Our organic pigs
We believe that a pig that lives in a natural environment where it is free to express normal pig behaviour will produce great quality meat. It takes 14 months of grazing and foraging for a Tamworth to mature. We believe that the free-range organic lifestyle makes the flavour.
Our Goal
To provide the highest quality
organic Tamworth pork
Our Kilmacoo Tamworth Pigs are bred and reared on our small organic hill farm near Avoca in Co. Wicklow. The piglets are weaned at 10-12 weeks and then they graze the upland grass and forage in our juvenile woodland. Their foraging helps to till the land and germinate new growth. They are outside 365 days a year, foraging by day and either sleeping in field shelters or camping out under the stars at night. Their foraging diet is supplemented with grain grown on our farm as well as nuts that are certified organic. We take great pride in our Kilmacoo pigs, letting them get on with their grazing and foraging lifestyle, not rushing them to bulk-up quickly. This means that it takes much longer for our Kilmacoo pigs to mature as they burn a lot of energy getting on with their pig lifestyle but we believe it is worth it as a natural life makes for better tasting meat. We are proud to be part of the OneWellPig project run by Teagasc, which is looking into the impact of animal welfare on meat quality.
Our discovery
We thought it would be easy to source organic free-range pork but we soon discovered that it was all but impossible in Ireland. That discovery inspired us to have a go ourselves.
There was a simple reason why free-range organic pork was so hard to find – cost! A growing pig living outdoors uses a lot of its food energy to stay warm and to forage. This means it takes longer for that pig to mature. We believe that discerning customers who understand that a quality product like free-range organic pork can’t be rushed and will only result from quality inputs.
We chose the slow-growing Tamworth breed for its hardiness and its marbled low-fat meat famed for its amazing taste. We think the time and care we put into our pigs is worth it and are very proud of our authentic Kilmacoo organic Tamworth pork.
Our mission
At Kilmacoo Hill Farm, we believe in organic production as the future of farming. The pigs contribute to the development of woodland on our farm by opening up clearings, turning over the soil and fertilizing the trees as they go.
Our farm and our produce is 100% organic, no corners cut, no ‘ah sure it will be grand’ and we offer a full and proper paper trail of all items bought onto the farm proving organic origin. We are certified by the Organic Trust and are open to inspection as we firmly believe one should know where food comes from.
Grown with care on our farm
Our Kilmacoo Tamworth piglets benefit from our patient approach. They remain with their mothers until fully weaned when they no longer need their mother. At that point George (our kindergarten leader) takes over and minds the youngsters as they graduate to grazing and foraging away from their mothers.
The Tamworth Team
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