Feeder Pigs

[Baymule]

@Devonviolet your meat looks so wonderful! I am so proud of ya'll! On the bone issue, I have fed bones to my dogs and suffered no ill effects. I am keeping the pigs feet for the dogs. On the Trichinosis issue, I have seen Trich in wild hog meat. I carefully cut up the meat for sausage into small pieces so I could toss out the encapsulated Trich worm just like @Latestarter described. Our meat more than likely does not have Trich, the ground was "clean" having not had pigs on it before and the chance of wandering wild hogs contaminating the ground are pretty slim to none. That 1,000 acre high wire fenced ranch behind us quite effectively cuts off wandering feral hogs.

@norseofcourse I would highly recommend that you raise a couple of hogs. I have raised a pig or two but it was many years ago, so this was almost a brand new experience for me. I will definitely do this again. I have in my seed bucket, packets of winter squash, pumpkins, and mangel beets. Wish me luck in growing a crop this year for the pigs this fall.

These pigs were fed a commercial pelleted feed. We got lucky and were given 500 pounds of crimped corn with wevils in it. That helped a lot on the feed bill. My husband and I raked up pecans from the city park and picked up acorns here on our place. Devonviolet's husband raked up acorns from their place and brought them to us. So on a daily basis, the pigs got a coffee can of either acorns or pecans for their treat. I hope to grow food for the pigs this fall, but realize that I will still have to feed a pelleted ration to balance out their nutrients.

Our pig, Sausage, weighed in at 204 pounds. Devonviolet's pig, Bacon weighed in at 224 pounds and our neighbor's pig, Pork Chop, weighed in at 289 pounds, all live weight. Bacon and Sausage were guilts and Pork Chop was a barrow. Pork Chop was small and scrawny while the two guilts were strapping big and healthy. Pork Chop stayed smaller, but then hit a growth spurt and got huge. Lesson learned; buy barrows from now on!

 

[Devonviolet]

OKAY! Y'all have won us over! We decided to give our hard working dogs pork bones.

However, we decided to freeze them for several days first. I think I read somewhere, that freezing them kills off most parasites. They won't know why, but I'm sure our sweeties will be happy y'all chimed in on the discussion.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Before we wrapped it, for the freezer, I thought I should take a photo, to show how nice & meaty our bacon is. We ended up with seven 1/2 pound packages.

View attachment 15925
View attachment 15926
I love bacon so much, but can't eat commercially cured bacon, since I am very sensitive to nitrates [they give me nasty migraines].

When Baymule said she would raise a pig for us, I wanted to name it Bacon, so we could make nitrate free bacon. Then, with all the work learning to butcher the meat, making sausage PLUS learning how to cure meat, it was too much. We decided to forego curing bacon this time & I was feeling bad, that we weren't making bacon. Now we can safely enjoy bacon for breakfast!

We call that "streak of fat, streak of lean".
We usually broil in the oven.

 

[Latestarter]

So @Devonviolet where are the pics of those beautiful dogs of yours all going wolf on some fresh pig bones? Also, have you had a chance to enjoy some real fresh bacon yet? How did your head fare? No migraine I hope?

 

[Devonviolet]

So @Devonviolet where are the pics of those beautiful dogs of yours all going wolf on some fresh pig bones? Also, have you had a chance to enjoy some real fresh bacon yet? How did your head fare? No migraine I hope?

We have the bones in the freezer for a few days, to kill any parasites, that we might not know about. Although we did not find any trich worms. So, now that I know what to look for, I'm not worried.

When we do give the bones to the dogs, I will take some photos. I know they will be ecstatic with them, because we have given them each two beef bones & they LOVE their bones!

We won't be curing our bacon, because of the sodium nitrates. We will use Wright's Liquid Smoke, like I did with the trial batch. All it is is smoke residue & water. And, no migraines. So, it is safe for me.

 

[Devonviolet]

So @Devonviolet where are the pics of those beautiful dogs of yours all going wolf on some fresh pig bones? Also, have you had a chance to enjoy some real fresh bacon yet? How did your head fare? No migraine I hope?

Well, we finally gave the dogs two pork bones.

They got all excited, because they could smell it. This is Deo trying to get his bone.

Here he is checking it out once he got off by himself with it.

Here is Violet with her bone. When she got it in her mouth, she started moving it around the pen, but didn't really chew on it. She was looking around, to make sure no one took it from her. But, she was fairly calm.

After Deo chewed on his for a few minutes he started acting food agressive with it. The goats were 10 feet away, but he was barking/growling & started running at them. I called him & told him "NO" & he turned around & went back to his bone. A few minutes later he seemed to be looking at nothing (nowhere near where the goats were) & started barking again.

He tends to be food aggressive (barking/growling in the direction of the goats) when eating, so we put both dogs in the kennel & keep the goats away from the kennel. Deo is never food aggressive with Violet. If he was, we would separate them at mealtime.

Deo started chasing the goats again, so we put him & his bone in the kennel, so he wouldn't feel like someone was going to take it away from him.

Violet was fine, so we left her out while we got the chickens to bed.

By the time we came back, we decided it would be a good idea to take both bones away until tomorrow.

Before letting Deo out, we tried to get Violet's bone. While she wasn't aggressive about it, she didn't want to drop it. We were concerned she might snap & accidentally bite one of us if we tried to take it out of her mouth. So, I gently put her on her back in submissive position, speaking gently, so she would know I wasn't upset with her. At first she wouldn't let go. But, then she dropped it. "Good Girl!"

Deo dropped his as DH was letting him out of the kennel. So, DH snatched it up & put it in the bucket we brought for the dirty bones.

We brought them in the house, cleaned them up & they are in the fridge for the night. The plan is to give it another try tomorrow morning.

We have given them two beef bones before, and never had this issue.

Did we handle it right? Should we have done it differently? Should we try another approach in the morning?

 

[Latestarter]

IMHO The only thing I would do a bit differently is make them lay down and remain CALM before giving them the bones. Until they are calm, no bone. I would also make sure they take it gently, don't allow them to snap at it to get it. When they get all excited is when the food aggression thing can flare. If they remain calm, hopefully it will keep that in check as well. VERY good what you did with Violet to let her know that the bone is ultimately yours to give or take away. Glad they liked them, and thanks for sharing!

 

[Baymule]

I think you did the right thing. Fresh bones are exciting to dogs and taking them away for the night was a wise move. Little by little, they will get the hang of it. Maybe you can get more bones for them from a local slaughter house? If they get bones often, maybe they won't be so aggressive.

I have to brag on Trip, I fed him this evening without putting the sheep in the night pen. They practically climbed in my lap to see what I had in that red coffee can. I dumped a can of dog food in Trip's pan, then dry kibble. The sheep stuck their nosed in everything while Trip waited patiently. I set his pan down and he started eating and the sheep still stuck their noses in his pan. He did...........nothing!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

More kudos to Trip!

 

[Devonviolet]

Thanks. We were planning to do some training, with the bones today. But, it was a busy day & they didn't get their bones. We are planning it after morning chores.

That's awesome, About how trip let the sheep be around his food! Trip did an amazing job!