Black Pudding.

Well, the deed is done.

As planned the 2 pigs were slaughtered on Wednesday.

Their was very little stress (for the pigs) about the whole event. They spent the 300Metre journey eating and the experience of the slaughterman was clear from the efficiency of the whole process.

The many times that I have accompanied and helped the resident vet during all manner of operations, post mortoms and so on held me in good sted and I had no problems holding the bucket to collect the blood which is now very tasty black pudding. We also took one liver, both hearts and some of the fat on the inside of the belly, which have gone into 2 different batches of Liver Pate (Most of this is within the guidance of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his antics at River Cottage).

Last night saw us make some "practice" sausages in preperation for the major processing operation tommorrow.

Wednesday was both a sad and an exciting day. It was also a relief. The weather had not been kind to us or the pigs over the last few weeks. The place was pure mud, and trying to feed 2 hungry pigs when it is dark, muddy and raining is not easy. It certainly helped that this was the plan from the start. We enjoyed their characters and their freindly nature. We were amused by their antics. However, we always knew they were not for keeps. We feel that they had a better life than most production animals and the end was conducted in the most stressless way possible.