Devil's Gulch Ranch Meat FAQ

NOW AVAILABLE  at Marin Sun Farms; Devil's Gulch Ranch Pork cuts for consumers.

Q: How do I Pick up My Meat Order?

A: We mostly sell to restaurants, and when we do sell to individuals, there are two options: arrange pick up at the ranch, or at a cut up facility.

Delivery from the ranch to a cut up facility in Petaluma or Santa Rosa is offered at no charge. We usually use Bud's Custom Meats in Petaluma and as of January 2007, they charge $0.63/lb for cut and wrap. For details, please contact Bud's Meats 707-795-8402 directly.

Q: What is the Pricing and Availability of Lamb, Pork, and Rabbit?

LAMB is only available in the Spring, and is in very short supply in 2007. It is 100% grass fed. It's sold by the whole animal only, at $2.50/pound based upon the live weight which is approximately 100-120lb, and a slaughter and handling fee of $50. The carcass yield is a little more than 50%.

PORK is available year round with sufficient notice (2-4 weeks). The pork is not pasture raised (see FAQ below for explanations), but rather fed milk products and grains, which we believe produce an excellent product. It's sold by the whole or half animal at $2.50/pound based upon hanging weight, head on, plus $125 slaughter and handling. The carcass yield for pigs is 70-80%. Bud's Meats can cut, wrap, and smoke the hams and bacons.

Our RABBITS are raised year round, but due to the extreme demand from restaurants, they are not always available to individuals. It is $7.00/pound, and they weigh approximately 3 pounds, processed, whole. Those can be picked up at the ranch.

Q: What can I expect when I pick up a 'slaughtered' order at the ranch?

When any of the animals are slaughtered and processed, all of the hair is removed, and the carcass is thoroughly washed.

In the case of rabbits and lamb (or cows, goats ... etc.), the animal is actually skinned. Birds are generally plucked, leaving the skin, and pigs are generally scalded (hot water is used to remove the hair) and the skin left on. Any of the animals we sell are professionally slaughtered by either a state/federal approved slaughter plant (in the case of the restaurants) or by a state registered "ranch slaughter" (in the case of pigs and lamb sold to individuals).

Due to state regulations, individuals must actually buy the live animal from a ranch, and then pay the ranch slaughterer to slaughter "their" animal, and the butcher shop to cut and wrap it. A restaurant does not even have that option, and ALL meat that they use must be slaughtered in a certified plant.

Q: Are your pigs pasture-raised?

Yes, our sows and litters are pasture-raised with supplemental feed. When the piglets are weaned, they are finished on milk products, grains and bread, in large, free-range paddocks.

For any "Pasture" raised animal, you need a lot of room, and in California, irrigation for the summer. Pigs, in particular, have their own set of challenges: destructiveness, handling problems (they're not really herd animals to the extent that cows, goats, and sheep are), and feeding issues (they're not ruminants and therefore do not make as good a use of forage as do cows, goats, and sheep). All of the farmers that we know of that are raising "pasture" pigs are also supplementing their feed with grains, milk products, or both.

For FLAVOR, pasture-raised (free range) pigs can be at the very top of the quality range such as the Spanish "Black Foot" hams. But that requires that there be other feedstuffs for the pigs to eat in their "pasture" besides just forage. Where there are acorns available, that can produce excellent quality pork.

At Devil's Gulch Ranch, we just don't have the room for any grass pastures for finishing the pigs. The pigs are "free range" in that they are in large dirt enclosures, not confinement, but do not get any food value from the ground they are on. Milk, and milk products, produce some of the very best quality pork, also. An added benefit of not having the pigs in a very large "pasture" is that they are more tender and get to market weight at a younger age.

Q: Do you sell suckling pigs?

A: We do sell suckling pigs (50lb+/- live weight) and roaster pigs (100+/- live weight) occasionally. The cost per pound is quite a bit higher because it loses the potential from the weight gain that it would have had. People therefore only buy them for special occasions. Please phone us if you are interested for more details.

* All prices quoted on this page are valid as of May. 2007 and are subject to change without notice

3/11/07