# Got our Yorshire piglets today!



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 26, 2012)

The newest addition of 4 Yorshire piglets have made their way to the farm.  2 male and 2 female.  Within a 1/2 hour they had already begun to learn the electric fence and had rooted up to their eyeballs.  Praying that they stay where they are suppossed to and are still there when I get home from work.  

As these are our first pigs.  Is there anything that you can give them to keep them entertained or is rooting, eating and sleeping enough for them?


----------



## Royd Wood (Apr 26, 2012)

Yes more food lol
Nearly all will root and even more so in small areas. Our Hamps (gone now) were really bad - whats your set up there 

Welcome to pig paradise and hope it all works out for you


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 26, 2012)

Currently, their pen is 12x24 hog panels with electric fence inside about 4-5 inches off the ground about 2 inches away from the panels.  We have a temporary little hut for them to take shelter in.  But plan to make a larger one.  Unfortunately, the To-Do list is Too-Long and we ran out of time before we got them.  If need be, we can add another 12 ft panel on each end to make it 24x24 without too much trouble.  For that matter, we can add alot of panels without too much trouble, just more $$.   

I hope it works too!  Thanks for the encouragement.  It sure is looking, sounding and smelling more like a farm every day!


----------



## Godsgrl (Apr 26, 2012)

I've seen people give pigs bowling balls (or was it basketballs? Can't remember) to push around the pen. We'd love some pictures, by the way.


----------



## drdoolittle (Apr 26, 2012)

I put a "Jolly" ball in with my pigs.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 27, 2012)

Here are the little fellas.  They are so homely, they are cute.  One is noticably smaller than the others.  He walks around squeeking.  I assume he is younger then the rest?  He is a bit skittish.  Two of them let us scratch them and seemed pretty friendly.  And the last one, is a bit agressive.  He has a scar on his face.  I don't know if he got the scrape because he is agressive or if he is agressive because he got the scrape.  They came up in a truck load of about 200 from PA so I am sure it was a rough ride.  Time will tell.

All in all, they seem to be doing very well.  They made a cute little nest out of hay last night and even though it poured out.  All were cozy and dry this morning all piled up in the nest.  

And to make a correction;  their pen is 16 x 32.  My bad!


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 27, 2012)

If they look like they are getting bored I will entertain the thought of a ball certainly.  What ever works to keep them happy!


----------



## Erins Little Farm (Apr 27, 2012)

They look good


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 27, 2012)

Erin,

Thank you for that!  I see that you have Yorkshire show hogs.  Any advice or comments you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!  This is a whole new world for us.  

P.S. Erin;  they have only little stubs for tails.  Have they been docked or is that how the Yorkshire grows?  Thanks!


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Apr 27, 2012)

Yay, pigs!  They're cute!  Their tails have been docked.


----------



## Erins Little Farm (Apr 27, 2012)

Stubbornhillfarm said:
			
		

> Erin,
> 
> Thank you for that!  I see that you have Yorkshire show hogs.  Any advice or comments you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!  This is a whole new world for us.
> 
> P.S. Erin;  they have only little stubs for tails.  Have they been docked or is that how the Yorkshire grows?  Thanks!


Yes I have three yorkshire hogs. I like the breed a lot. Mine have stubs too, they have been docked. They look nice


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 27, 2012)

aggieterpkatie and erin,  

why do they dock the tails? Just curious...


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Apr 27, 2012)

Stubbornhillfarm said:
			
		

> aggieterpkatie and erin,
> 
> why do they dock the tails? Just curious...


When pigs are raised in close quarters, they often chew on other pigs' tails. They dock the tails so they aren't able to bite them.  Boredom plus fighting I guess.  That's also why they clip needle teeth, because they can scratch each other up pretty good.  And they notch ears instead of tagging so there's not something to get ripped out.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 27, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Stubbornhillfarm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ah I see...kind of sad, but practical I suppose.  These pigs have numbers etc on their ears.  I can't tell if they are tatoo'd or permanant marker of some sort.  Thanks for the education!


----------



## Royd Wood (Apr 27, 2012)

Those guys will be nice big pigs before you know it - they look great
They have tattoos


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 27, 2012)

Royd Wood said:
			
		

> Those guys will be nice big pigs before you know it - they look great
> They have tattoos


Thanks Royd!  And thanks for the confirmation on the tattoos, I really wasn't sure.  I didn't want to poke and prod them too much last night.  They could have at least done some cool design or something instead of just numbers.    Just kidding.


----------



## Royd Wood (Apr 27, 2012)

Stubbornhillfarm said:
			
		

> Royd Wood said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How about a coat of arms with mum & dad in a scroll


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 30, 2012)

Royd Wood said:
			
		

> Stubbornhillfarm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Exactly!    Where were we when those tattoos were being done?  We could have given some great suggestions.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 30, 2012)

One piglet yesterday all of a sudden started walking, but then would drop down and drag his back half and then just plop down and eat some veggies.  He'd get back up, walk fine and then do the same thing.  He acted like he was lame, but then would get up and walk fine.  We checked in on them after and they were all racing around just fine.  

Has any one seen actions like this?  Is this normal behaviour or something that we need to be keeping an eye on?  

Thanks for all your expert help!


----------



## Hillsvale (Apr 30, 2012)

That is not normal behaviour, is it eliminating OK... eating, making odd noises, showing any other signs of being off. Any signs of a wound or scratch?


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 30, 2012)

Hillsvale said:
			
		

> That is not normal behaviour, is it eliminating OK... eating, making odd noises, showing any other signs of being off. Any signs of a wound or scratch?


Yes, it is eliminating.  Running around and doing all of the same things that all of the other pigs are doing.  Chasing each other, making pig noises, eating.  I am wondering if they were rough housing and it got stepped on or something strange.  After we saw it doing that, it was running around like normal.  They were still sleeping when we left this morning.  But we will check when we get home of course.   

Any and all ideas and suggestions are welcome.  I will keep updating if there is anything new to tell.


----------



## Hillsvale (Apr 30, 2012)

well they aren't the most delicate creatures in the world... but you will notice immediately is anything is wrong, nothing more pathetic than a sick pig... worse than a man!


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Apr 30, 2012)

Hillsvale said:
			
		

> well they aren't the most delicate creatures in the world... but you will notice immediately is anything is wrong, nothing more pathetic than a sick pig... worse than a man!


Would it be appropriate to say, "no comment"?


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (May 1, 2012)

Update:  We have determined that the little piglets got a sunburn and that is why they were doing this.  They do have shade that they can get to in addition to thier little pig hut.  However, they obviously spent too much time in the sun.  We made some mud and put it on their backs and ears last night.  Of course it rainned over night and now they are cleanned off, but it is still rainning so today won't be a sunburn day.  However, I guess tomorrow morning we will be out there at the pig spa making mud baths for them.


----------



## Hillsvale (May 1, 2012)

awww so the piggy was a bit dehydrated then... send them here my "baby" pen has a foot of water in it! (By babies I mean the age where some are set to go to freezer camp this week)


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (May 1, 2012)

Hillsvale said:
			
		

> awww so the piggy was a bit dehydrated then... send them here my "baby" pen has a foot of water in it! (By babies I mean the age where some are set to go to freezer camp this week)


Hillsvale,  let me first say that I just looked at your website.  Very nice!  I have only been to Nova Scotia once on the Scotia Prince out of Portland Maine.  So I certainly did not see much at all.  Some day, I will have a more extensive visit and see the country for real!  

I love your black and gray/tan pig.  Very interesting and appealing coloring to me.  

I guess we are going to have to do something so that these little fellas can make some mud.  We live on a hill.  Rocky soil, with great drainage.  No standing water here.  We have them at the edge of a wooded area that we are extending the cow pasture around. (hard to describe, I will try and take some pics).  The wooded ground is most likely typical to what you would have there.  Hummousy material on top with leaves etc, but then you get into some loam and a lot of rocks.  

I wonder if we should get a kiddy pool and actually make some sort of a mud pit for them?  It is still on the cool side here.  50-60 degrees F during the day and still getting down to the mid 30's at night.  They had 1/2 inch of ice on their water bucket the other morning.  I don't want to make a mud pit and then have them get in it and be too cold.  

Any thoughts?  I appreciate your comments as it appears that you know what you are doing!


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (May 3, 2012)

They are quite obviously over their sunburn after a couple of days of rain.  Because today...they learned how to root!  And boy did they do a good job.   Their little snouts were all black.


----------



## Cornish Heritage (May 3, 2012)

LOL! What a cute pic 

Liz


----------



## drdoolittle (May 7, 2012)

That really is a cute picture!  I love the piglet on the right-----he looks like he's about to say something.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (May 7, 2012)

Thanks all!  They are cute and curious.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jun 11, 2012)

Just an updated photo to see how the pigs are growing.  They are pretty awesome if I do say so myself!


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Jun 11, 2012)

Looking good!  I can't get over how WHITE they are!


----------



## Royd Wood (Jun 11, 2012)

They look fantastic and happy. what weight are you hoping to reach for pork - I think you should easly get those guys to 300lb ????
Our choice weight used to be 250 but we find it only takes a short time longer to reach above 300
Can't believe that white pigs can stay so clean, our LBs and Tams spend dreamy summer days in the wallows


----------



## Cornish Heritage (Jun 11, 2012)

> Can't believe that white pigs can stay so clean


LOL! They do look really clean. Did you give them a shower before taking their pic?!

Liz


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jun 12, 2012)

No pig showers here!  No,  they really just do their thing.  Most days, their snout is dirty up to their eyeballs and that is about it as far as dirt goes.  I must have just hit them a with the camera at a good moment.  

Royd, we were going to try and get them to 225-250lbs. But I will certainly take into consideration what you say about the time needed for the extra 50#.  We are finding that we were most likely given some inaccurate information and as "newbies" we just accepted what we were told.  We were told that these pigs would be 225-250 pounds after we had them for 12 weeks.  It will be 6 weeks that we have had them on Thursday.  Unless they kick it into high gear, I am guessing that it is going to take longer than 6 more weeks to hit the 250 mark.  Again, it's the first time with pigs, so maybe they do really start packing on the weight.  Ya'll would know that better than I.   

It really doesn't matter to us.  We will keep them until they reach the weight we desire, the weeks don't really matter.  The only thing is, we are keeping one for someone else and told them that they would be ready in 12 weeks and they paid us for 12 weeks worth of grain.  Oh, well...live and learn.  That's what we do best around here!!    

Thanks all for the encouragement of how they are looking!  I love it when we give them veggie scraps and they wag their little tail stub.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jun 21, 2012)

Oh I wish I had a camera for you all when I got home last night.  Our clean white pigs were dark gray all over!  Our first and I am sure one of our very few 100 degree days, with today and tomorrow expected to be the same has apparently caused them to discover the fullness of the joy of mud.  Ya'll would have been proud of them!


----------



## Royd Wood (Jun 21, 2012)

we should have a muddy pig comp - its 100 here too so my pigs look like hippo's in the wallow


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jun 22, 2012)

Royd, you might be on to something!  That would be a fun contest!


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jul 18, 2012)

Just wanted to update with some picutres taken last night.  Not sure who stole my cute little white piglets and replaced them with these big muddy porkers.  But in a few weeks, I'll thank them!


----------



## Royd Wood (Jul 18, 2012)

Hillsvale said:
			
		

> well they aren't the most delicate creatures in the world... but you will notice immediately is anything is wrong, nothing more pathetic than a sick pig... worse than a man!


 Hillsvale - I missed this post but just had to reply - You obviously have your own man to know this and if I have an ache of any kind the whole household knows about it 

Those porkers are growing very well stubb and you have started the muddy pig comp so I will get my camara down to the woods


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jul 18, 2012)

Royd Wood said:
			
		

> Hillsvale said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


*
*


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Jul 18, 2012)

They're getting big!


----------



## Cornish Heritage (Jul 18, 2012)

LOL! Now they look like REAL pigs  Happy ones, covered in mud. They have really grown.

Liz


----------



## drdoolittle (Jul 19, 2012)

Love the close-upf the muddy nose.  They ARE big-----but still adorable!  I'll have to get some muddy pics of my chunky little PBP piglets.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Jul 19, 2012)

Thanks all for the compliments on their size!  Being that we are newbies, I am always wondering if they are growing as they should grow.  They look good to me though.  And yes,  they are quite happy!  The farmer made them a new pig shack a couple of weeks ago that is more suitable for their new size.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Aug 27, 2012)

We loaded up one of our pigs to go to the butcher on Saturday.  While waiting in line, the farmer noticed that our pig was the biggest of all that were there being dropped off.  When it was his turn to unload, the butcher said, "nice looking pig".  I will take that as a compliment.   And the farmer asked him how much he thought it weighed.  He guessed between 250 lbs and 260lbs.  

We are super happy with that.  They were solid, not fat.  They ate well and were treated well.  This coming weekend, we will be butchering the remainning 3 pigs at our house.  2 are about the same size as the one that went to the butchers, 1 is about 20-30 pounds (if I had to guess) smaller.  We'll see.

Can't wait to have some bacon!


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Aug 27, 2012)

You are going to have a LOT of bacon!  And there's nothing wrong with that!   Good job raising them, and can't wait to hear how the butchering goes at your house!  Are you selling the one that was taken to the butcher?


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Aug 27, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> You are going to have a LOT of bacon!  And there's nothing wrong with that!   Good job raising them, and can't wait to hear how the butchering goes at your house!  Are you selling the one that was taken to the butcher?


Yep...that one, my boss paid for and we raised it.  I didn't feel comfortable butchering his.  So we told him we would take it to the butcher for him.  We also raised one for a guy that the farmer (my hubby) works with.  He is going to help us butcher, so we feel comfortable in doing that for him.  We raised the extras for these two folks just so they could experience what "farm raised" food actually taste like.  We are hoping that this will expand their interest a little and lets face it, it is just healthier so I want them to enjoy good food.  We will keep the remainning two and share with family and friends.


----------



## Hillsvale (Aug 27, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> You are going to have a LOT of bacon!  And there's nothing wrong with that!   Good job raising them, and can't wait to hear how the butchering goes at your house!  Are you selling the one that was taken to the butcher?


Sadly on the heritage pigs anyway you don't get a lot of bacon... its very sad! Ours live weight at about 250 provide us with about 10-12 pounds of bacon, that can never be enough. We also do what we call english rachers which encompasses the belly and the loin so we loose out on a loin as well. But yummy.

Good luck on your home butcher, I would be keen to watch that but we sell lots of ours and done have the set up to butcher anyway.

Take pictures or better yet a video...?


----------



## Cornish Heritage (Aug 27, 2012)

> english rachers which encompasses the belly and the loin so we loose out on a loin as well. But yummy.


Somebody talking my language  English bacon rashers are the best! For those of you who don't know what we are talking about, in England what the folks in the USA call bacon, we call Streaky bacon. It is the cheapest of the cheap. Then you have Middle Bacon which is the streaky & loin (pork chop) combined. The top priced bacon is the Back Bacon which is created from the loin - pork chop area. That is why we never take our pigs to the processors - they have no clue how to make real bacon. We brine our own here & boy it is delicious. I have to admit bacon is probably what we run out of first but you just cannot beat a Bacon Butty (hot bacon win freshly buttered bread with ketchup smeared on it!)

How much bacon you get off a pig depends on the length of its back. A "bacon" pig is a LONG pig. Most USA commercial pigs today are stockier as all they want are big hams. I would disagree on heritage pigs not making enough bacon - some of our LB's are VERY long - alot of bacon on there 

Liz


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Aug 28, 2012)

Wait wait wait...you're saying your loin bacon is better than streaky bacon?    I'm skeptical!!     I'd love to try it though.

Ok, so wikipedia says back bacon is sold in the US as Canadian bacon...but is our "Canadian bacon" actually back bacon or just ham?


----------



## Hillsvale (Aug 28, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Wait wait wait...you're saying your loin bacon is better than streaky bacon?    I'm skeptical!!     I'd love to try it though.
> 
> Ok, so wikipedia says back bacon is sold in the US as Canadian bacon...but is our "Canadian bacon" actually back bacon or just ham?


In the US canadian bacon is back bacon, in canada back bacon is back bacon... in the UK our bacon is rashers....

SEE!

http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2010...s-and-how-to-make-proper-british-rashers.html

Cornish... repeat after me - "there is NEVER enough bacon"

I do one half of the pig with rashers and the other with the streaky bacon because we wouldn't want to waste the rashers on outsiders... we even had a friend that said the prefer the streaky bacon... WHAT!  We disowned them.


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Aug 28, 2012)

I can't imagine anything better than streaky bacon!


----------



## Hillsvale (Aug 28, 2012)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> I can't imagine anything better than streaky bacon!




shameful..


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Aug 28, 2012)

The boss just said he talked to the butcher.  The pig dressed out at 233.  I like it!  

Thanks for the intro to "other" bacons.  As we are butchering ourselves, perhaps we can investigate.  Of course as the farmer was a meat cutter, he may already know about it and I just don't know that he knows......hmmmmmm.


----------



## Cornish Heritage (Aug 28, 2012)

> Cornish... repeat after me - "there is NEVER enough bacon"


LOL! That's a great article - going to share that on my blog later. Talk about making me drool too! I had forgotten about eating bacon with the skin on when I was a kid. It was only later that it was offered skinless which was IMO much better & how we do it now. Of course the skinless was more expensive. 

As to the question about Canadian bacon, really that is NOT Back Bacon IMO as it is SO small & looks nothing like Back Bacon as you can see from the article. Also I think sometimes it is "formed" meat & not sliced. Give me real back bacon any day  

Got two big sows to butcher this week & yes the bacon will be brining 

BTW Back Bacon is easy to make, just have to debone it. A sharp knife & patience is a good thing. 

As to cooking it, we ALWAYS fried it when I was a kid but do tend to grill(broil) it now as we would need a mighty big frying pan to fry up 2lbs of bacon!

Liz


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Sep 4, 2012)

This Saturdays pig butchering went well.  It was an all day project for the 3 pigs.  Started at 7am roughly and ended at 6pm.  Took a break for lunch, but other then that, work, work, work.  

The two largest pigs were in the 280's and the smallest of the three in the 230's.  We were very happy with that.  







We made up the sausage last night and although I didn't have any.  Hubby said the maple was exceptional and the garlic was pretty delish too.  It' smelled good while it was cooking.  

We'll definately do it again next year! Thanks pigs, you had a great pig life and we will be thankful every time we have a nice meal of home grown pork.


----------



## Hillsvale (Sep 4, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > Cornish... repeat after me - "there is NEVER enough bacon"
> 
> 
> LOL! That's a great article - going to share that on my blog later. Talk about making me drool too! I had forgotten about eating bacon with the skin on when I was a kid. It was only later that it was offered skinless which was IMO much better & how we do it now. Of course the skinless was more expensive.
> ...


Liz, do you remember the bacon that came in a tin from Marks & Spensers (though I am sure others sold it)... tried to find it recently but couldn't find it!


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Sep 4, 2012)

Grea job, Stubbornhill!!!     Do you have more pics?


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Sep 4, 2012)

I have some of the pigs hanging, being washed off and being skinned, but they might be a bit grotesque (sp) for some.  

This one is safe though...






Actually, you have to look real hard to see any pork.


----------



## Cornish Heritage (Sep 7, 2012)

Great job! Hope you enjoy all that pork  We have to start cutting ours up tomorrow. We had to butcher another one last night but she can stay in the cooler for another week but the one from last week needs to get processed. Our freezers are full right now (no complaints) so going to try canning the sausage this time. Will season & cook it up first & of course it has to be pressure canned not put in a hot water bath. The bacon will brine for another 7 days by which time we should have room for it in the freezer. 



> Liz, do you remember the bacon that came in a tin from Marks & Spencers (though I am sure others sold it)... tried to find it recently but couldn't find it!


Sorry I don't! There were a few things we bought from there but money was pretty tight so their prices were a little high for us. I can remember their Jersey milk - Richard always used to love the cream on top. Of course we now have our own Jersey cream whenever we want it. Gosh how life has changed! They used to do a really good chestnut & sausage stuffing (dressing) too but y'know back then I didn't read food labels very much so probably wouldn't eat it now!

Liz


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (Sep 10, 2012)

Sounds like you have some full days ahead of you Liz.  And yes...full freezers are good!  We have all kinds of people asking us, "what are you  going to do with all that meat?"  (aka, "Can we have some?")  I simply reply, "eat it!"  Reminds me of the "Little Ren Hen" story.


----------



## Cornish Heritage (Sep 11, 2012)

> We have all kinds of people asking us, "what are you  going to do with all that meat?"  (aka, "Can we have some?")  I simply reply, "eat it!"  Reminds me of the "Little Ren Hen" story.  big_smile


LOL! Yes on Saturday we did two Farm Tours for folks picking up their pigs & then started making sausage!

Got to do it all again on Thursday but it will be good. 

Liz


----------



## Dean.Collins (Dec 29, 2012)

Stubbornhillfarm said:
			
		

> I have some of the pigs hanging, being washed off and being skinned, but they might be a bit grotesque (sp) for some.


These are the photos that you should be showing.  Anyone who is visiting here is able to accept that pigs are where bacon comes from.

I'd really like to see a series of processing shots so i can see how you butchered your pigs end to end.


----------



## PendergrassRanch (Dec 29, 2012)

BACON!


----------

