Now that Keizer meats has called me with the hanging weight on our tiny, skinny, little pigs (109 lbs and 137 lbs, less than I expected) I can do the math to figure out how much our own pork is costing us and whether or not it is worth it to raise two pigs.
Since we are leaving for Mexico in six months and already have a freezer full of beef, we decided to keep the smaller pig and sell the larger one. The Costs to us of raising two pigs are as follows:
Piglets (2) $80 = $160
Feed (15) $12 = $180
Kill fee on our pig: $62
Cut and wrap on our pig : (109) $.60 = $65.40
Cost of both pigs to us: $467.40
I am not making any attempt to factor in labor because caring for two pigs is pretty much exactly the same as caring for one pig. Feed is necessarily something of an estimate, but I know we bought at least 12 bags of feed, because I counted that many empty bags, and I'm chucking in three more because it seems likely I'm missing a couple of empty bags. That wasn't all they ate, of course: they also ate all the household scraps and pretty much anything else I could scrounge up. But those things didn't cost us any outlay of cash, so they aren't counted. We didn't vaccinate or otherwise doctor the pigs, so no veterinary costs.
The fellow who is buying the larger pig will pay all of Keizer's fees, both cut and wrap and the kill fee. Then he pays me $2.5o a pound of hanging weight, which works out to $342.50
$467.40 - $342.50 = $124.90
Our 109 pounds of meat cost us $125, which is $1.15 per pound. Hanging weight, of course. We won't get back 109 pounds of wrapped meat, more like 75 or 80.
Wow. Assuming that this pork is as good as our previous pork (and why wouldn't it be?) then that is a hell of a deal. Let me do a quick google search on prices for pastured pork.....
The chart below is taken from Coulee View Family Farm in Wisconsin. Their prices are very much in line with the prices I saw on three other pages for pastured, naturally raised, but not organic pork. Looks like it probably is worth it to raise two pigs at a time.
| Price Per Pound | Estimated Weight (lbs) | ||
| Smoked Products | Smoked Bacon | $5.50 | 1 |
| Smoked Bacon - MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.80 | 1 | |
| Smoked Boston Butt Bacon - MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.95 | 1 | |
| Smoked Canadian Bacon | $5.75 | 0.75 | |
| Smoked Boneless Chops | $5.35 | 1 | |
| Smoked Ham | $5.25 | 2 to 5 | |
| Smoked Ham - MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.60 | 2 to 5 | |
| Smoked Hocks | $3.30 | 1 to 3 | |
| Smoked Hocks - MSG & Nitrate Free | $3.60 | 1 to 3 | |
| Sliced Honey Glazed Smoked Ham | $5.25 | 1 | |
| Ground & More | |||
| Ground Pork | $3.95 | 1 | |
| Seasoned Ground Pork | $3.95 | 1 | |
| Roast BBQ Pork | $5.75 | 1 | |
| Sausage | Bratwurst | $5.50 | 0.75 |
| Itallian Sausage | $5.50 | 1.25 | |
| B-fast Saus. Links MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.50 | 1.25 | |
| Andoulle Sausage | $5.50 | 1.25 | |
| Bratwurst - MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.80 | 1.25 | |
| Chorizo - MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.80 | 1.25 | |
| Andoulle Sausage - MSG & Nitrate Free | $5.80 | 1.25 | |
| Cuts | Boneless Pork Chops | $5.00 | 1.5 to 3 |
| Tenderloins | $8.00 | ,75 to 1.25 | |
| Fresh Hocks | $2.25 | 2 to 3 | |
| Shoulder Steak | $4.75 | 2 to 3 | |
| Shoulder Roast | $4.75 | 2 to 4 | |
| Loin Roast | $5.00 | 2 to 4 | |
| Side Pork | $4.75 | 1 | |
| Baby Back Ribs | $4.00 | ||
| Spare Ribs | $3.50 | ||
| Extras | |||
| Liver | $1.75 | 1 | |
| Tounge | $1.75 | ,75 | |
| Heart | $1.75 | ,75 | |
| Rendered Lard | $2.10 | ||
| Pork Soup Bones | $1.50 | 1 |
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