Newest farm additions :)

[chadk]

We picked up our piglets a few days ago. They are fitting right in on the little 'farm'.

I'm still working on their pen, but for now, they have run of the place. They definately add a different element to the little farm. New sounds, new antics. Should be interesting to see what trouble they get into...

 

[Missy]

You forgot new smells, LOL. The piggies and the kids are super cute

 

[spikethebest]

love those tails!

 

[chadk]

Well, so far, there have been no new smells... But when they reach 200lbs, I'm sure that will be a different story... Just in time for a trip to the butcher....

 

[Isa]

Congratulations Chad, they are sooo cute
Beautiful pictures!

 

[Itort]

No names, right. I picture two 500 pound yard pets. LOL

 

[chadk]

We go back and forth on names. Not whether to have them or not, as we like to give things names, even if they will end up as dinner... But what names to give.

I was leaning towards Ham-let and Keve Bacon. One kid like Sausage and McMuffin.

But in the end, they are Olivia and Hagrid.

These pigs won't get past the 200-300lb range. My kids know and agree to the fact that farm animals have a different life than our pet animals. They live a great life filled with many great days and then one bad moment. We treat them well while they are alive and respect them (as in never abuse them, and ensure their needs are met). When it comes time to kill them, it is a serious matter, but a necessary matter. It is done quickly and humanely. We then continue respecting the animal by valueing the meat it produced for us and handling it well - not being wasteful or sloppy with it.

We are doing what we can to grow our own food. We still have a long ways to go, but we have a garden, fruit trees, berries, and animals (chickens for meat and eggs, goats for milk, etc).

After my recent road trip back from LA, and seeing all the commercial farms being sprayed by planes, and realizing that they are forcing the dessert lands to grow crops (must be tons of chemicals and fertalizers to make that happen), and then also seeing the commercial feedlots that hold thousands of head of cattle on bare dirt and manure.... Well, lets just say I enjoy eating food that I grow and know what I put into it and how it was treated, who handled it, etc etc.

 

[RichardS]

I've seen some pretty fat pigs. Is there any difference is flavor between a lean pig and a fat one?

 

[chadk]

It is more related to what they were raised (feed wise) on - especially the last month or so.

The huge pigs tend to be breeder pigs. They get huge (500-800lbs) and are not great for meat. They are often referred to as 'sausage pigs' because that is the best way to utilize the meat of an older animal.

For raising pigs as we are doing, there is a point where the input (feed) to weight gain drops off. This is in that 200-300lb range. This tends to be the optimal time for butchering for small scale 'farmers' like me. Now the farm I got mine from sell small weiner pigs like mine to be used for many things. They may be sold to folks like me wanting to raise our own meat. And others buy them for summer bbq season - many cultures roast small whole pigs as part of certain parties, festivals, etc (wiener pigs and up to 100lbers). The 200 on up sized pigs are popular around the holidays for their large roast ham cuts.

My pigs will be raised fairly lean, and with only a little commercial feed provided. They will mostly eat pasture (we have lots of grass and weeds they are welcome too), extras from my garden, and extras from my family and friends who have volunteerd to bring over their extra apples, pears, plumbs, veggies, etc that they often have to toss out or throw in the compost bin.

Now we won't feed them anything rotten and moldy, just stuff that may be beyond our personal high standard of quality (bruised, over-ripe, etc).

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

Cute piggies!

 

[Tom]

People think sulcatas are destructive. Wait til you show 'em what those piggies can do!

I admire what you are doing and commend you for it. You have some lucky kids there to get such a well rounded education.

 

[Candy]

Educate the kids?....Oh it's going to educate them alright!

 

[terryo]

Thank you God for letting me be a city gal. To each his own........I guess it would be a boring world if we were all the same...thought the same...etc. To me this is a horror. I can't begin to imagine naming something, playing with it, watching it grow from a baby, and then eating it. No one has to answer this post, as it's not a debate. I'm just sitting here thinking how happy I am to NOT live on a farm where this is such a natural thing to some.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Yeah, I've always been ambivalent about that too. I've wondered about the ranch kids who bring their prized steers/calves to the Stock Show here in Denver, where the animals are bid on and then sold--usually to a restaurant chain--and end up as delicious steak dinner for their customers! I wonder if they feel any pangs of emotion and regret when these animals they raised from babies are then led away to slaughter.

Like Terry, I completely understand the necessity...I'm just not sure I'd want to be friends with my future dinner.

 

[chadk]

Sometimes the real world is difficult. Learning to navigate reality is a life lesson clearly not everyone has mastered.

When you raise food, you can appreciate the cuteness of the young while understanding it is being raised for a specific purpose. You don't try to bond with as you would your lap dog or kitty cat. It is a working relationship.

I love watching fish and salmon in the wild doing their thing. It amazes me and I could watch it for hours and appreciate it. But I also realize the food value and have no problem harvesting a few for dinner now and then. Same for deer and elk. Beautiful animals I love to just sit and watch (as I'm lucky to be able to do where I live here in Washington). Yet I also have no issue eating deer or elk meat now and then.

Being aware and in touch with where your food comes from is very important. The alternative takes you and society down the fast food mass production road where you don't ask questions and just eat what they feed you (and you really don't want to know!).

 

[RV's mom]

In a heartbeat I would be a country girl. If I didn't raise the vegetable, fruit, eggs, meat animal myself, I'd have trusted neighbors that I would purchase from. As it is, I do go to the organic pork store, and try to buy as much from the farmer themselves. Farm market. It is difficult in a large urban area, but we manage. I do not like the thought of excess hormones, excess pesticides, forced growth of animals. The animals are not healthy, not happy in feedlots, and they don't have any taste. High fives to you, Chad. I'm envious.

teri

 

[terryo]

I'm sure I posted this before, but....when I was a kid my Aunt had a working ranch in Texas, and sometimes my sister and I would go spend the summer there. In the middle of the Summer, she would send a cow, calf, lamb, and a sow off to the slaughter house. Two weeks later a big truck would come to deliver her all this meat packaged to be put in her two big freezers in the big barn...(there was a little barn too). We would eat this for the rest of the summer and when it was time to go home she would send us home with two big insulated cases filled with meat. My parents loved this as we were kind of poor, and meat was a treat for us. I can honestly tell you that my sister and I hated the taste of this meat. It had a very strong, gamy taste to us. She also did her own canning of vegetables, from her garden, and fruit from the fruit trees. She made her own butter and ice cream. She worked from sun up to sun down. She milked the cows at the crack of dawn. If company came and she didn't want to part with her precious meat, she would go out and get a chicken and kill that. I couldn't wait to go home. Not for me! So I'm not a stranger to this kind of living. That's why I say thank God I'm a city gal. (Maybe this is what turned me off to eating meat.)

 

[RV's mom]

We grew up canning in the summer. it was hard work, but it was good, tasted 'real'. We lived in suburban Detroit, so our veggies and fruits came from the farmers market. My grandfather ran a meat shop, so we were accustom to eating the cuts other 'regular' folks didn't eat... I've family that hunted, and I've had no quarrel with how the meat tasted. More I think that its a matter of how things are cooked, and our perception of what we're eating. I'm not criticizing you Terryo with regards to what we consume or our outlooks on food items.. Just I personally would like to be further removed from the city..

 

[Candy]

That's all fine for you Chad, but don't expect the same from your children. My father had the same attitude and all of us kids turned out feeling different than he did about that. I would not ever introduce my children to something and then expect them to understand when it is sent to be killed for dinner. I think that is cruel not reality. I guess it's just your reality. I do understand that you want to have organic food though and am not against that. I know as a child I would have nightmares if my father would have done that to me.

 

[terryo]

Oh Candy...you just brought back a very vivid memory. This same Aunt sent us a little baby turkey to "fatten up over the summer" and to eat at Thanksgiving. My sister and I, living in the city thought this was the cutest thing. My Dad told us not to get attached, as he wasn't a pet, but Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, my Dad got attached along with us, so he couldn't do the job. My Uncle came over to do it. My Dad took us for ice cream and when we came home our turkey friend was getting plucked by my Aunt and my Mom. We hated my Uncle after that and every time we looked at him, we thought of our little turkey, even though we were told that he was meant for the pot. So Chad........I hope your children do better than my sister and I did.