Most breeders supplement pasture-based systems with grains, corn and other farm surplus. They tend to grow muscle first and put on fat after reaching 300 pounds; butcher weight of 280 to 300 pounds can be achieved in about seven months.
Special Considerations/Notes: Large Blacks can be managed easily on pasture and with a variety of feeds. The dark pigmented skin protects the hogs from sunburn. The sows have good maternal instincts and are prolific mothers.
History: The Mulefoot Hog is a distinct breed officially recognized since 1908 and recorded since the American Civil War. It's origins are unknown but they resemble a variety of landrace British and Spanish breeds.
History: The KuneKune (also spelled Kune Kune or Kune-Kune) is pronounced cooney cooney and means “plump” in Maori. However they got there, the Maori, New Zealand's aboriginal people, adopted them and they thrived, but by the 1970s, their numbers...
History: “Old English” hogs wandering the New Forest of Hampshire in England are thought to have been the forerunners of the Hampshire breed. This vigorous breed possesses perky, upright ears, a slightly dished face, and sound legs and feet.
The Hereford Hog is blessed with a large breeding population and an active registry (National Hereford Hog Record Association) with close to 10,000 hogs. Great for showing or producing meat, Herefords are a red hog with white feet, faces and sometimes...
Unspayed females will display strong mood swings and intact males produce a pungent odor and other undesirable traits. History: Potbelly pigs were developed in Vietnam and brought later to Canada, where the first breeders originally intended to offer...
They forage and graze well, gaining weight nicely on grass and weeds. Historically, Guinea Hogs foraged for their own food, eating rodents and other small animals, grass, roots and nuts, and cleaning out garden beds.
Such is the name of the game in agriculture. I've also been on a farm with Jacob sheep, a small breed with black and white spots that are “polycerate,” or multi-horned, meaning they can grow two horns on each side.
Sows are great milkers, so the piglets grow quickly.” Berkshire litters tend to be a little smaller than some of the commercial crossbreds, but Miller says she averages eight to 10 piglets per litter, though she has had some sows farrow as many as 16.
I know that raising a pig on pure pasture takes two years, so I understood this man's Guineas would see a couple of cold seasons. Second, recognize that different types exist, and swine digest it differently than ruminants (sheep, cows, and so on).
But pigs like to wander, and they need sufficient incentive to ignore the neighbor's soy field. I followed the strand of wire demarcating the animals' boundary to its source, then pulled out my phone and began snapping pictures of the setup.
I orient the makeshift shelter to provide shade from southern sun and a windbreak from cold, northern winds. The itchy pigs will rub themselves against it, oiling up their skin and killing the lice.
I didn't get the training so many fresh-faced agrarians have under their belts when embarking on a farming venture of their own. But sows are different than feeder pigs, aren't they?
Antibiotic-laden meats are thought to contribute to antibiotic resistance and infection frequency in humans; pastured meats, on the other hand, don't deliver unnecessary drugs to the eater.
The KuneKune's body is round and sturdy with short legs, an upturned snout and two tassels hanging from its lower jaw. Large Black Amanda Slater/Flickr This breed has an intensely black pigment in the hair and skin to protect it from sunburn.
Pigs differ from humans—and most other animals, in fact—in that their mothers' milk alone isn't enough to sustain newborn offspring. The amount of iron available in sow's milk might not be deficient, but neither is it enough for piglets raised on...
If there is not already a low-lying wetter area in the woodlot, make one. “This is why corn and soybean meal is usually the starting point for pig diets. Woodlot-raised pigs produce meat with unique flavor and help keep the woodland ecosystem in check.
Introduced to New Zealand in the early 1800s by whalers and traders, the Maori raised this diminutive pig for meat. They have long bodies and extra-large hams. Today's consumers pay top dollar for humanely raised, flavorful pork.
I'll admit it's nerve-wracking to leave pigs in a trailer overnight—they can move it around a bit, and the noisier ones may prompt a middle-of-the-night hog check—but we've never had one escape the metal box—and it's not for lack of trying.
Hogs on pasture deposit waste outdoors across larger areas, where it nourishes the soil and doesn't contaminate water supplies. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics causes harmful bacteria to become resistant to drugs, like vancomycin, used for treating...
If keeping them on pasture, provide access to a woodlot so they can forage high-protein nuts and offer a small supplement of grain in colder months. As an environmental bonus, the hay will also help lessen the mud issues that can occur in penned situations.
Send it to Martok at hobbyfarms@bowtieinc.com , and include “Ask Martok” in the subject. Their symptoms include vomiting, weakness, coughing, sneezing and incoordination, but piglets often die before symptoms are noted.
Even better, let's try to increase our understanding of farm animals' natural tendencies and their instinctive needs. This relatively naked, short-sighted, short-legged animal with its face in the dirt is pretty vulnerable, so making a lot of noise is...
Other research-based, feed recommendations include adding fiber to the diet; pelleting or grinding feed to increase digestibility; wet-feeding to reduce feed and water spills; providing water low in nitrates and sulfates; feeding only the minimum required...
Rodney Wilson And we kept him a boar, opting to forgo castration: This gives him an occupation alternative to “main course.” Sometimes it's too hard to eat a friend. I watched mama, also disoriented by the violent weather shift, sit on one and trample...
Clean significant scratches and wounds with a livestock disinfectant soap twice daily, rinsing well. Depending on environmental conditions, eggs hatch in two to three weeks and the life cycle is complete in another two weeks.
