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 employ people who share our values.

We first introduced pigs into the business some 20 years ago to make more direct use of the grain grown on the farm and to put fertility back into the soil.

As a result, 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.

Our pigs are kept outside throughout their whole life. And before anybody begins to worry about the inevitable torrential rain our country so kindly blesses us with, each paddock of pigs has a great big tent filled with straw to keep them warm and dry on chilly and wet days. When they are in pig (pregnant!) they are kept in big sow barns, outside. They are moved to paddocks with a hut each when they are due to farrow (give birth) so that they can have their piglets in their own individual home.

If anyone thinks that the pigs might be uncomfortable, Anna is keen to point out that they need the mud to keep cool. "Just like hippos, pigs cannot cool down by sweating". And so, like the words in the old song, the pigs have to "wallow in glorious mud"!

As well as having a better quality of life, the meat from these pigs tastes so much better because they are slower growing due to them using more energy as they’re always running around. This slow grown process, along with their breeding ensures a beautifully succulent, great tasting meat.

All our pigs are bred, born reared and grown free range to standards laid down by the RSPCA's "Freedom Foods" assurance scheme. We believe and support this scheme at Anna's Happy Trotters.

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