How to Order a Half Hog
Buying a hog share can feel intimidating - most explanations come from butchers who deal with this every day. Here's the same information in plain English, with everything you need to make confident choices.
What is a hog share, and how is yours different?
A hog share is a portion of a single pig that you reserve and have custom-processed. We sell ours by the half - one share is one half of a hog. Whole hogs are also available.
Unlike supermarket pork, you choose every cut. You decide the chop thickness, what gets cured into bacon, whether the loin is roast or chops, and what goes into ground. The pig is raised on our land in Fredericksburg, Virginia and processed at a USDA-inspected facility.
A real half-hog share from Woobie Farm - every cut chosen by the customer.
How much finished pork will I get from a half hog?
Roughly 60% of the live weight ends up in your freezer. Our pigs average around 200 lbs live weight, so a half share is about 100 lbs of live weight, returning 55–65 lbs of finished product.
What changes that number:
- Did you request the organs?
- Did you request the bones?
- Did you keep the trimmed fat?
- How much did you have cured or smoked? (curing removes weight)
- How is your ground pork handled?
What does a half hog cost?
Pricing is straightforward.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Half hog deposit | $450 (Whole hog: $900) |
| Base price (live weight) | $5.50 per pound |
| Cured / smoked items (bacon, jowls, hocks) | +$2.50 per pound green weight |
| Organs | +$0.80 per pound |
| Grillers (bun-sized patties) | +$1.50 per pound |
| Bratwurst | +$2.50 per pound |
| Breakfast patties | +$1.65 per pound |
| Flavored bulk sausage | +$0.20 per pound |
The base price covers all standard processing if you take everything fresh, with nothing cured or smoked, and the ground pork left plain. Yes, this is more expensive than the supermarket - but it is also a very different (and much better) product.
Cured and smoked bacon, vacuum-sealed and labeled by Woobie Farm.
What are the weight terms - live, hanging, retail, green?
- On the hoof / Live weight
- The live weight of the animal. This is what we charge against.
- Hanging weight
- The weight of the empty carcass after slaughter.
- Retail weight
- The weight that actually goes into your freezer.
- Green weight
- The fresh weight of a cut before curing or smoking. Some weight is lost in curing - for example, you may be charged for curing 12 lbs of bacon and receive 10 lbs back. This is normal.
What does the meat come back as?
The butcher we use is a federally inspected USDA processing facility. All cuts are vacuum-sealed and flash-frozen to ensure freshness and a freezer life of over a year. You're getting the absolute best version of the product you can get.
Individual cuts vacuum-sealed for over a year of freezer life.
How do I pay the deposit?
Deposits are paid via Venmo or PayPal. Please send as "friends and family" so we can avoid processing fees. Payment instructions appear on the confirmation page after you submit your cut sheet.
Bone-in or boneless pork chops?
Get bone-in. Because our pigs are on the smaller side, removing the bones from the chops makes them quite small. Bone-in is consistently the better experience.
How much freezer space do I need?
For a half hog (55–65 lbs finished product), plan for roughly 3–4 cubic feet of freezer space when packed efficiently. A standard chest freezer or a large dedicated upright freezer drawer is plenty.
When is the next processing date?
Available: 12 half-hog shares
Once shares sell out we keep a waitlist for the following batch. Get on the list and we'll let you know.
Ready to order?
If you're ready to reserve a share, head to the cut sheet page and fill out the form. One form per half hog. Don't hesitate to reach out if any of the choices feel confusing - we want you to get exactly what you want.