NH Homesteader's journal

[NH Homesteader]

Hey @frustratedearthmother there's a few GORGEOUS, registered, tested (even g6s negative) 1-2 year old Nubian does for sale really close to me. If it wasn't winter I would have kinder on the brain! But I know they're around now for future reference.

Having so much family drama. This is not what I want for Christmas!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Woohoo! That's good information to have!

So sorry about the family drama - it does have a way of rearing it's head - especially at the holidays.

There have been times when DH and I have threatened to just go away for Christmas...far, far away!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Well someof it is drama and some of it is health stuff. My grandfather will find out next week if the masses in his lung are cancerous. My grandmother died of cancer 9 years ago. Never expected it would go after him years later. Will know soon. My husband and I are trying to have a second child and I realized the other night it's likely if we do, he or she will never meet him. My daughter has been fortunate to see him often when he is in NH for the summer.

And my brother and his second wife are splitting up. It's very dramatic and ugly and there are kids involved. Ugh

There goes my ramble for the evening.

Far away sounds good! Does far away not have snow? Even better! Lol

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You do have a lot going on. Praying for your grandfather.

Best wishes on the pregnancy pursuit! How exciting - but I do understand that it is tinged with the concern that the new baby might not know him.

So sorry about the divorce for your brother. Divorces - nothing pretty about that and so much harder when children are involved.

Far away DOES sound good. Go south for the winter!

 

[lcertuche]

Sorry to hear about your grandparents. Hope your grandfather is cancer free. I hate that my kids never new my grandparents and my three youngest sons never knew my daddy. They like to hear about him though. They entered his picture in their school's Veterans Day celebration.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Hey everyone... I've been slacking at posting over here. Been over at BYH. Happy New Year!

So my grandfather does have cancer. He has an appointment with an oncologist the 13th and will get treatment options and more details then. Also, my estranged grandmother is in the hospital with a broken pelvis. Great month it was.

So, we may have lost our connection for borrowing a boar to breed our pigs. I will not keep a full size boar. But there is also a Guinea hog boar, sow, and two gilts for sale near me for $400! I'm trying to convince my husband to switch to Guinea hogs but he is not convinced. I would be so much more comfortable handling the little things plus I need the lard!

So @Mini Horses and @frustratedearthmother can I pick your brains? What age do you butcher and what is the weight at that age? How much actual meat does that translate to? How much feed do they get? I wonder if I could breed the boar to a full size sow and keep one of ours... Hmm...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@NH Homesteader

So sorry about your grandfather, and grandmother. Sending prayers and best wishes in their direction.

Wish I had better answers for you about butchering the Guinea Hogs - but I haven't butchered one yet... Soon, I hope. I bought my two boars in maybe January or February last year - and they are plenty big enough to go to the freezer. They are a bit different in size - I think one of them must have been the runt of the litter. My guess is that he's probably in the 220 - 240 lb range. He is the one we're going to butcher. The other is longer and wider and my guess is that he's probably going to be in the 270-290 range. We'll get weights when the butchering is done and I'll let ya know.

I don't think you can go wrong if you want a smaller animal that's easier to handle. I think breeding one to a full size sow would be well worth a try. If that's what I had to work with, I sure wouldn't hesitate to try it.

I remember @Mini Horses saying she is very pleased with the meat. I can't wait to try mine!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Thanks, I guess I thought you had butchered one too, oops! Well I would also want a Guinea hog sow but I've already become attached to one of my gilts so I would like to keep her also. Well we are keeping her as a breeder regardless. She's a runt so a small boar would be useful!

 

[NH Homesteader]

I think my DH might be up for getting a Guinea hog boar and sow as well as keeping Hammy, our little gilt. I told him I'm not keeping a full size boar and I'm not doing AI! If he wants to do AI, that's on him! He make an awful face at that suggestion. Right now we have a barrow we will butcher in the spring and we may grow our other gilt and butcher her in the fall (she's a runt too so she's not growing too fast). That'll give us time to look for AGH breeders. He was complaining that they grow slow but I told him they don't eat that much so who cares? We just have more pigs for longer. We're raising pigs year round anyway.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

He was complaining that they grow slow but I told him they don't eat that much so who cares?

And, if you can let them on pasture their feed requirements go way down. In the summer and fall mine were free ranging and there were days when they didn't even come up looking for feed. Big savings there!