Anyone here raise pigs?

[pinkfox]

comming when fed vs comming when called is a very individual thing...a pig whos been raised with lots of hands on LOVES people attention and often come when called (people keep mini pigs as house pets) a pig whos been raised "at a distance" will associate people with food...depending on your goals, this could be better. (again butcheringsomething youve gotten attatched to is MUCH harder lol)

in terms of mess. pigs are naturally VERY clean animals they prefer to go potty in one corner of their pen, sleep in another, feed in another and turn the 4th into a mud wallow...
the ONLY time they become "ditry" is when theres too much poop for the space and thee FORCED to wallow in the mess...
best way to keep a pen from not smelling bad...figure out which is the potty corner and give it a scoop each day and start a manure pile somewhere as far frm the house (and your neighbors) as possible.
pig poop only realy smells when wet, and in a pen going in that same corner over and over the poop is constantly kept damp/moist which increases smell...
if your up for the extra work (heck even every could of days if daily is not your thing) and you trust your pig (or can lock them into th shelter) scoop that potty corner regularly spread it out thin to dry then once dry toss it into a pile to start to compost down.

PLEASE do NOT go into a pig pen unless you are prepared, ESPCEIALLY if your pig has been raised "hands off" ive known a few pig keepers get a little too familiar with the side of a pig and the fence rail and end up with some serious rib injuries. pigs can...and have...killed people...and most pigs are just as smart, an twice as fast as us silly humans!.

(i had a frined whos cousin was lost to a comercial white breeding sow who crushed him between a rail ad her big tuckus...
weather she meant to hurt him or not is debatable (had she been acting truly agressivly she would have gorged him) but people forget these animals are powerhouses and even when they dont mean to hurt you...a siple set o your foot from a big ole pig = a crushed foot for you! lol

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Let me 'second' what Pink said! I can especially testify about the crushed foot, even though in my case it's a crushed toe. A few days before we slaughtered them - one of 'em decided to stand on my foot. I ended up with a split toenail and a blood blister underneath. Thankfully it bled pretty good and relieved some of the pressure, but it's gonna be a big mess when it grows out.

My pigs would come when called. Of course, I taught them to come when called by giving them a treat. But, it's very wortwhile to teach them that. I could move them from pen to pen, or call them in from running loose in the pasture when it was bed time. They were not lap-dog friendly, but they were not vicious either. I think that comes from being raised very hands on, and learning early that you don't chew on mama's ankles. There was a time when I didn't go in the pen without a big stick.

My guys tended to slow down and become more laid back the bigger they got. I could rub them all over and even kinda sit on 'em, but I would never, ever let my guard down. These guys were over 300 lbs and watching them fight over a boiled egg would definitely make you respect the power of the pig!

They were housed in the garden so if the manure began to stack up in one area I would run the tiller over it, weather allowing. If not, like Pink said - it doesn't stink if it has a chance to dry out.

My pigs are a memory and a meal now! I started the bacon curing process yesterday and I had lard in the crock pot all night. Ummm, the cracklings are pure deliciousness!

I will definitely do it again, but it'l be a while. We had two 300 pounders - it'll take awhile for us to get through that much meat. My neighbors and kids are gonna be real happy and rvery well fed!

 

[bj taylor]

so interesting to think about rendering lard in a crockpot. i've heard about leaf lard & how it is the very best thing to make pie crust. how does one know what is leaf lard when processing your pig?
are there really people on this forum that cure their own bacon? wow.

 

[Emerald]

so interesting to think about rendering lard in a crockpot. i've heard about leaf lard & how it is the very best thing to make pie crust. how does one know what is leaf lard when processing your pig?
are there really people on this forum that cure their own bacon? wow.

Leaf lard is from around the kidneys of the piggy and on the inside. Long and lumpy bumpy looking on a silverskin/membrane(I remove it before rendering) if you are butchering your own it is kind of along the back under the ribs- while fat back tends to be in flat long strips, sometimes with the skin still on it.(well that is what it looks like when you get it back from the butcher if you are doing it yourself I'm sure that you will be easily able to tell where it is. Man I'm tired.. not making sense)
I just got done rendering about 8 pounds of leaf lard today and have a tad over 4 more that I will be curing for a few days and smoking for a few hours before I render it down- faux bacon grease
I think biscuits and cracklin gravy is in order for breakfast tomorrow.. lol

 

[frustratedearthmother]

This is my first experience curing bacon. Heck, it's my first time home slaughtering a hog, lol. It'll be finished curing by Tuesday, so I'll let ya'll know how it turns out.

 

[bj taylor]

when y'all say you kill them humanely, do you mean you shoot them in the head? if so, what part do you aim for & what type of gun do you use. if not shoot, then how do you do it. in theory i want to raise a couple of pigs a year, but the logistics scare me off. i understand these animals to be smart and personable.

frustratedearthmother; do you have a smoke house?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We shot ours in the head. It is the hardest part of the whole process in my opinion. We used a 40 caliber, even though I've heard some folks say they only use a 22. Personal choice I guess?? If you make an imaginary X from each eye to the opposite ear the place we aim at is where the two imaginary lines intersect. It ends up being about 2 inces above the eyes. Get that part right because a misplaced shot is horrible. We shot two pigs, one was a perfect shot and the other was not. You don't want that - I cried over that pigs death.

I don't have a smoke house -I used a pit smoker. I smoked about 20 lbs of link sausage tonight. I kept the fire small and the smoke big. It took a lot of tending to keep the temp where I wanted it since I was smoking for flavor and not necessarily to cook the sausage. It'll be frozen over night and vacuum packed tomorrow.

My neighbor smoked his with oak and while it was tasty, I thought oak smoke was a little harsh. I used apple wood on mine. I think apple is a bit 'sweeter' and has more of a mild flavor. Tomorrow I'll be smoking the bacon - I'm so excited!

This was our first time to butcher ourselves and we learned a lot. There are a few things we would probably change next time.

All in all, it was a great experience and the taste of pork is absolutely phenomenal! I will definitely do it again.

 

[baymule]

Kudos to you, frustratedearthmother! What a giant step on the way to SS! I have made and smoked deer sausage, but has been many years. Like you, I used a pit, only I kept a fire going in a small pit and shoveled coals in the large pit for the smoke. I used oak. We don't have apple down here in the south, and what few there are, chopping one down for firewood would more n' likely get one shot! You have my mouth watering now!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You're right - no apple trees around here! We did have some pear trees many years ago that succumbed to blight. That's where I got my love of fruit wood smoke. Pear smoked brisket is mighty tasty.

Wally World sells applewood chunks. Hope I didn't contribute to the early death of some poor tree!

 

[the funny farm6]

we shoot ours with a 22. we make an imagenary triangle going from ear to ear, then from the ears to center between the eyes and aim for the center of that triangle. if you hit that center they knever know what hit them. then slice their throwt.

if you smoke, dont forget those ears and noses for your dogs!!!!! we even have been known to do some sections of skin.