Feeder Pigs

[sadieml]

Trip is incredible with his sheep. No food aggression at all? Wow! Very nice.

I haven't checked-out this thread since Dec, so I came back to it today and caught up. Man those pigs looked great, but not as great as all that lovely PORK. That lovely, lean bacon makes my mouth water and I am checking out a spot in my woods that would be perfect for a pig or 2. Now if I can convince DH I haven't completely lost my mind, then come the fall, I think I'll grow out a couple of pigs. I think I like the idea of doing it over the winter like @heckerdy did, to decrease the smell and flies. I do love pork, so we may need 2 just for us if we want it to last most of a year. We intend to raise Cornish X for meat starting this summer, so that'll make 2 of our meats home-grown. We still have some venison, actually about 3/4 of the doe we butchered last fall, still 50lbs or better in the freezer. I think I'll call around for butchers for the pigs before we get any. I know a guy who raises pigs in a co-op with 2 or 3 others, so I'll ask them about price, 'cause I don't know if I want to butcher pigs. That's hard work. We did that deer ourselves, and it took 8 or 10 hours. Maybe with a good book like @Devonviolet suggested, my son and I could manage, we did that doe with just a website and a few pics. We'll see. It's a long way off anyway.

Anyway, back to this thread, @Baymule and @Devonviolet - you are inspiring! This thread is gonna lead to the happy, yummy end of many a pig's life, I have no doubt! Thanks for the walk-through.

 

[Baymule]

@sadieml I am planting pumpkins and winter squash for this coming fall's pigs. I got some pumpkins from my DD, she bought them before Halloween, kept them for Thanksgiving, then I got them. I left one until February just to see if it would still be good. I think it was probably fermenting a little, don't think it would have made a pie for human consumption, but the pigs tore into it! If you are going to get a couple of pigs, you might want to plant some treats for them.

 

[Devonviolet]

We have had several meals, of our pork, and they have all been yummy.

Tonight however, it was divine! So I had to tell y'all about it.

We thawed out a rack of Spare Ribs, marinated them in a Vinegar Brine Marinade & grilled them. I didn't get any photos, but I wrote down my recipe, which I adapted from one I found online.
÷÷÷÷÷÷÷
Vinegar Brined Spare Ribs
Ingredients:
1 cup apple cider vinegar
4 cups filtered water
2 Tablespoons Himalayan salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp No Salt All Purpose Seasoning
2 Bay Leaves

Directions:
Mix above ingredients
Pour in a zip-lock bag with Ribs
Squeeze air out of bag & zip closed
Marinade 4-6 hours or over night
Remove ribs from marinade

To Grill:
Pre-heat grill on high
Turn flame to lowest setting
Grill over low flame until puddles of liquid, on top of the ribs, is bubbling

Turn & grill on other side for no more than 5 minutes

We prefer ribs without sauce.
Brush ribs with favorite sauce.
÷÷÷÷÷÷÷
We liked the ribs so well, we saved the marinade & got a package of "Country Style Ribs" out of the freezer. The ribs are thawing in the marinade, in the refrigerator. So we can grill them tomorrow, YUM!

 

[Latestarter]

Oh mannnnn

 

[Ferguson K]

That sounds good!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds delish!

 

[Mike CHS]

I have brined poultry for years but for some reaon never thought about doing it with pork. I'll have to give your recipe a try.

 

[Mini Horses]

Ribs sound good. My little piggies going to camp soon

Baymule....you can strip some of the leaves from tops & feed, plant will still grow and regen leaves. More feedings. I got a lot of turnips given me for pulling this winter & used them, only pulling as I needed. Chickens loved them, too. Get a machete and quickly slice them a couple whacks as they eat them better. Quick to do. Those Mangels get huge, I'm told and I have some seeds for just same thing to plant. Goats will eat the pumpkins & such, as well.

Fruit -- my pigs have a real sweet tooth! It's like a suction hose, speed and sound And they do like fermented anything and also, sour milk.

 

[Baymule]

We picked up our pig today! Live weight was 204 pounds, hanging weight was 159 pounds. We had the bacon and hams smoked. They cut the hams in half, but they are still big!

We thawed out a package of bacon and had breakfast for supper. My husband said it is the best bacon he ever had. I asked him if he still thought his wife was crazy for wanting to raise pigs!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's some mighty good looking pork you got there!