*     We find that alfalfa cubes are an excellent forage source, especially when free-fed from a self-feeder.  There is little waste, the pigs don't eat too much at any one time, and it frees you up to feed grains/pellets/supplements only as their diet requires.

*     Don't think you need to wait until your pigs are full grown to have them for dinner.  We have processed and eaten them at every size between 35lbs. and 150lbs.

*     Expect to lose nearly 40% of the live weight of your pig to processing waste; the head, innards, feet, tail, and skin are heavy!  Few of us these days make use any of those portions, but you and your meat customers might appreciate the opportunity to make more use of those products--discuss it with your butcher to see if scraping rather that skinning is an option, and request that the tail, jowels, hocks, and feet be processed and packaged.  And don't forget the heart and liver; like the other portions, why throw it away when your customers might actually use it?  If they don't, at least they had the opportunity to decide for themselves and left the meat locker with many more pounds of meat for their money!  And finally, don't forget that if your pig is especially fat you will lose a significant percentage of its hanging weight to trimming waste when your butcher packages the meat--there is only so much fat you can put into sausage!

*     The word is "petite".  Guinea hogs are much smaller than commercial breeds of pigs.  Small pigs do not make small cuts of meat, they make petite cuts of meat.  Expect pork chops to be the size of lamb chops, for example.