WHOLE & HALF ANIMALS

Whole and half-animal orders are a larger, more custom way to buy Wanderwood meat from the farm, shaped around your household, cooking style, freezer space, and the cuts you value most.

Every order includes Guided Cut Planning, where we help you think through the animal and the choices available for each primal cut, then choose what works best for your family size, typical meals, cooking habits, freezer space, and priorities.

The result is a custom order that fits the way your household eats, with enough variety to make your freezer useful and enough guidance to make the process clear.

RESERVE WHOLE & HALF ANIMALS

EVERY WHOLE OR HALF ORDER INCLUDES GUIDED CUT PLANNING TO BUILD A CUSTOM FREEZER SUPPLY AROUND THE WAY YOUR HOUSEHOLD EATS.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Whole and half-animal orders are based on hanging weight. Hanging weight is the weight of the animal after harvest and initial dressing, before cutting, wrapping, smoking, casing, or boneless trimming.

    Different species and breeds have different typical hanging weights. As general planning examples, a whole Irish Dexter may hang at around 350 lb, a whole Mangalitsa around 200 lb, a whole American Guinea Hog around 110 lb, and a whole Black Welsh Mountain sheep around 50 lb. Half-animal orders are based on half of the hanging weight. Our goat weights vary and will be listed with each specific reservation.

    Actual take-home weight is less than hanging weight and varies based on species, animal size, cutting preferences, bone-in versus boneless selections, trimming, smoking, casing, and other processing decisions.

  • Final pricing is based on hanging weight, with your deposit applied to the balance. Standard cut-and-wrap processing is included. Half-animal orders carry a slight upcharge over whole-animal orders. Smoking and casing are available for an additional charge and are billed by the pound for the items smoked or cased.

  • Guided Cut Planning is how we turn a whole or half animal into a bespoke order rather than a generic processor cut sheet.

    After your reservation is placed, we will contact you to schedule a video or phone call. During that conversation, we walk through the animal section by section, explain the options available for that species, and shape the order around your household, freezer space, cooking style, family size, typical meal portions, and priorities.

    The goal is an order built around the way you cook, the meals you make most often, how much you typically prepare at one time, the level of variety you want, and the parts of the animal you value most.

  • Timing depends on the available processing windows for each species and season.

    After you reserve your animal, we will contact you with available processing date options.

    Once you select a processing date, we will provide an estimated fulfillment and pickup window. Timing depends on the processing date, hanging or aging time where applicable, cutting and wrapping, and any smoking or casing requested.

    Smoking and casing may add additional processing time.

  • Pickup is handled in one of two ways: scheduled farm pickup with Wanderwood or direct pickup from the processor. We do not ship whole/half animal orders.

    Farm pickup is by scheduled appointment only and must be arranged after the final invoice has been paid. Because freezer space is limited, completed orders must be picked up at the scheduled time. Orders held at the farm beyond the scheduled pickup date will incur a daily storage fee. Unclaimed orders may be considered abandoned.

    For processor pickup, the processor's pickup deadlines, storage policies, and fees apply. We will provide pickup instructions when your order is ready, but processor-held orders are subject to the processor's own terms.