Pig Bliss

[The_Crone_of_Cottonmouth_Count]

Crikey, y’all have constitutions of iron. My lack thereof precludes me from normal farming pursuits. I’d love to raise some gourmet pork for the Austin foodie scenesters, but I’d fall in love with any pig in about 2 minutes, and then it’d be Charlotte’s Web all over again. Heck, my handyman had to physically restrain me from setting free the hideous feral hogs we’d gone to so much trouble to trap after they’d destroyed my lawn and a couple of paddocks. In theory, I hated those nasty hogs with an unprecedented passion, but when I saw them in the trap they just looked scared and pathetic and lard help me kind of cute.

I suck.

[sid]

[QUOTE=moving to dc;7908329]
Might be able to find some contacts/resources here: http://farmtoforkloudoun.com/

This is a local farm that started with the same concept, though I am not sure they do any livestock… http://eatwellnaturalfarm.com/[/QUOTE]

Thanks. The “cute” factor some posters are referring to may be a problem for me though.:lol:

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=sid;7909033]
Thanks. The “cute” factor some posters are referring to may be a problem for me though.:lol:[/QUOTE]

Really, they are far less cute when they are closing in on 300lbs and perfectly capable of eating you. The piglets are precious. I don’t think I could do a suckling pig on my own, but I have no problem with the large hogs

[Mosey_2003]

The piglets get less cute every day :lol: Cute to look at for a fair while, but once they start really zooming around they aren’t so cute when they’re biting your boots, legs, hands, etc…

[Mosey_2003]

Almost forgot, don’t know how rampant it is across the country, but if you’re going to start in hogs make sure you don’t get any with PERS, once it’s on your place you’re kinda screwed.

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

Here’s my pig when she was still growing. I think she was around 300 lbs in this pic, but she made my 90 lb dog look kind of small

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/396158_3467988628893_1411845491_n.jpg?oh=c45ba82abb15937dbbeb6798a1a0c1c3&oe=55447F8A

[BeckyS]

My husband and I are hopefully getting pigs in the spring. Probably just two, one for us and one for my co-worker, but we’ll see.

How long do you figure, from buying weaners to butchering?

[Mosey_2003]

[QUOTE=BeckyS;7909625]
My husband and I are hopefully getting pigs in the spring. Probably just two, one for us and one for my co-worker, but we’ll see.

How long do you figure, from buying weaners to butchering?[/QUOTE]
Roughly six months of age.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/251609-whats-average-age-get-slaughter-weight.html

[rustbreeches]

The newest bunch!
https://www.facebook.com/142770192431984/photos/a.817330964975900.1073741826.142770192431984/821561131219550/?type=1&theater

[Chestnut_Run]

[QUOTE=rustbreeches;7908725]

Here is a pic of the Taj MaHog[/QUOTE]
Oh man I am so stealing this. When I build our pig pen I’m putting this on a sign for it.

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=Chestnut Run;7910418]
Oh man I am so stealing this. When I build our pig pen I’m putting this on a sign for it.[/QUOTE]

Help yourself! We also have Cluckingham Palace, and this spring when we get the lambs, we will have Sheepen Itza

[Simkie]

[QUOTE=rustbreeches;7910332]
The newest bunch!
https://www.facebook.com/142770192431984/photos/a.817330964975900.1073741826.142770192431984/821561131219550/?type=1&theater[/QUOTE]

LOOK AT THE PIGGIES OMG.

I would totally buy pork from you…if I were still in Colorado. Sigh. What’s in the freezer now came from Grant, and their finances practices are…suspect. To say the least.

RB, I do have a friend who’s looking for good pork…I’d given her some of our pig. Can I hook her up with your contact info? Are you selling by the pound, or by the half, or ?

[S1969]

I helped a friend butcher two hogs this past fall and I agree that they are far less cute when 250lbs. I do worry I would fall in love with the piglets…but I suppose that might be manageable when they get bigger.

I will say it was incredible to see the amount of meat they got from two pigs, in only a few months. Obviously breed matters, but you can see why they were bred to eat. Compared to butchering chicken it was amazing.

Our friends meant to take their hogs to be processed but could not load them; clearly it requires some practice and also the right setup. It wasn’t hard to butcher them on the farm, but could have been a million times easier with some specialty equipment (e.g. front end loader!) so we could move the 250lbs of dead weight to an easier place. It was quite the fiasco until we had them into halves.

Maybe some day…or, maybe I can be the silent partner in someone else’s backyard hog. I’ll help butcher but not sure I can see the cuteness every day and then do it.

[rustbreeches]

Yep, I’ve had the new little bacons a week now, and they are far less cute than when they arrived! They have almost doubled in size. I love all the colors I got in this batch!

Simkie, I have already sold all the pigs that will be ready in March, but these new ones will be ready to go in June. Probably the tail end of the month. If someone wants one, I can either take it in to the local slaughterhouse with mine, or they can come pick it up and take it to the slaughter house of their choice. I sell the whole pig by hanging weight, but they can divvy it up with friends if a whole hog is too much

[lcw579]

Am I the only one who opened this thread thinking it was going to be about PET pigs? Oh the horror!!! LOL

[sid]

[QUOTE=lcw579;7920184]
Am I the only one who opened this thread thinking it was going to be about PET pigs? Oh the horror!!! LOL[/QUOTE]

:lol::lol:

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=lcw579;7920184]
Am I the only one who opened this thread thinking it was going to be about PET pigs? Oh the horror!!! LOL[/QUOTE]

We pet them until they try grabbing our hands with their mouths, if it makes you feel better!

They have a really great life, followed by a really bad split second. That we should all be so lucky!

[sid]

[QUOTE=rustbreeches;7920279]
We pet them until they try grabbing our hands with their mouths, if it makes you feel better!

They have a really great life, followed by a really bad split second. That we should all be so lucky![/QUOTE]

OKAY, now that you say this I think I can do it…:lol:

[sprite]

[QUOTE=rustbreeches;7910332]
The newest bunch!
https://www.facebook.com/142770192431984/photos/a.817330964975900.1073741826.142770192431984/821561131219550/?type=1&theater[/QUOTE]

Nice! Got some Hamp In there looks like!

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=sprite;7920354]
Nice! Got some Hamp In there looks like![/QUOTE]

They are the UN of pigs! I got them off a highschool ag class FFA project. Hamp, York and Duroc x breeds!