Just to mention, we are now breeding pure Mangalitsas and will be experimenting with some crosses: Manga/kune, Manga/GOS and next year crossing the Manga boar onto a leaner more commercial breed for some hybrid vigour, poss a Landrace or Pietrain.
Will be middle of next year before the first meat is available but if anyone is interested in Mangalitsa meat/fat or indeed, weaners, let me know.
Mangalitsas
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Mangalitsas
by Billy Rhomboid » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:39 am
- Billy Rhomboid
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- Location: Wessex
by Billy Rhomboid » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:01 pm
No, it's not really a business, we just rear to supply our own needs and sell on the surplus. Although I guess we must be selling more than I realise because we have slaughtered 15 pigs so far this year (about a ton and a half in deadweight) and there are only five of us, three of whom are aged under 6. Or maybe that explains why my trousers keep shrinking.
When we started making salumi we quickly discovered it was difficult to find pigs with enough back fat/marbling/ texture etc for what we wanted, so started keeping our own. Each time we tried different breeds until we found ones that best suited. We have kept one Kune Kune sow, one GOS sow (which we may) and now have two Managalitsa sows and a Manga boar. We generally keep a couple of weaners from each litter to raise and sell the rest on to cover feed costs, and sell half of each slaughtered pig on to cover the rest of our costs.
We generally keep the pigs for 9-12 months and slaughter at around 90-120kg deadweight, so the meat is slow-grown, nicely marbled, with good back fat etc. To be honest it's not ideal for selling to the average punter who wants pork chops, but for sausage/salumi/charcuterie purposes its pretty super stuff.
I'm not really touting for business but if anyone is looking fro specialty pork, I'd rather supply someone who is going to use it to its best advantage than apologise to people who don't understand why the meat is a rich red rather than 'nice and pale like in the supermarket.
We used to have such difficulty finding back fat and now we frequently end up having to chuck it away because we just end up with far more than we can use. Likewise caul fat, stomach linings, skin etc.
When we started making salumi we quickly discovered it was difficult to find pigs with enough back fat/marbling/ texture etc for what we wanted, so started keeping our own. Each time we tried different breeds until we found ones that best suited. We have kept one Kune Kune sow, one GOS sow (which we may) and now have two Managalitsa sows and a Manga boar. We generally keep a couple of weaners from each litter to raise and sell the rest on to cover feed costs, and sell half of each slaughtered pig on to cover the rest of our costs.
We generally keep the pigs for 9-12 months and slaughter at around 90-120kg deadweight, so the meat is slow-grown, nicely marbled, with good back fat etc. To be honest it's not ideal for selling to the average punter who wants pork chops, but for sausage/salumi/charcuterie purposes its pretty super stuff.
I'm not really touting for business but if anyone is looking fro specialty pork, I'd rather supply someone who is going to use it to its best advantage than apologise to people who don't understand why the meat is a rich red rather than 'nice and pale like in the supermarket.
We used to have such difficulty finding back fat and now we frequently end up having to chuck it away because we just end up with far more than we can use. Likewise caul fat, stomach linings, skin etc.
- Billy Rhomboid
- Registered Member
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:15 am
- Location: Wessex
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