FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
Its amazing pork meat tastes so good 
Raising livestock a bit more naturally...
- Thread starter Beekissed
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freemotion
Food Guru
It tastes even better cooked in farmerlor's cream of mushroom soup recipe....we've had it twice now, and it is all I think about when I start to get hungry. It is SOOOOOO good!!! 
FarmerChick
Super Self-Sufficient
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I don't know about anyone else's hogs but mine....they are picky actually...LOLBeekissed said:I guess my animals don't notice the flavor over the ACV taste!Heck, these animals love drinking the dog-slobber water in the dog's bucket....even with the drowned mouse in it!
Our pigs used to looooove the dishwater! Slurp it up like candy! Pigs aren't too discerning of taste, though, are they?
hogs have no sweat glands therefore they must roll in the mud to stay cool
that is why people think they are "nasty and dirty" animals kinda...but they aren't. they just appear that way....LOL-LOL
Animals are at the mercy of what people feed them and how they water them.
- Thread starter
- #34
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
I wonder how my pig will do with no mud in which to roll? She will be on pasture in temporary paddocks along with the sheep.
Now, it doesn't get as hot here as most places and its real low humidity. Each paddock has plenty of shade. We get temps to the high 80s in the heat of summer, nights are very cool.
I'm real excited about pasturing this way, as it really forces one to go out and actually BE with the animals each day, inspecting fence, changing paddocks, checking water, etc.
I feel more confident with a Large Black sow running with the sheep in the upper orchard, as this is the place the dogs cannot reach. I'm hoping the sow will be an intimidation factor to any predators that may want to brave the woven wire sheep/cattle fencing and then the electric fencing. I doubt I will have a problem, but it sure feels nice knowing a 1,000 lb. sow will be on guard duty!
Now, it doesn't get as hot here as most places and its real low humidity. Each paddock has plenty of shade. We get temps to the high 80s in the heat of summer, nights are very cool.
I'm real excited about pasturing this way, as it really forces one to go out and actually BE with the animals each day, inspecting fence, changing paddocks, checking water, etc.
I feel more confident with a Large Black sow running with the sheep in the upper orchard, as this is the place the dogs cannot reach. I'm hoping the sow will be an intimidation factor to any predators that may want to brave the woven wire sheep/cattle fencing and then the electric fencing. I doubt I will have a problem, but it sure feels nice knowing a 1,000 lb. sow will be on guard duty!
freemotion
Food Guru
I think that pig will have no trouble plowing up her own mud wallow....as well as a chunk of your pasture. Are you sure you want her with everyone else?
- Thread starter
- #36
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Yep, she will be rotated to knew pasture each day along with the sheep. From the articles and webpages I've read where other farmers are doing this, they say that the pigs don't normally root and dig if they have food in front of them(grass). So, I'm going to trust the other folks when they say that the pigs didn't ruin their pasture on rotational grazing. If this turns out to be a bust, I'll think of something else, I'm sure. I would say, if they were kept in the same paddock for a couple of days, they may get around to doing some digging out a wallows, but I doubt it.
From what I've read, folks are raising this type of pig in herds, with no separation between families, boars, piglets, etc. They cull for mean animals that may hurt the babies or each other. What they have left are pigs that act more like cows, with a communal nursery and baby-sitters.
From what I've read, folks are raising this type of pig in herds, with no separation between families, boars, piglets, etc. They cull for mean animals that may hurt the babies or each other. What they have left are pigs that act more like cows, with a communal nursery and baby-sitters.
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
Pigs are incredibly smart too. I used to be mother's helper (as a teen) to a family that kept pigs occasionally. More often than not, we'd be out looking for them thar pigs, "coz they got out again!!! 
Here's my "pig" story
One of them got roasted in the ground for three days that summer. The guys spent two days digging the hole and three days tending the fire, drinking all the while. Us womenfolk we doing the more "menial tasks". Mindin' the children, feeding them peanut butter and fluff sandwiches, keeping them out of the fire pit, watching them at the lake (so they wouldn't drown themselves, which they tried regularly), feeding them, diapering some of them, feeding the menfolk (mostly so they'd sober up a bit) and preparing the rest of the meal.
Mimi, the matriarch, oversaw the whole event. Therefor, the pig had been put in the pit with three raw eggs in it's gaping mouth. Well, I only remember one egg, 'tho some say it was three. According to Mimi, you could tell if the pig was done, if the egg was hardboiled. Sometime at the end of the second day, things weren't smelling so good. Being a female, I was kept busy mindin' the children, you know: peanut butter and fluff (one with pickles?! ok?), baking in the hot sun watching them play in the lake, getting towels, diapering, pulling one out of the water, peanut butter and jelly (got ya), refereeing a fight, "stay away from the pig!", the usual...
The smell was getting unbearable. The guys were trying to shrug it off. It couldn't be the pig! It had been on hot coals for over two days. They kept the fire going the whole time. ....so why did it smell so bad? .. a smell like rotten eggs....
Mimi insisted the pig wasn't ready, it always took three days. She oughta know. This wasn't her first pig roast. Hey Mimi, could it be the egg? Absolutely not! It was a fresh egg! Could it be the apple? (the guys put one of those in, just in case). of course not.
Oh man, that smell is bad.
Us womenfolk kept fixin up the "fixin's" and minding the children and feeding the menfolk. It is day three. We're setting up the picknick tables. Guests are showing up. "What's that smell?". "Don' know? ask Mimi."
The guys finally convince Mimi to take out the egg and check it. "Is it hardboiled yet?"
Sure enough, when Mimi cracked the egg, it was as if 10 stink bombs had been cracked. You do remember stink bombs, don't you? (We let one or two of them go, when I was in High School)
So the pig was considered done. The tables were laid out with delectable dishes (that us womenfolk had slaved over) of all kinds. The roast pig had it's own table in the center. The meat was so tender, it fell off when a breeze hit it. The guest's cars had filled every off road parking spot possible and were starting to line the roadside.
And no one could eat. The stink from that rotten egg made it impossible. We sent home plates with people and were told it was really good. I ate some and know in my head that it was really good, but all I can remember is the smell of a very rotten egg!!!
Here's my "pig" story
One of them got roasted in the ground for three days that summer. The guys spent two days digging the hole and three days tending the fire, drinking all the while. Us womenfolk we doing the more "menial tasks". Mindin' the children, feeding them peanut butter and fluff sandwiches, keeping them out of the fire pit, watching them at the lake (so they wouldn't drown themselves, which they tried regularly), feeding them, diapering some of them, feeding the menfolk (mostly so they'd sober up a bit) and preparing the rest of the meal.
Mimi, the matriarch, oversaw the whole event. Therefor, the pig had been put in the pit with three raw eggs in it's gaping mouth. Well, I only remember one egg, 'tho some say it was three. According to Mimi, you could tell if the pig was done, if the egg was hardboiled. Sometime at the end of the second day, things weren't smelling so good. Being a female, I was kept busy mindin' the children, you know: peanut butter and fluff (one with pickles?! ok?), baking in the hot sun watching them play in the lake, getting towels, diapering, pulling one out of the water, peanut butter and jelly (got ya), refereeing a fight, "stay away from the pig!", the usual...
The smell was getting unbearable. The guys were trying to shrug it off. It couldn't be the pig! It had been on hot coals for over two days. They kept the fire going the whole time. ....so why did it smell so bad? .. a smell like rotten eggs....
Mimi insisted the pig wasn't ready, it always took three days. She oughta know. This wasn't her first pig roast. Hey Mimi, could it be the egg? Absolutely not! It was a fresh egg! Could it be the apple? (the guys put one of those in, just in case). of course not.
Oh man, that smell is bad.
Us womenfolk kept fixin up the "fixin's" and minding the children and feeding the menfolk. It is day three. We're setting up the picknick tables. Guests are showing up. "What's that smell?". "Don' know? ask Mimi."
The guys finally convince Mimi to take out the egg and check it. "Is it hardboiled yet?"
Sure enough, when Mimi cracked the egg, it was as if 10 stink bombs had been cracked. You do remember stink bombs, don't you? (We let one or two of them go, when I was in High School)
So the pig was considered done. The tables were laid out with delectable dishes (that us womenfolk had slaved over) of all kinds. The roast pig had it's own table in the center. The meat was so tender, it fell off when a breeze hit it. The guest's cars had filled every off road parking spot possible and were starting to line the roadside.
And no one could eat. The stink from that rotten egg made it impossible. We sent home plates with people and were told it was really good. I ate some and know in my head that it was really good, but all I can remember is the smell of a very rotten egg!!!
freemotion
Food Guru
Great story, and
Homesteadmom
Frugal Homesteader
Pigs also use mud as a sunscreen to protect them from getting sunburned. Their skin is actually very delicate & burns quickly & easily. And they use mud in the winter to keep themselves warm too. Pigs are actually the smartest farm animals there are. Durocs have to be especially careful as their skin is already a reddish color & it is hard to tell if they are burning or not.
Thanks for the Basic H method info Bee I will have to see if I can find Salatins book at the library to get some more info about it. You are correct that it just takes a drop of it to do the trick most times. My brother uses to wash his dishes & laundry with. I just order thru him when I need more. But a bottle lasts me a few yrs!
Thanks for the Basic H method info Bee I will have to see if I can find Salatins book at the library to get some more info about it. You are correct that it just takes a drop of it to do the trick most times. My brother uses to wash his dishes & laundry with. I just order thru him when I need more. But a bottle lasts me a few yrs!
ticks
Hunting Crazy
Well, I wouldn't call my ways more natural but I will throw corn out to them with oyster shell and then I will give them some "real" food. Corn is more natural, and it is 5 bucks cheaper than layer crumbles so I save money too 
I usually do more feed than corn.
People have mixed emotions about corn, I think it works jsut fine and haven't had a problem.
I have also been growing sunflowers for my Pheasants.
I usually do more feed than corn.
People have mixed emotions about corn, I think it works jsut fine and haven't had a problem.
I have also been growing sunflowers for my Pheasants.
