Look what I came home to on my lunchbreak...

[hatchaholic]

Quote:
We actually have a 32' x 32' pen, but you could use a smaller one. The guy we bought the white pigs from laughed at us. He said the object was to fatten them up, not let them exercise it off. But, we want them to be happy and enjoy the life they have. We are going to build one or two more pens so we'll be able to breed them.

They are 21 weeks old now, and on Sunday I calculated the biggest one to be at 205 lbs. But, in the last couple of weeks, they have really been packing on the pounds. And, they've been going thru a 50lb bag of food in about 1.5 days.

 

[hatchaholic]

Quote:
Yeah, I guess I did...

 

[Jolyn]

Awwwwwwwwwwwww so cute!!!

 

[Bex]

Awww. They're so cute! I could never eat them. I have a pet Pot Belly x Duroc. She's our baby, even lived inside until she was 10 months old... Box trained and all.

 

[hatchaholic]

I used to think I couldn't eat them, but what am I gonna do with a 800 - 900 lb. pet? LOL!! I can barely keep my teenage boys fed. Ha!!

Don't get me wrong, it is going to be VERY hard for me. I really love them. But, I also will greatly appreciate the food they will provide for my family. I think it is all in the approach you take.

 

[MandyH]

OK, I asked Dh if I could prove that pigs aren't all poop and slop could I have some and he said yes. SOOOOO I showed him your pic and he got tickled and said "Oh, God, you'll never be able to eat them!" He's afraid that me and the 3 year old DD will have them named and have bows around their necks and have LIFELONG pets LOL! That is why he doesn't want me to have pigs or cows, he says he can't afford to feed a cow and hogs until they die of old age.

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

Quote:
We actually have a 32' x 32' pen, but you could use a smaller one. The guy we bought the white pigs from laughed at us. He said the object was to fatten them up, not let them exercise it off. But, we want them to be happy and enjoy the life they have. We are going to build one or two more pens so we'll be able to breed them.

They are 21 weeks old now, and on Sunday I calculated the biggest one to be at 205 lbs. But, in the last couple of weeks, they have really been packing on the pounds. And, they've been going thru a 50lb bag of food in about 1.5 days.

We do three in a 16x16 area of the barn and a outside area of 40x60. When we process them at 250 lbs they usually don't have enough fat to make decent sausage and we have to get contributions from the butcher. They are a lot of fun to have and actually much cleaner than chickens by compairison. (Pigs won't crap in their own water for instance.) Unfortunately the processing in our area has gotten so expensive that along with the massive food bill we are not really sure that it pays to do them anymore. We feed them a lot of accorns and plant row after row of carrots and potatos for them to "find" at the end of the garden season. They are highly effective as rototillers. When you have kids it's best to be very clear from the brginning that they are food. Enjoy them while you are growing them...be proud of yourself for taking good care of them...be thankful for the food they provide. Never name them Wilber. Call them pig, ham, sausage, breakfast.

 

[hatchaholic]

Leah - you are exactly right about naming them. We started out calling them Fatback, Honey Ham, and Bacon Bits, but they've ended up being Boy Pig, Big Pig 1, and Big Pig 2. That way, even less of an attachment. But, it's hard to stay unattached when they roll over so you can rub the big fat bellies!!

Kristen - from the beginning, the white pigs were going to go to butcher...we all knew it. And, I have 5 kids, ranging from 18 to 5. But, as the pigs got bigger, and a little rowdier, the younger kids seem to be more okay with the outcome. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks.
And, the red pigs (Tamworths) are more of a pet. We will definately use one for breeding. These are a heritage breed and are registered. The other one is the runt. I just couldn't turn her down. She'll definately be the pet.

They are very sweet, much cleaner than a lot of animals, and very smart. We know we'll probably lose money on them, but at least we know where our food is coming from. And, we also know there are no chemicals in there!!

 

[chickenannie]

I used to love the way my friend's pigs would all line up in a row like that to sleep, like little pig sausages, belly to back. Sometimes 20 in a row, all snoring loudly and contentedly.