Pastured pork

This is the view the pigs have from their new home.

Aaron walks out to check on them every day or rides the 4-wheeler, if he’s in a hurry. You can bet they hear him coming and are waiting to be fed or have their backs scratched.

The big red building in the center is the barn; it’s an old bank barn, not really conducive to what we do now but it’s sturdy and in good condition so we make it work.

The smaller building is a toolshed. The sheep live in the white canvas building that looks like a carport; it’s on big metal “skis” to make it easy to move. The little red building is a garden shed. The chicken tractors are out of sight of this picture, just off to the left.

We use the pond to water livestock. There are water lines running all over the pastures that are gravity fed. We occasionally have geese or ducks on it but the dogs keep them from staying too long.

That’s the life the pigs are living at our farm. Pastured pork really does work.

More in the life of pastured pigs

The pigs were so happy to get moved outside. They had been in the barn; they were so small when we got them, they had to have a heat lamp hung over them in a box made of boards so they could stay warm enough.

The spotted pigs are Berkshire/Duroc crossbreds. Berkshires are an old breed, prized for their flavor.

Aaron loaded them on the trailer on a sunny, dry day and drove the trailer out to the back of the pasture where he had set up these paddocks to keep pigs. When he let them out, they ran, rolled in the grass and had a great time.

The life of a pastured pig, continued

The pig waterer is at the far end of the paddock the pigs are in, all the way in the corner. Pigs don’t sweat and will get too hot very easily and can’t be without water so it’s really important to remember to check their water every day.

The paddocks are in a row so it’s easy to move them to a clean pasture; just take down the fence and let them go through. You can see in this picture what a nice, big area they have outside.

In the foreground you can also see the place where the pigs have done what they do best; root up a place to lay in the dirt. This is how they keep cool. When warmer weather comes I’ll try to get a picture of them getting squirted with the hose. They love it!

The life of a pastured pig

Here’s where the pigs live. They have a little hut that has two doors; when they get excited they run around it or in one door and out the other. Really fast. They seem to think it’s pretty fun.

Their feeder is at the same end of their pasture. There are four sections with lids on them which the pigs have to lift up with their snouts in order to get to the feed. Pigs are really smart and have no trouble figuring this out immediately.

The two lines are electric fence run very low. It keeps the pigs in and predators out. The pigs learn very quickly about the fence and don’t forget either! Like I said, they’re smart.

What a Week!

This week we had our first lambs. Last week we lost a ewe and this week the first ewe's lamb didn't survive. Not a very auspicious start but things turned around somewhat.

Later the first afternoon we had 2 more ewes with lambs; Aaron found 3 mothers and 5 lambs clustered together in the pasture. One was the first ewe who lost her baby. We decided to try to get her to adopt one of the triplets since one was so much smaller and it often happens that one doesn't do well. She was pretty accommodating; we milked her and gave the lamb a bottle several times for the first few days and she seems to have decided that's okay with her.

More confusion the next day. Three ewes, four lambs. We made an executive decision on that one and everyone seems to have accepted that as well.

Our next dilemma was caused by baby donkey. In her curiosity about the lambs, she was too rough and hurt the legs on a set of twins. Aaron and I were both yelling at her and trying to get to them, but she was determined. We put the baby donkey in a different pasture from the ewes (and her mother). Now the donkeys spend all their time hanging together so we're not very confident they're going to do their job.

And on the fourth day, we had a set of quadruplets--only 3 survived--and immediately afterwards another ewe had an enormous lamb born dead. Aaron got one of the surviving triplets right over to the new mother and she nursed it right away.

Today, one more single and a set of twins. We're one-third of the way done. Hopefully things will go better with the next round!

The twins at the top were tucked down in a little depression out of the wind this afternoon and were pretty sleepy. The little lamb by itself is a singleton, so is a bit bigger.

Totals so far: 21 lambs from 13 ewes.