Berkshire pigs: livestock and meat boxes                                                     

Our pigs are the Yeoman herd of pedigree Berkshires.  These hairy black pigs with white snouts, feet and tail tips are a hardy, outdoor rare breed, on the Rare Breed Survival Trust’s vulnerable list. Unlike pink pigs they aren’t prone to sunburn, and thrive outdoors in all weathers.  Berkshires produce exceptionally succulent meat with an amazing texture that can’t be beaten whether it’s as pork, gammon, bacon or sausages. Intriguingly, they kill out with white skin (their hair is black, not their skin - check out that snout below) , so you don’t get black crackling or bacon rind.
Our pigs are kept in a group, outdoors, freely supplementing their diet with grass, herbs and roots, and have straw filled arks for shelter.  Sows are brought into the cob barn just before farrowing and are back outdoors with their piglets when they are ten days old.

Livestock: we frequently have young stock for sale. Weaners are normally ready to go to their new homes (wormed) in their ninth week.  Being pedigree animals, all our stock is birth notified with the British Pig Association, and well marked examples with good conformation that meet the breed standard can be registered for a small additional fee.Our foundation stock are from the Lady, Excelsa and Nama Abel bloodlines.We will sell a minimum of two weaners at a time unless you already have pigs at home, as they require company. 

Livestock prices: Our weaners (gilts and boars) are £60 each (£65 if registered) at 8-10 weeks old. Registered stock are sold with their BPA papers and are double ear tagged rather than ear notched to preserve their natural ear shape.  Older stock will be charged according to age to cover the cost of feed.

Meat boxes - pork, gammon/bacon: If you haven’t had any outdoor reared rare breed pork before you are in for a very pleasant surprise.  From one pig you get approx 40 kilos of meat.  We sell a minimum quarter of a pig at a time, minimum 10 kilos (as joints, chops, ribs, rashers, etc) - if you want less than that you could buddy up with a friend.  The pork  joints produce the most extraordinary crackling and the gammon steaks and joints are celebration food, with the bacon almost too good for a bacon sarnie; this is seriously superb stuff. 

Meat box prices:
Quarter pig - pork box: £85 collected/£100 delivered - approx 10 kilos
Half pig - pork box: £170 collected/£185 delivered - approx 20 kilos
Whole pig - pork box: £300 collected/ £320 delivered - approx 40 kilos
Quarter pig - gammon & bacon box: £95 collected/ £110 delivered - approx 10 kilos
Half pig - gammon & bacon box: £190 collected/£205 delivered - approx 20 kilos
Whole pig - gammon & bacon box: £340 collected/£360 delivered - approx 40 kilos
Whole pig - mixed pork, gammon & bacon box: £320 collected/£340 delivered - approx 40 kilos

To give you an idea of contents, half pig pork boxes will include approx: 3 large shoulder joints, 4 leg joints, 2 belly joints, 16 thick cut chops, 8 tubes of sausagemeat (perfect for stuffing turkeys, chickens, making pork meatballs etc), 1 tenderloin and liver. Let us know if you want the trotters.  For more information about livestock, pork, gammon and bacon boxes please look at the price list and do contact us to place your order or with any questions. The mixed box will be delivered in two separate boxes, the pork arriving three weeks before the rest to allow for proper curing time for the gammon and bacon. Please note that unless requested otherwise, gammon and bacon will be smoked (because we think it's particular wonderful that way!).

If you like your bangers, why not have a go at making your own? For ourselves we use half a pig (in one piece) and remove the meat from the bone, chop, mince and put through our ancient Kenwood; it's more fun than you can imagine and highly recommended for uncontrollable giggling sessions if you are not averse to plunging your arms into heaps of minced pork.  We source our natural sausage skins here.

What our customers say:
"Best bacon I've ever tasted!" A O'S, Kent
"We had roast pork belly joint yesterday, was the best pork I've tasted in a long time, and I've got plenty of dripping in the fridge for some super mid week spuds." AO, Kent
"We are finally eating pork! It is stunning. We had a loin roast last weekend to which neighbours were invited (2 are serious foodies) and everyone was singing its praises. Yummy yummy wow! You can consider us regular customers". NS, Dartmoor
"The pork is just wonderful - we've had a pork belly and some of the chops - simply delicious! Look forward to receiving the gammon!" BL, Warwickshire
"Had some bacon yesterday, it was amazing!" MD Devon
"Had a slow roast of the gammon yesterday and it was to die for!!" HBL, Cropredy 

Fame! Our Berkshires are now featured in Jack Byard's book "Know Your Pigs"