How to Order a Hog

Wouldn’t you like a freezer full of nutritious and delicious meat? Meat that is free of chemicals, from a nearby farm, from an animal raised in a humane way that is beneficial to the  environment. You won’t have to worry about picking up the right cut of meat or having enough for dinner, and you will know that the meat is delicious and good for you. If this sounds good, then let’s talk about ordering a whole hog.

But first let me tell you about our pigs. At Dragonfly Farms we raise our pigs in a way that is good for the pigs life, good for our farm and the environment and good for producing tasty and nutritious meat. We work with a couple of breeds to produce pigs that can live outdoors and do well in our part of the world. Our pigs are born on our farm. The pigs are outside their entire life, moved by us through our fields and forests. They are moved regularly, normally once a week. They are never sitting in a mud lot or barren landscape denuded of vegetation. Our pigs have fresh water, grass and pasture plants, shade and food from the forest. They have plenty of room and are in groups of around 20-30 pigs. We feed our pigs a locally milled non-gmo grain and brewers mash from a nearby brewery. Along with the grain, the pigs have a diverse diet of plants, roots, bugs, nuts, acorns and garden and kitchen scraps. The impact the pigs have on the forest and fields is different than the cattle and sheep. Their rooting can “wake up” older pastures, allowing more plants to grow by disturbing the latent seed bank. This diverse diet produces pork full of flavor.

We have scheduled butcher dates and hogs ready to go on these dates. When you order a whole or half hog, we will take a deposit to reserve your spot and send you a cutsheet to fill out. The cutsheet is instructions for the butcher on what type of cuts you want in your pork. This is where you can select the thickness of the pork chops, if they are bone-in or boneless, ham roast, ham steaks or grind the hams for more sausage, etc. If you want sausages, the butcher will send trim weights and you may select how much and what type of sausages to make. We can help with these decisions.

When your pork is ready at the butcher, we will bring it back to our farm and coordinate a time for you to meet us to pick it up. Your pork will be frozen, vacuum packed and labeled. We will also send the final invoice based on the hanging weight of the hog and the butchering fees.

Here is an example of what a whole hog can cost and how much meat you can expect. A 250 pound pig goes to the butcher. The dressed or hanging weight is 180 lbs. The take home meat is 150 lbs. This pork would cost $5 per 180 lbs of dressed weight plus the $300 dollars the butcher charged us to have the hog processed. This would come to $1200 for 150 lbs of pork, which is $8/lb. These numbers can vary depending on the size of the animal and what type of cuts you get.

Please Contact Us to schedule a whole or half hog.