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Sustainable Meat for Small Farms

1/29/2016

2 Comments

 
Unless you are vegan or vegetarian, you are definitely a meat eater. I am, but have not always been. For a while I practiced being a vegetarian, more to learn about how to feed myself properly without meat than from any conviction about eating meat. I do not like the way most animals are treated, though, and it always bothered me to think about their lives. Chicken, for example, is slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks of age, when on the farm, a chick that age is still a tiny little thing snuggling under its mamma's wings. 

But on the farm, I do not need to eat the quantities of meat that most people do. I live alone and other than the occasional guest, most of the time I cook for myself. I do like a good chicken soup and a great stew or curry is heart warming on a cold winter's night. At first I raised big Berkshire hogs. One hog, slaughtered at 250 pounds is around 8 months of age. The sow had 11 and 13 piglets though, so unless some of them were sold, I was not raising one hog. It was hard to sell the pigs for a good price too. That is the thing about small farms that I do not understand. People will go to the store and buy pork for $5 a pound, but they won't pay $2 a pound for pig from a farmer. So, I quit raising the big pigs. 

Now I have little pigs, pot belly pigs. They are not so tiny and not large, have very easy going dispositions and are friendly, but the best part, is they do not eat much compared to the big pigs. A litter of piglets, usually 6-9, are raised by the mother for the first month to six weeks and then they begin to eat what the parents do, with no particular special consideration. At four months old, they have reached approximately 40 pounds. Six piglets will give a hanging weight of approximately 40 pounds each, so in total 240 pounds of pork, but it is piglet, not grown hog and it is much better tasting, more tender and delicious. The meat is red in colour as opposed to pink. The pigs eat grain, vegetable scraps and hay or grass depending on the season. They like a bit of salt and minerals too, but again, not the same amount is needed as for the big pigs. 

Pigs are delightful to raise, quite non intrusive if they have enough of what they want where they are, and if they are pastured, they fertilize as they turn the soil. They are an excellent choice for an acreage owner as well as a farmer with lots of land. I would recommend that folks stop looking at the pot belly pigs as pets and give them a chance as livestock. That is what they were bred for and that is where they shine. Although I do not like to raise animals for meat and it makes me cry every butcher day, I do enjoy knowing where my meat comes from and that the animals were loved and had good lives. And I do love barbecue pork or ribs or roast pork too. There are some ribs simmering away for tomorrow.Would you care to try some with me? 
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2 Comments
Laura Larsson link
1/31/2016 06:19:28 pm

You might also want to try American Guinea Hogs. They're the most personable pigs I've ever raised, really friendly - and their meat is wonderful.

I used to raise Potbelly pigs but found that compared to the AGHs, well they're not very friendly although they taste pretty good, too. I castrate the males for my customers but not for boars destined for our table. I do not detect any boar taint.

The initial investment isn't too bad. Around here (Chehalis, WA), females sell for about $100.00 and the males for $50 - $75. Their hanging weight varies given the age of the beast.

I crossed my PB sow with my AGH boar and liked the results but not as much as straight AGH pork.

I belong to the American Guinea Hog Facebook page and the folks there are quite helpful if you have questions you need answered.

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Fluffy link
1/31/2016 08:02:02 pm

Hi Laura, thanks for writing. My first choice of pigs was Kune Kune and the second, Mangalista, neither of which were even in Canada when I started. Now Kune Kune pigs are available but the price is 1000 dollars. So that one was out. Importing Mangalistas was even higher priced, so that was out also. I tried Berkshires, which I loved, but it is hard to sell market pigs around here at market prices. For some reason people believe if it is from a farmer, it should be cheap. So, I just have the little pots for my own use currently. But last week the friend who helped me butcher tried the pork and wants to raise his own and yesterday, the man who rented my pasture for the summer, also wants to try them. There are some AGHs in the interior of BC, but they are still pricey here. I was also interested in mule footed hogs, but could not find them. If you know of some American Guinea hogs available in my area, I would be very interested. Thanks.

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