel free to get any hog we wanted from the farm whenever! Just not to say anything or let everyone see us. Lol.

Soo..the dogs have some surprises in store for them! We still have lots of stuff to do in preparation for rabbits-my handyman Eric gets to build more cages..etc but I have found quite a few people in the area that have the breed I want. I'm looking forward to it all, my dad raised rabbits for years and years as well and he is very excited to see it happen.

And the freezer space..ugh..We have a normal freezer above the fridge..and a fridge-sized freezer next to that and it's not going to be near enough to fill up with hog and rabbits.

Time to start shopping for some used freezers as well..

Man! When you and Eric decide to do something you don't tip toe around, do ya'?!

Sounds awesome! Congratulations!

You never know. Y'all may be the next big raw dog food business.:wink: We'll be ordering rabbits from you.:smile:

 Quote: Heather Perring

Partly because we weren't sure on the hog answer-didn't want anyone to get in trouble sticking their neck out for us.

What answer were you not sure off?

Haha, yeah, we're pretty dead-set.

The answer thing was about the whole ordeal. When I got the idea I felt it was right to get permission from him, after all, he's the manager. My brother was just going to start hauling them here secretly. Technically, we're still not supposed to, regulation-wise but you know..

I basically got the answer I had my fingers crossed for and then some! Unlimited FREE meat! Woo! Uncle's definitely first on the list for fresh, free rabbit meat.