We have pigs!!!
We love pork and we needed a large area of overgrown wooded area cleared out. What better way to combine those two things than to grow our own pork?!
We started out with the idea to get two pigs. One pig would be lonely, and we eat a lot of food in this house so it wouldn't go to waste. Then, the wheels started turning. If we were investing the money into the infrastructure for two pigs, then would it really be that much different than raising ten?
After a few calculations to ensure that we wouldn't risk turning our newly tilled land into a moonscape disaster, we settled on eight pigs.
We started looking for more traditional breeds of feeder pigs but struggled to find them in our area. We didn't imagine the difficulties that we would have locating pigs, but I guess we aren't the only ones that like bacon.
We finally found these pigs from a nearby (~an hour away) farm. The pigs on this farm were all raised on pasture which was a plus for us as this was how we want to raise them. They are 3/4 Hereford and 1/4 Gloucestershire Old Spots (GOS) but the GOS genes showed very strong with this group as several of them show characteristics of the GOS more than the Hereford (red). We are excited to see how they turn out for us.
Since they were small, we borrowed a truck and transported them in an extra-large dog crate. They were nervous from the drive but otherwise appeared very healthy.
The kids were very excited for this new adventure!
Pigs are notorious for getting out of their enclosures and we wanted to ensure that we had a solid structure to prevent escapes. We set them up in the barn pen.
We provided them plenty of old hay for bedding and set up the electric netting fence in the back of the pen. This allows the pigs to explore and get shocked a few times so that they learn to respect the boundary of the electric fence.
Now, it was time to move the pigs from the truck to the pen. The hubby grew up on a hog farm and knew how to handle pigs. We simply watched and learned.
After each pig was transported into the pen, we provided them with food, water and some peace to acclimate to their new surroundings.
Meanwhile, the hubby built them a pig shelter to protect them from the elements.
After several days, we felt that the pigs had learned that the white fence resulted in a shock. We moved them to an open area close to the house. We closely monitored their behavior with the fence when it didn't have a hard, physical barrier behind it.
Again, this required physically carrying the pigs. It's a good thing that they start out small!
They quickly learned to like their fresh air rooting area. We didn't have any escapees.
We didn't even have to get up from our chair to watch them from the house! If they didn't have another job to do on the back side of the property, we may have considered keeping them closer to the house for sheer entertainment.
After we felt more comfortable with this setup, we decided to put them to work in the woods. The transport from this enclosure to the one in the woods wasn't nearly as smooth (hence the lack of pictures). The weather was cold and windy, the pigs weren't thrilled with the sudden change in plans and the sorting boards that we had ordered had not arrived. Despite the obstacles, only one pig escaped. He ran a few circles around the property with a following of adults, kids, dogs, etc. Eventually, he decided that he would much rather hang out with his buddies than race (even though he was winning) and joined them.
Here are a few pictures of the area before we added the pigs. It was an overgrown mess.
Once the pigs realized that this was a better situation for them, they were happy to start working on rooting up the ground for us.
We rotate the pigs through this area every 10 to 14 days depending on the weather and the amount of ground they have overturned.
We set up the next section before taking down the previous section. Then, we open up the fence to let the pigs into their new area. The first time, they were hesitant, but it hasn't taken them long to get the hang of the routine.
They are doing a great job at tilling up the ground!
We are following the pigs with the goats to help remove some of the higher brambles. Then, we plan to go in afterwards and thin out with chainsaws and loppers if needed.
The pigs are really warming up to us. They will now run to greet us and let us scratch their noses!
We are loving the addition of pigs! They are providing an ecological service to the soil health of our property. They continuously have new pastures to explore with no typical pig smell. Not only do I believe that this will provide better meat, but I know that we are providing them a very happy life until the one bad day when they will provide food for our family.
We eat a lot but do not plan to eat eight grown pigs. If you are interested in purchasing one of our pigs, please let us know. We plan to sell several of these bacon-seeds to hungry homes prior to delivery to the processor.