Northamptonshire Holiday Cottages Information

Our Tamworth Pigs

These are our Tamworth pigs. Tamworths are officially a 'Rare Breed'; indeed they are about as rare a breed of pig as are still flourishing in this country.

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust do a great job ensuring that the endangered old breeds survive, which has the dual benefit of preserving the bloodlines but also the taste of these animals that were bred for slow growth and storage over the winter.

They are a little fattier than the hybrids used for factory meat, but in my view you'd be better eating meat less often and consuming the proper stuff when you do.

During the summer, they all go and live on Towcester Hill, a wood on the farm, and run wild digging for roots and grubs and generally clearing the undergrowth. They also get fed, but less than in the winter when they come back to the farm and live in their deep litter winter quarters.

The piglets fatten up in about five months. If we keep them much longer, they really do pile on the fat, but we do keep a couple of gilts (young females) a little bit longer for bacon and sausages.

In addition to the pigs, we keep Shorthorn cattle and a mixture of sheep. Some of the sheep go to market, but all the pork and beef goes to friends.