Whole Roaster Pigs

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• If you want a roaster pig, your or your agent must come and pick it up live to take to a processor, or process it yourselves here

• All sales of live pigs must be arranged at least 24 hours in advance

• All pigs sold live must be transported in a humane manner

• All pigs processed on farm must be slaughtered in a humane manner

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Looking for a pig for your big party or event? We might be able to help. In general, we are unable to provide a cleaned, fresh roaster pig because of the logistical difficulties in scheduling appointments, transporting, and holding roaster pigs -- we just don't have the infrastructure. However, we do often have small pigs that we can sell to you, for you to turn into roaster pigs!

 

If you are looking for a roaster pig, and are able to transport it, we are happy to sell you a live pig that you can take to any slaughterhouse -- but be aware that in the post-COVID era, slaughterhouses are usually booked out 6-9 months in advance! We can also accommodate on-farm slaughter by experienced customers (or their agents), so long as it is warm enough for our exterior water faucets to not be frozen. Under some circumstances, you might be able to pay us to take a pig to a slaughterhouse for you. Here are the different ways to get a roaster pig for your party. Due to it being logistically complicated, we are unable to take roaster pigs to our regular processor.

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Pigs 100 lbs or less cost $3/lb live weight; pigs above 100 lbs cost $2.50/lb live weight.

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Method 1. You locate a slaughterhouse, get an appointment, and you take it in (or we take it in, for a fee -- you pick up). If you are able to find a custom (i.e., USDA-exempt) slaughterhouse in our area that can take your pig on a day that works for you, then we are happy to load it and transport it for a fee. The difficulty here is finding a place that has a date available, as the pandemic has had major effects on the meat supply chain. We would charge a delivery fee of $30-180 depending on distance to processor ($60 per hour of driving, one way). We are happy to share a list of processors to contact, but we will not do the calling for you. (Too many times we've done a bunch of calling, located a spot, calculated the delivery fee, only to have the potential customer say "Oh, never mind.") The cost would be $2.50-$3/lb live weight (smaller costs more) plus delivery fee; you would pay the processor yourself (usually around $70). You are also welcome to purchase the live animal yourself and take it to the processor on your own, so long as you have appropriate means to transport the pig in a humane manner -- no "hog tying" or tossing it in the trunk of your Honda Accord, both of which are things past would-be customers have proposed doing.

 

Pricing example: If we start with a 100-lb live pig that yields a 70-lb carcass and take it to a processor a 1.5 hour drive from our farm, we would charge you about $390 total ($300 for the pig, plus $90 for a delivery fee); you would also need to pay the processor a slaughter fee, usually around $60-70, and factor in time and gas money to pick up your processed pig.

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Method 2. You hire a custom butcher to slaughter the pig on farm. This is the easiest option. By law, as the producers, we cannot slaughter and process a pig for you -- that would make us a custom slaughterhouse, but we do not meet the necessary criteria with respect to our infrastructure. However, there is no law against us selling you a live pig and you or your agent processing it on farm for you! We can put you in touch with a couple of options, who would charge about $150-300 for the service. In addition, you would pay us $3/lb live weight for the pig.

 

Pricing example: for a 100 lb pig, live weight, would yield a hanging-weight carcass of about 65-70 lbs; for a pig this size, you would pay $300 to us for the pig ($3/lb x 100 lbs), plus $150-300 to a mobile butcher. You pick up the pig at our farm.

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Method 3. You and/or your friend slaughter the pig yourselves. This is the most cost effective option! This is Michigan -- chances are you have a friend who hunts deer, so put that experience to good use. With appropriate notice, you may slaughter and process your roaster here on site -- however, you or your agent must have some previous experience with butchery. All on-farm slaughter must comply with federal guidelines for humane slaughter, meaning that the animal must be rendered unconscious prior to being bled. If you will not be using a firearm to put the animal down, we will use a captive bolt stun gun to render the animal unconscious before you (not us -- laws!) kill the animal and bleed it out. The cost for the pig is $2.50-3/lb live weight -- we will come to an agreement ahead of time on weight, and we will check the weight before your slaughter date with a livestock scale. You may then take the pig to another site for processing, or for an additional $25 you may use our equipment (propane burner to heat water for scalding, pot, knives, scraping tools, etc.) to gut and dehair the pig; this cost includes disposal of innards. 

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Pricing example: for a 100 lb pig, live weight, you would pay about $300 total for the pig; if you wish to gut and clean it here, we would charge you an extra $25 for the use of our equipment and the labor involved in cleaning up afterward. You would need to take your pig with you that same day. 

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• All sales of live pigs must be arranged at least 24 hours in advance

• All pigs sold live must be transported in a humane manner

• All pigs processed on farm must be slaughtered in a humane manner

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