Now, to start off, a few things I learned:
* Pigs are HAIRY!!! (who knew? I sure didn't!!)
* Pigs *smell*... but if you keep their area fairly clean, it's not too bad... and when you have pigs, you'll be really thankful for high wind days that blows away most of the smell ;) overall, it's not too bad, though! (I thought it might be worse)
* Pigs have unique personalities, just like kids do! Our pigs this past year liked to be rubbed behind their ears! (think of a dog with a snout and short legs... well, maybe not quite...)
* Pigs can be MEAN if you don't make a point of befriending them. I've heard horror stories from people before we got our two pigs this past spring, and honestly, I was kind of afraid of them at first... the guy we bought our little 50 pound piglets could see my fear and was very kind in trying to hide his laughter (he got several good laughs thanks to my ignorance - but I also learned a lot from the few conversations we had, so it's all good - and I can laugh at those things too! If you can't laugh at yourself, you have problems... ;)
So, our start up, two little 50 pound piglets:
And a little bigger...
And a little bigger... finally able to maneuver over the step to get outside!
And a whole lot bigger!!
Just after being killed and hosed off...
This is a friend's son, cutting and gutting - it is amazing how similar a pigs insides are similar to human insides! The first pig, I didn't touch the innards - the second time around, I did hold the heart - amazing creation! and the liver (which we gave to the neighbors for their dogs)
I don't have pictures of the butchering process, since my hands were fully in it all, and the kids weren't at all wanting to watch the learning process, haha - to be honest, it wasn't anywhere near the level of disgusting that I thought it would be- which was a huge relief! It was a neat learning experience, though! (and good eating after it was all said and done!)
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