Mini Horses
Sustainability Master
Six foot fence with concreted posts & electric That's like "treat time!!" for them. YEP, we know this.
Or -- another farm?
Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey
- Thread starter frustratedearthmother
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Six foot fence with concreted posts & electric That's like "treat time!!" for them. YEP, we know this.
Or -- another farm?
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- #9,722
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
Eight foot solid wall with razor wire on top, lol!!
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- #9,723
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
Have a day off today! Yay! Plan to move a couple of pigs around in preps for butchering this weekend. And, need to make some preps for us being gone for a couple days next week. All the critters will be ok with fresh round bales to munch on, auto waterers and a pond.
The only issue is one pen that has male pigs. They are grazing pigs and love their hay so I'll give them plenty of extra. We're leaving mid-day Monday and coming home mid-day Wednesday so it's not like they'll be untended for long. I'm considering taking a couple of 5 gallon buckets with lids and filling them with corn/pellets then drilling holes in the buckets. The theory is that the pigs will roll them around and self-feed - slowly. I'll remove the wire handles so that they can't get caught up in those. I think it's a brilliant idea and I'm hurting my arm patting myself on the back, lol! Worst case scenario - they're stupid and can't figure it out. I'll try it out a day or so before we go. I love experiments, lol!
The only issue is one pen that has male pigs. They are grazing pigs and love their hay so I'll give them plenty of extra. We're leaving mid-day Monday and coming home mid-day Wednesday so it's not like they'll be untended for long. I'm considering taking a couple of 5 gallon buckets with lids and filling them with corn/pellets then drilling holes in the buckets. The theory is that the pigs will roll them around and self-feed - slowly. I'll remove the wire handles so that they can't get caught up in those. I think it's a brilliant idea and I'm hurting my arm patting myself on the back, lol!
Worst case scenario - they're stupid and can't figure it out. I'll try it out a day or so before we go. I love experiments, lol!
baymule
Sustainability Master
Do you ever sour corn for your pigs? When I finish out feeder pigs, I switch from pellets to soured corn. With the goat milk you have, milk soured corn fed pork would be some primo meat!
With plenty of feed and water, your animals will be ok for a couple of days. We used to come up here for the weekend, before we moved here, and I fed up the dogs and chickens before we left and as soon as we got back.
With plenty of feed and water, your animals will be ok for a couple of days. We used to come up here for the weekend, before we moved here, and I fed up the dogs and chickens before we left and as soon as we got back.
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- #9,725
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
I have definitely fed the pigs milk/sour corn. Have been doing that a couple times a week with some young 'uns I've got. However, I had an attack of "idon'twanna' the other day and stopped milking. I've been milking pretty much for a year and I just needed a break for a couple months. I'll start again with the next kidding season. The two does that I've been milking will be moved out to the pasture this weekend after I butcher their offspring. Then I'll bring two more does up because they had late babies - and those babies are about to get weaned. May or may not milk those does. I do like to have as many does as possible trained to milk so I'll probably milk them at least for a couple of weeks to get them accustomed to the idea. Makes them easier to deal with and easier to sell.
Without doubt! The longest I have left them is 5 days. I don't worry about the horses and goats. They have hay, pasture and a pond. It's only the critters that are penned that need special care. And, since this is only a 48 hour trip they'll be fine even without special consideration.
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- #9,726
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
I sold a pig yesterday! Yay for one less mouth to feed! Should have even less mouths to feed after this weekend. I will butcher a goat for sure and hopefully a pig.
I really like the couple that bought the pig. They were kind, courteous and even more importantly - knowledgeable. They bought a female that's about 40 lbs and want to butcher her in the spring. If they like the meat, they want two more when she's gone. Might work out to be a nice repeat customer.
Having a small dilemma on which pig(s) to butcher. I have two barrows that I'm just letting grow. They're grazing and not costing me much so my vote is to just let them do their thing until they're a tiny bit bigger...maybe harvest them early next year. I've got a couple of extra boars too. I've already got plenty of feed into them and they'll make a decent carcass. OR - I've got 3 young, small boar-lets that I never got castrated even though I fully intended to. They're a bit over 4 months old and about 35-40 lbs. I may decide to do all three of them as 'roaster' size. They won't make a lot of meat - but it'll be 3 less mouths to feed and 3 less bodies to take care of. And, I could still do a bigger boar in a week or so if it's still cool. After I get the boar numbers down I'll start on any females that I'm not thrilled with and get this herd down to a better number before retirement. I'm excited to get more meat in the freezer!
I really like the couple that bought the pig. They were kind, courteous and even more importantly - knowledgeable. They bought a female that's about 40 lbs and want to butcher her in the spring. If they like the meat, they want two more when she's gone. Might work out to be a nice repeat customer.
Having a small dilemma on which pig(s) to butcher. I have two barrows that I'm just letting grow. They're grazing and not costing me much so my vote is to just let them do their thing until they're a tiny bit bigger...maybe harvest them early next year. I've got a couple of extra boars too. I've already got plenty of feed into them and they'll make a decent carcass. OR - I've got 3 young, small boar-lets that I never got castrated even though I fully intended to. They're a bit over 4 months old and about 35-40 lbs. I may decide to do all three of them as 'roaster' size. They won't make a lot of meat - but it'll be 3 less mouths to feed and 3 less bodies to take care of. And, I could still do a bigger boar in a week or so if it's still cool. After I get the boar numbers down I'll start on any females that I'm not thrilled with and get this herd down to a better number before retirement. I'm excited to get more meat in the freezer!
wyoDreamer
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Getting piggies in the freezer - YAY!
Fresh, homegrown pork sounds tasty.
Fresh, homegrown pork sounds tasty.
- Thread starter
- #9,728
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
Made a recipe I've been wanting to try tonight. OH my goodness - it was yum!
baymule
Sustainability Master
Sounds like a good piggie plan on reducing numbers. That plate does look yummy! No recipe?
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- #9,730
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
The recipe is over on BYH - on Mike CHS's low carb thread. 
