Today marks the one week anniversary of the arrival of two new critters, representing a brand new species, to our farm. Last Thursday, we brought home two Duroc-Landrace mix feeder pigs – about eight weeks old. This is our first time raising hogs, and we are excited to finally be doing it. We’ve certainly talked about it for the last several years – we both really enjoy pastured pork and have happily supported the awesome efforts of fellow farmers who raise pigs on pasture. Like so many things around here, though, we were waiting – until we got a tractor. So many things have hinged on having that invaluable tool available to us. It’s thrilling to finally be able to raise our own pastured pork.
Right now the two gilts (the term for an unbred female hog) are in one of our portable hut houses and we are moving them around on a daily basis, so they get fresh pasture each day. They love to root around and it’s become clear why they have traditionally been used to clear and till land for gardens.
We will be installing some electrified fencing to enclose a pasture, including a large wooded portion, for these ladies – hopefully in the next few days. We’re looking forward to watching them enjoy a larger area to roam and ravage, because let’s face it, that’s exactly what they do. But by living on pasture, instead of inside a small restrictive area indoors, they are able to enjoy a more appropriate diet and as Joel Salatin famously says, in doing so, we “honor the pigness of the pig.”
In about six months, they will be ready for slaughter, and so it is entirely possible we will have raised our very own Christmas ham this year! There is such a feeling of satisfaction in that – the more foods we are able to raise on our own, the more fulfilled we feel. Being able to control the inputs to your livestock results in greater quality outputs, and we can’t wait to enjoy our very own “Serenity Acres Now” brand pork.
Will we raise pigs again? Will we raise heritage breeds next time? Will we get a breeding pair of our own? These questions remain to be answered. Let’s see how these two turn out first, and then, tune back in, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel, once these two are in our freezer.
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