Order a 1/2 or Whole Hog

Our pigs are raised outdoors, with lots of fresh air, sunshine, and space. We raise heritage breed hogs, who do great outdoors, grow more slowly, and produce meat with excellent marbling and flavorful, tender meat. We make our own feed on the farm with non-GMO ingredients. We work hard to provide our pigs a happy, healthy environment that keeps them healthy naturally and provides the highest quality meat for you.

When you order a 1/2 or whole hog, you choose exactly what you want. In addition to choosing the cuts you want, you can customize the size of your packages: e.g., how big your roasts are or how many bratwurst are in a package. The total amount of meat you take home will depend on how big your hog is and what choices you make. A rough estimate for a 1/2 hog would be approximately 60-75 pounds of meat from a smaller hog or 80-95 pounds of meat from a larger hog.

There are two costs in your purchase: the hog itself and the processing fees.

—Hog: $3.00/lb. for the hanging weight of the hog, paid to us

The hanging weight is the weight of the pig after it has been slaughtered but before the locker processes it into finished cuts. This varies, but a normal estimate is that the hanging weight will be ~72% of the live weight of the animal.

—Processing: paid directly to the locker; average $2.00-$2.50/lb. (locker prices subject to change)

The locker has flat charges for processing each pig plus various costs that depend on your processing choices. For example, there are additional charges for curing bacon and ham, adding cheese or other flavorings, and making bratwurst or patties. With all these choices, the final cost varies depending both on the size of your pig and on what you order. Average total prices recently have been approximately $400-$650 for a 1/2 hog and $800-1150 for a whole hog. Please remember these are just estimates. Actual total costs and yields may be more or less.

For most 1/2 hogs, you will need approximately 3.5 - 4.5 cubic feet of freezer space. This is most of a standard refrigerator freezer or 1/3 to 1/2 of a small chest freezer. We have a 21 cu. ft. upright freezer at home, and a 1/2 hog typically takes up one shelf of our freezer plus 1-2 shelves on the door for ground meat.

We recommend storing your meat in a deep freezer/chest freezer for best quality. We find that our meat retains its quality longer in a deep freezer because they are colder and the meat doesn't partially thaw and refreeze over and over. As long as your meat stays frozen, it will be safe to eat. Quality is what may change over time, with larger cuts like roasts and ribs keeping their quality longer than ground meat or cured items. We store our own 1/2s and wholes in a deep freezer and have found the quality to be excellent for a year or more.

Here are two examples from a recent larger hog that we took in. Because this was a larger hog, note that the amount of meat and costs are on the higher end of what you may expect.

Example 1/2 hog #1

Bone-in cuts; no curing, smoking, or extra ingredients.

84 pounds of meat, total cost: $510

• 13 packages of side pork (13.5 lbs.)
• 3 pork roasts (12 lbs.)
• 7 packages of 3/4” pork chops (16 lbs., 4 chops per package)
• 5 fresh ham roasts (16 lbs.)
• 19 packages of ground pork (19 lbs.)
• 2 packages of fresh pork hocks (7.5 lbs.)

Example 1/2 hog #2

Cured bacon and deli ham, mix of boneless and bone-in cuts, seasoned sausage & links.

77 pounds of meat, total cost: $560

• 14 lbs. bacon
• 4 pork roasts (~10-12 lbs.)
• 9.5 pkgs. boneless chops (~7.5 lbs.)
• 5 pkgs. deli ham
• 18 lbs. ground pork
• 9 lbs. Italian sausage
• 5 lbs. sausage links
• 1 pkg. spare ribs
• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 container lard

Please note: These are just examples. Costs and yields vary.

If you'd like to read more, check out our blog posts:

• Is a 1/2 or whole hog right for you?
• Top 5 reasons to choose a 1/2 hog