William Duncan Auchnie received his first pigs when he was just seven.
“They were a birthday present,” said the now 16-year-old, who resides in Drummuir. “It was three Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs.”
Born into farming, William has always enjoyed the lifestyle and had a keen interest in growing his own food from a young age.
“I love the farming life as there are no boundaries rearing my own stock, especially in the rare breed sector,” he added.
William recently started his own business, Pork Fae The Park, which sells a range of pork-based products across the north-east and Moray.
Pork Fae The Park
Pork Fae The Park, which was launched in October, is a business comprising a farm in Rothienorman, Aberdeenshire, and a Drummuir-based butchery.
It is headed by William, whose role includes everything from packing produce to feeding the pigs.
Products include original pork sausages, pork shoulder roast, gigot roasts, pork chops, pork loin chops, boneless pork steaks, pork ribs, pork belly, and pork sausage rolls.
The business also offers homegrown pork boxes in two sizes, medium and large. They feature all of the above and are priced at approximately £100 and £200 – depending on the weight of the pig.
The British Landrace cross pigs are reared at the Rothienorman farm. William currently has five breeding sows, a boar, and 67 younger pigs that “are in the stages of getting fattened”.
Field to fork
William went on to say: “Our sows stay outdoors through the summer to enjoy the sun and graze on fresh grass daily. They will have their litters that are due in the summer outdoors.
“This is beneficial as it is minimising the risk of disease and the piglets absorb many different vitamins and minerals through the soil preventing us from vaccinating them, and they also forage on variations of plants and grasses that they might come across.”
The feed is supplied by East Coast Viners near Stonehaven after being advised on which feed is best for the animals in every stage of their growth.
Between two and five whole pigs are butchered per week at their Rothienorman butchery.
“The fattening pigs are reared outdoors to the weight of 100kg,” William added.
“At this state they are roughly six months old, then they are sent to Millers of Speyside, the abattoir in Grantown on Spey, before being sent back to us to butcher and pack at our on-farm butchery facility.”
Family affair
Produce by Pork Fae The Park is sold through Highland Premier Country Meats, a mobile butchers van service run by William’s mum, Anne.
It has been on the road for around four years serving a range of towns and villages in Aberdeenshire and Moray, selling the family’s quality home-reared beef, lamb, and pork cuts.
William’s dad, Wull, has farmed cattle and sheep for three decades.
The young entrepreneur said: “It’s exciting. I’m looking forward to the future.
“We’re planning more boxes of all homegrown produce off our own farm.
“My aspirations are to grow the business further and share the great taste of the produce.”
For more information, visit Pork Fae The Park on Facebook or email wdauchnie@icloud.com
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