This little piggie went to the market....

[Brunty_Farms]

After taking those pics in the dark... I did notice that those things rely solely on those ears and their nose. They can't see good at all. I freaked them out when taking the pictures.

I will try to get some colored ones today along with the set-up that I have.

 

[phoenixmama]

I'm so glad you posted this topic, Jeff! There's so much great info. to be had! I can't wait to hear more about your piggy adventure!

CW...it hits 110+ in the summer here, and daytime temps in the winter are usually in the 60s, sometimes 50s. Around Christmas it got down to 27 at night...which is the coldest I've experienced in my few years of living here in the desert. Oh, and deep freezer...yes, meat grinder...no, tractor...no. I do remember the thing about male pigs from my Intro. to Animal Ag. class I took in college. Thanks for the reminder though, there isn't much else I remember! Oh, and the trees are pretty big. The section of town where we live used to be citrus groves, so our land is irrigated.

Becky...thanks for the information on your experience with a movable pen. I am worried about the big, stinky mess from having a pig. That is my number one thing since we live on such a small piece of land. And I remember from the times I would go out on farm calls with the veterinarian I used to work for that pigs aren't nearly as easy to maneuver as chickens.

 

[petrelline]

I took a class a few weeks ago in pig butchering, which included on-farm slaughter of the pig (a 250 lb young boar). There were five of us in the class, and probably only three of us were only really needed to get most of the work done (we took turns). The hardest part was getting the pig out of the field and into the barn once it had been killed and bled, and most of that was just the heavy lifting.

The pig we had was a Tamworth/Old Spot cross and it was *awesome.*

I think at-home pig processing is entirely doable with family/friend help. It'll be hard work, sure, but for someone who's done as many turkeys as brunty has surely that won't be a deterrent.

 

[ultasol]

Awesome post! If the pigs weren't so hard on land/fencing I'd be game for doing a couple. As is, I think sheep have a smaller imprint and I hope to do lamb.

 

[sred98]

Got to chime in here...we're new to pigs. I actually traded 3 laying hens for a boar that wandered up to my friend's house a few months back. Some type of Berkshire cross. It was vicious and unmanageable. I shot it and processed it myself. I had my friend for moral support, but I did all the work. She did run the tractor so I could hang it from it to bleed it out. Aside from the shooting (.22 rifle to the head-1 shot!!) I treated it just like a chicken. It was harder to handle, because it was almost 200 pounds, but no plucking or anything like that. We roasted it whole, butterflied, and have gotten another one to feed out. He won't stay in the pen though, so right now, he runs around like a dog and sleeps in the chicken barn. DH is in the middle of building him a pen.

DH was totally against the idea, until he saw the pen. They do keep one area for the bathroom, and their feed and bed far away from that. The new pig doesn't even go to the bathroom in the barn. We will be getting a pig or two a year from now on. Now to convince him of a steer!

We will be taking it to a processor. For about $100, you take them in live, and they do everything. The FFA teacher here recommended him. He's used several around and this guy is pretty honest. That's one thing you have to take into consideration if you don't process them yourself. The horror stories are all true. If you have help, I'm positive you would be able to do it yourself. I don't, and I am sure it will be too much for me. I just don't have the set-up for it.

Good luck!

Shelly

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Those turkeys were hard but I had the right equipment to do it. That makes the difference. I may do my pig here at the farm but I don't feel confident enough doing the other 5 for customers. As these pigs are not for me.

However to kick of the summer and to thank all of my customers, I'm thinking of doing a pig roast in May along with some chickens. I have about 300 people so it should be one hell of a party! I think I can do this one as all you would have to do is gut and scrape the hair right?

Oh man, I'm getting excited already!

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Here are some pictures. They were a little shy but I lured one out! I almost got rid of the poultry netting but as you can see.... so far so good! If they learn to respect it when they are young I don't see them messing with it when they get big. However I'm going to put in a wood gate so I can load them come processing time. Those videos of Salatin that Jen posted were awesome... that guy has everything down to a "t"... you try to learn from him the best you can but he has everything to make it easy. I do everything the hard way... hoses and 5 gallon buckets!

The bait...

And the pig that took the bait... sorry only one.

Here are my blueberry plants... right next to the pen... If they get these I will have a pig roast sooner than later... and your all invited!

 

[LizFM]

Years ago (1982 - 1992) we farmed with my in-laws. At that time, in that location (NE KS) there were locker plants in a couple of towns nearby where you could actually sell hogs, and because they could sell the meat, we would "trade" them pigs for butchering. If I remember right, we'd take in 3 hogs and the plant would get one, which would pay our butchering costs on the other 2. It was a great system so I don't know if it's been made illegal by now

My FIL raises pigs (among other things) commercially so we weren't 'backyard' producers but I don't know if that would make a difference to the locker plant. Worth a try to ask, anyway.

 

[kooltex]

I've thought about raising a couple, when's the best time to buy them? What age do you slaughter at? I'm in North Texas.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey Jeff!

thems some good lookin' pigs! and great job on the yard/shelter! looks like you've got plenty of straw for them to snuggle in the worst weather and plenty of room to build up as they get bigger. you can always build up the walls with straw bales if you are concerned when we get the extra bad weather.

and hey! we have the same feeding tub! whoot

Bourbon Red said his pigs tested the fence every day so he could never just turn his fence off. We found with ours they gave up after a while and we had a couple days when the fence was dead - yikes! we had several experiences with run away pigs - but the electric kept them in all summer.

so we'll all see you for the roast?


sred98 - one thing to watch out for.... pigs will eat anything they can smell and they MAY figure out that your hens are something to eat! our Buckeyes were too fast for the pigs but i know folks who's pigs figured out the feathery things were delicious! so if you are missing some hens... check the pigs for chicken eatin' grins!

yay bacon!