The hernia thread made me think about the big hog farmers who from time to time have a hog with a hernia. These are just as good to eat as any of his hogs. When he sends a load to a slaughter house, they will cut the pig from the others and cut the price drasticly. No good reason I can think of but they do. If you get aquainted with a hog farmer, you may be able to get these pigs at a very reasonable price.
Same can be done with a rupture. They won't accept them for market. Most farmers around here will just give away a belly bust(hernia) or rupture. Saves them the trouble of killing it. Seems silly to me. They still grow real well and the meat is still pork the way ya like to raise it. We've not had any trouble with raising them at all and they seem to grow at the same rate as the others.
Every farmer in the world has times when he/she needs a little help. If you are willing to get a little dirty, you should be able to keep yerself in feeder stock for eternity.
We have two hogs with the belly bust and they are doing just as good as the other three we have that don't hve the belly bust. But the hernias are getting too big to chance the hogs being injured so off to the butcher this Thursday. They weigh a little over 100 Lbs so they aren't a complete waste and I'm sure will taste as good as the other hogs we have raised. The other three we will finish to 250 lbs as they belong to customers. The hog breeder I purchased all five from, told me that he would sell me rupured pigglets for only $10 ea but for me not to raise them past 100 Lbs. I declined.
