Rearing

Breeding

Good Breeding Produces Great Pork!

All of our pigs are bred and born outside. The breeds that we use are a careful mix to ensure they are suitable for outside production, they deliver on taste, and they make good mummies.

Our sows are a Landrace x Duroc x Large White

The Landrace means that we produce pigs with a longer loin – the most valuable part of the pig.

The Duroc is specific for outdoor production as it has a hardy skin which protects against sunburn in summer and grows a fur to keep warm in Winter. This hardy skin also makes for great crackling! The Duroc is also well known for its intra muscular fat or “marbling” which of course gives amazing flavour and succulence.

The boar that we use is the Optimus

He is a very muscular, lean breed which gives lovely big eye muscles on your pork chops. The lean Optimus counteracts the back fat of the Duroc so that we still have the intramuscular fat for great tasting meat but we don’t have too much back fat on the end product.

What we believe to be perfection, particularly on a plate!

Breeding

Good Breeding Produces Great Pork!

All of our pigs are bred and born outside. The breeds that we use are a careful mix to ensure they are suitable for outside production, they deliver on taste, and they make good mummies.

Our sows are a
Landrace x Duroc x Large White

The Landrace means that we produce pigs with a longer loin – the most valuable part of the pig.

The Duroc is specific for outdoor production as it has a hardy skin which protects against sunburn in summer and grows a fur to keep warm in Winter. This hardy skin also makes for great crackling! The Duroc is also well known for its intra muscular fat or “marbling” which of course gives amazing flavour and succulence.

The boar that we use is the Optimus

He is a very muscular, lean breed which gives lovely big eye muscles on your pork chops. The lean Optimus counteracts the back fat of the Duroc so that we still have the intramuscular fat for great tasting meat but we don’t have too much back fat on the end product.

What we believe to be perfection, particularly on a plate!

Welfare is an important part of tasty pork

Our number 1 priority at Anna’s, is the welfare of our pigs and to ensure this we only work with people who share our values.

Our entire setup is based on our welfare standards which the land available to us and the people we have dictate. For free range pigs you need the right land but equally as important you need the right people. We are very lucky to have some outstanding people who share our beliefs but they are few and far between out there so if you or anyone you know think you have what it takes and share our values get in touch!

Although our pigs are kept outside they all have access to shelter and warm straw bedding. This shelter provides shade from the sun in summer and a nice cosy house in winter. Pigs create a lot of heat so when they all bed down together they’re super snug and warm. All of our accommodation is adaptable so that we can create more ventilation in summer and more heat in winter.

If it gets super hot out there then we can create wallows on the floor for the pigs – they just love it! Pigs cannot sweat so this is the best way for them to cool down by wallowing in glorious mud!

Anna’s Happy Trotters are fed a balanced and nutritious diet of natural and locally produced ingredients. Our pig feed does not contain any antibiotic growth promoters.

We work closely with our vets to ensure our pigs are as happy and healthy as they can be. Because we are red tractor assured this means that we have four vet visits per year. These vet visits ensure that our pigs are well and healthy and the vet will be assessing if there are any improvements that we can make to benefit the pigs. Happy, healthy pigs make for better productive pigs so it is in everyone’s interests that they are happy piggies!

We are also Freedom Food Accredited which involves standards set down by the RSPCA. The criteria is based on the “Five Freedoms”:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour
5. Freedom from fear and distress

Welfare is an important part of tasty pork