Q & A

 What does outdoor bred and outdoor reared mean?

Outdoor bred means the sows live outside with access to a small hut and give birth to piglets in here. When the piglets are weaned, at about 4 weeks old, they are moved to indoor housing and will reach slaughter weight from 5 months of age.

Outdoor reared means when the piglets are weaned they have access to the outdoors

What is the difference between hay and straw?

Straw is what comes out the back of a combine harvester when harvesting cereal crops, such as wheat, barley and oats.  The combine leaves the straw in neat lines called swaths ready for a baler to compress it in to bales. It is mainly used for animal bedding, though is starting to be burnt in special boilers to produce energy. It is yellow in colour.

Hay is dried grass. It is cut with a tractor mounted mower and spread across the field to dry in the sun. It is turned several times with a tedder, which flings it across the field to ensure it dries evenly. The hay is then put into rows ready to be made into bales.