Weaning - is an important part of life

After four weeks the piglets are weaned (from their mothers) and put into the paddocks with the tents which they share with about 100 other pigs.

Each paddock is an acre so 100 pigs have a vast amount of space to share. As well as having all this space to run around in they also have lots of mud to roll about in! If anyone thinks that the pigs might be uncomfortable, Anna is keen to point out that they need the mud to keep cool.

Some farmers wean pigs when they are a little older, but we believe four weeks is an ideal time. At this point mum is getting a bit fed-up of having 12+ piglets suckling constantly and the piglets' teeth are starting to come through much more, so suckling starts to hurt and becomes rather uncomfortable for mum. At this point the piglets are eating food from mum's feeder so they really are ready to move on and play with all the other weaners in the field for the next five months.

Only female piglets are sent to our free range finishing sites. This is for two reasons, firstly, to keep our pigs relaxed (when males reach maturity they can become very aggressive and also a little amorous!) not having males there just makes the girls' lives a little easier and prevents injury - no offence lads! The second reason is that the girls taste better... although for reasons you probably won't like ladies! Female pigs have more fat content and anyone who knows anything about cooking knows that the fat in pork is what produces the lovely flavour.

This higher level of backfat, together with the intramuscular fat, produces beautiful, succulent, tasty meat. So in summary boys, you're too aggressive, too amorous and not tasty enough...