Baymule’s Pigs 2018 HEREFORDS!

[Carla D]

Bay is a "seek and ye shall find shopper"... She finds "deals" that many here dream about, and takes advantage of them. So if you can get feeder pigs at below market value and raise them up for the freezer, many/any of the breeds will do.

Thank you. Things are kind of run that way on our hobby farm as well. We try to not pay more than $40-50 for 30# feeders. We have yet to buy a big pig. We only have one pig we believe is purebred, he’s a Hereford. And my goats, I bought 9 for $45 which I thought was a great deal. Then I learned how much time goes into such young babies, how much it cost for formula, hay, and minimal equipment. It kinda feels like bait and switch. But, I’d do it all over again if I get that chance. I think that is pretty cool that we aren’t the only ones who prefers “cheap or good deals”. Thank you.

 

[Carla D]

I found 2 Hereford boars 4 1/2 months old on Craigslist. We went and got them today. I have long admired Hereford Hogs and am delighted to find these! As usual, I have no hog pen ready and won’t be putting them in the pasture we sprigged with Bermuda and Bahia. So I guess we better get busy! @misfitmorgan

We went to Como to pick them up and made new friends. The couple that sold them has registered Herefords, ours are 3/4 Hereford. What nice people! It was like meeting a sister I didn’t know I had! I called @Devonviolet on our way home. Would have loved to stop and visited with them, but in the pouring rain, we just wanted to get home.

We stopped at Tractor Supply and three people stopped to admire the pigs! They are beautiful.

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Baymule, you are an inspiration. You and your husband seem to have the energy of a twenty year old, the “fly by the seat of your pants”, and the courage to jump in and go for it when the opportunity or notion strikes. You mush be living a magnificent life. That’s great!

 

[Carla D]

Bay, what is soured corn? Is that a southern thing, your own recipe, or something that can be bought? I’ve never heard of it here in Wisconsin. But, then again, your iced tea is different than ours too. In the south it steeps, here it generally comes out of a can.

 

[Latestarter]

Then I learned how much time goes into such young babies, how much it cost for formula, hay, and minimal equipment.

If you are still feeding those goats formula, you should gradually switch them over to just plain old whole milk from the grocery store. Don't do it all at once, but mix until you can swap them over. Lots cheaper and easier and most on here have found it to be better in the long run.

Soured corn is basically fermenting it, but with milk vice just water. Take the corn and cover it with milk and let it stand for a few days. It will smell some awful to you, but to the pigs, it's nectar from the gods.

Iced tea out of a can? Really? What happened to tea bags in a container with boiling water, then chill? Someone had to "steep" it before it went in the can...

 

[Baymule]

Hi @Carla D thanks for all the nice comments!

We aren't animal collectors, don't run a rescue and don't have a specific breed of pigs that we favor, although I generally look for heritage breeds. I don't want to breed and raise hogs, but I sure will support the breeders who are keeping the genetics of heritage breeds alive. I like to raise feeder pigs, take the to slaughter and be done until next time. So far we have raised 3 Large Black/Berkshire pigs, 3 Red Wattle pigs, 2 Hereford hogs. Last fall, I found 2 grown hogs, a 2 year old sow and boar, $75 for both. So we went and got them. Fed them soured corn for 32 days, took to slaughter, sold half of one, gave half away and kept one. Just recently I found a 3 year old Red Wattle boar for $100. We bought him and I fed him out on soured corn for 38 days. Hanging weight was 506 pounds! We just had pork chops tonight and one will cover a dinner plate.

Soured corn. If you feed corn to a pig, a LOT of it goes right through them, you can see the corn kernels in their poop. To sour corn; pour a large coffee can of whole corn in a bucket, cover with water plus a little extra. Let it set a few days, it will absorb water and start to ferment, or sour. It will get a sour, stinky smell to it. The fermenting starts pre-digesting the corn, making it easier for the pigs to digest. To make it even better, pour milk, whey or buttermilk in the corn bucket. It also puts a good flavor in the meat, and in my case, buying old hogs that nobody wants, it cleans up the meat.

What kind of pigs have you raised?

Baymule, you are an inspiration. You and your husband seem to have the energy of a twenty year old, the “fly by the seat of your pants”, and the courage to jump in and go for it when the opportunity or notion strikes. You mush be living a magnificent life. That’s great!

I am 63, DH is 73. We are healthy, we work on our farm and eat well. He and I both are risk takers. We have had colossal failures and success as well. I have always been a jump in the deep end and learn to swim kind of person. LOL I took a risk on a 820 pound boar-the risk that I would have 506 pounds hanging weight of meat, with "boar taint". Boar taint is some stinky meat with an after taste. Hence the soured corn. But there is still the risk. I have processed old deer bucks that had "taint" and the meat stunk. I just spiced the heck out of it and made sausage-by the time I got through with it-it was good! LOL
Iced tea from a can is not iced tea! Boiling hot water over tea bags and allowed to steep. Then mix sugar in it, add water and make it by the half gallon to a gallon.

And yes, by the grace of God, we live a magnificent life.

 

[Carla D]

Hi @Carla D thanks for all the nice comments!

We aren't animal collectors, don't run a rescue and don't have a specific breed of pigs that we favor, although I generally look for heritage breeds. I don't want to breed and raise hogs, but I sure will support the breeders who are keeping the genetics of heritage breeds alive. I like to raise feeder pigs, take the to slaughter and be done until next time. So far we have raised 3 Large Black/Berkshire pigs, 3 Red Wattle pigs, 2 Hereford hogs. Last fall, I found 2 grown hogs, a 2 year old sow and boar, $75 for both. So we went and got them. Fed them soured corn for 32 days, took to slaughter, sold half of one, gave half away and kept one. Just recently I found a 3 year old Red Wattle boar for $100. We bought him and I fed him out on soured corn for 38 days. Hanging weight was 506 pounds! We just had pork chops tonight and one will cover a dinner plate.

Soured corn. If you feed corn to a pig, a LOT of it goes right through them, you can see the corn kernels in their poop. To sour corn; pour a large coffee can of whole corn in a bucket, cover with water plus a little extra. Let it set a few days, it will absorb water and start to ferment, or sour. It will get a sour, stinky smell to it. The fermenting starts pre-digesting the corn, making it easier for the pigs to digest. To make it even better, pour milk, whey or buttermilk in the corn bucket. It also puts a good flavor in the meat, and in my case, buying old hogs that nobody wants, it cleans up the meat.

What kind of pigs have you raised?



I am 63, DH is 73. We are healthy, we work on our farm and eat well. He and I both are risk takers. We have had colossal failures and success as well. I have always been a jump in the deep end and learn to swim kind of person. LOL I took a risk on a 820 pound boar-the risk that I would have 506 pounds hanging weight of meat, with "boar taint". Boar taint is some stinky meat with an after taste. Hence the soured corn. But there is still the risk. I have processed old deer bucks that had "taint" and the meat stunk. I just spiced the heck out of it and made sausage-by the time I got through with it-it was good! LOL
Iced tea from a can is not iced tea! Boiling hot water over tea bags and allowed to steep. Then mix sugar in it, add water and make it by the half gallon to a gallon.

And yes, by the grace of God, we live a magnificent life.

You really are a gem. I hope to be like you in 25-30 years. My husband and father in law have been raising mixed breeds. Our sows we were told are a mix of Hampshire and Berkshire. Our boar, the previous owners weren’t sure what he was. We think there could be Old Spot Glaucashire? We have one pure breed Hereford boar. He used to be a sweetheart. But now he’s starting to display dominance over his people. He did however take a butt whooping from the two girls in the pictures. He’s supposed to be their dancing partner. We’re not sure if that’s going to work out. The two girls and our 14 brand new babies are a mixture of our big boar and Hampshire/Berkshire mix. We kinda think we probably get the best of the involved breeds with our “mutt pigs”. None of them have ever been mean in any way to us except our Hereford. And a couple of our “mutt teenage boars” were pretty darn mean to a few of our other pigs. They tried to kill our “Gimpy”. He was born not quite right. He had a limp and was possibly partially blind. We think he was damaged during his birth. His momma had some pretty significant issues farrowing. Her babies were about 3x the size they should have been and needed vet assistance with many of her piglets. We kinda do the craigslist thing as well. We shop for cheap feeders, raise them. Sell or eat the boys and keep and breed the girls.

 

[Baymule]

Y'all sound like you have quite the pig farm! Would love to see pictures!

 

[Carla D]

Hi @Carla D thanks for all the nice comments!

We aren't animal collectors, don't run a rescue and don't have a specific breed of pigs that we favor, although I generally look for heritage breeds. I don't want to breed and raise hogs, but I sure will support the breeders who are keeping the genetics of heritage breeds alive. I like to raise feeder pigs, take the to slaughter and be done until next time. So far we have raised 3 Large Black/Berkshire pigs, 3 Red Wattle pigs, 2 Hereford hogs. Last fall, I found 2 grown hogs, a 2 year old sow and boar, $75 for both. So we went and got them. Fed them soured corn for 32 days, took to slaughter, sold half of one, gave half away and kept one. Just recently I found a 3 year old Red Wattle boar for $100. We bought him and I fed him out on soured corn for 38 days. Hanging weight was 506 pounds! We just had pork chops tonight and one will cover a dinner plate.

Soured corn. If you feed corn to a pig, a LOT of it goes right through them, you can see the corn kernels in their poop. To sour corn; pour a large coffee can of whole corn in a bucket, cover with water plus a little extra. Let it set a few days, it will absorb water and start to ferment, or sour. It will get a sour, stinky smell to it. The fermenting starts pre-digesting the corn, making it easier for the pigs to digest. To make it even better, pour milk, whey or buttermilk in the corn bucket. It also puts a good flavor in the meat, and in my case, buying old hogs that nobody wants, it cleans up the meat.

What kind of pigs have you raised?



I am 63, DH is 73. We are healthy, we work on our farm and eat well. He and I both are risk takers. We have had colossal failures and success as well. I have always been a jump in the deep end and learn to swim kind of person. LOL I took a risk on a 820 pound boar-the risk that I would have 506 pounds hanging weight of meat, with "boar taint". Boar taint is some stinky meat with an after taste. Hence the soured corn. But there is still the risk. I have processed old deer bucks that had "taint" and the meat stunk. I just spiced the heck out of it and made sausage-by the time I got through with it-it was good! LOL
Iced tea from a can is not iced tea! Boiling hot water over tea bags and allowed to steep. Then mix sugar in it, add water and make it by the half gallon to a gallon.

And yes, by the grace of God, we live a magnificent life.

Would that soured corn work with ground corn? We have been recently buying shucked corn and that’s what we started feeding our pigs. Yes, there was a lot of “corn” deposits in our pastures. They bought a grinder, I think that’s what’s it’s called. Now there is a whole lot less corn deposits. But, we may eventually end up eating our boar. From what I’ve read it’s the light or white colored boars that have a greater risk of boar taint. That he is. There’s a picture of him. He’s been the sweetest boar ever. But DH and FIL are a bit Leary of him. I’ve never been scared of him until one of our teenage boars turned mean. Spots too big to manage a bad boar day with.

 

[Baymule]

Try the soured corn, it is a bit of work, I keep 4-7 buckets going, depending on how many I am feeding. Yes you can sour the ground corn. It will be a bit messier, than whole kernel, but I guess that's why they call it "slop" LOL

Here is a link telling how to test for boar taint. I have never done it, have only had two big boars, neither of which I was eager to get close to. This site is packed with information on pigs. Show it to your husband and FIL.

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2012/03/23/have-your-pig-and-eat-it-too/

 

[Carla D]

Y'all sound like you have quite the pig farm! Would love to see pictures!

It really isn’t much. We have pigs on about 1.5 acres in about 4-5 pasture/corral areas. But, here’s some pictures of most of our pigs right now. I think I actually have pictures of all of our farm animals, except our baby goats. Sorry, I didn’t mean to take over your post. We also have 8 5-6 week old bucklings and two big boy cats which are our house cats.