A Year In Redwood

This week I thought I’d share with you some interesting pig facts….. these are facts that we always share with our course participants.

Copy of magazine article

Did you know that every part of the pig is a usable commodity?  Pigs contribute to the production of 185 products from cosmetics to icecream, soap to fabric softener, candles to paintbrushes, chemical weapons to dog treats ….. as I say an awful lot of uses, not a whole pile of waste really.

It is no wonder that it is said that ‘everything but the squeal’ is used from a pig.  Did you know that a pig can squeal at 115 decibels?  That’s louder than a jet engine!!!  I have often thought that squeal would make a great burglar alarm….. trust me it is so loud any burglar would just high tail it away from that noise.

Here at Oldfarm we do try to get every part of our pigs back, not always an easy task I can tell you.  We know that the abattoirs have a market for the blood, intestines, etc.  So unless you specify you want them back, you just won’t get them.  You won’t even get the head back unless you ask for it.

We use the pork liver, heart, etc. for pork terrines.  We use the crepinettes (lining of the intestines) for encasing other roasts – brilliant for covering your turkey at Christmas!  

We render the lard – it makes the best pastry in the world!  And isn’t half bad for giving you delicious roast potatoes either 🙂

Some other interesting facts about pigs….

• Pigs will eat almost anything – although they all have preferred tastes
• Pigs are naturally clean
• Pigs are very curious
• Pigs are listed at #4 in smartness
• Pigs are escape artists…… with MEMORY
• Pigs can run a 7 minute mile….. can you?

We have often said here that moving pigs would be an excellent training activity for any rugby team!  We’ve spent 3 hours on a wet, cold, muddy November Sunday trying to get one pig back into a pen.

Final interesting fact about pigs……. they are EXTREMELY STUBBORN.