rachels.haven's Journal

[Bruce]

Maybe they aspire to be larger

 

[Baymule]

They identify as llamas…..

 

[Ridgetop]

Case of the Magic Pigs:
We had a couple of weaned piglets that we were raising for meat. They would disappear from their pen (20'x30' completely wire pen with a nice pig house in the middle every morning after being fed. They would turn up just as miraculously in the evening for their dinner. We searched the pen and they were definitely NOT in it. Finally about a month later they were found outside the pig pen loose. We opened the door and let them back in. Next couple weeks same thing. I finally checked every side of the pen and found a loose strip of wire where they were getting out and back in. Then they grew large enough that they could not get back in, only out! I reattached the wire and they were permanently confined to their pen. Case solved! LOL

@rachels.haven: Definitely raise feeder pigs. We raised ours on basic pig food which we free fed in a "J" feeder from outside the pen. BUT with our dairy goat herd we had so much extra milk, we would put about 5 lbs. of rolled corn in a 5-gallon bucket and pour several gallons of milk over it. Soak it overnight and feed in the am, same in the am and feed at night. We would slop the hogs with that twice a day and they produced the juiciest most flavorful pork. We don't eat a lot of pork anymore because it is not as juicy. Hogs are being bred to be lean and being lean means no fat so not juicy. Hogs don't marble like cattle, their fat is put on in layers. USDA changed the fat rules for livestock years ago so the breeders starting breeding animals to be genetically leaner. Goodbye juicy tender meat, hello lean dry meat.

 

[SageHill]

USDA changed the fat rules for livestock years ago so the breeders starting breeding animals to be genetically leaner. Goodbye juicy tender meat, hello lean dry meat.

Do they still measure backfat? I remember doing that in school (eons ago An Sci class).

 

[rachels.haven]

If my fencing were gone I'm pretty sure my guinea hogs would "escape" to the largest puddle they would find and not come out. They're very complacent animals and they need to eat a shockingly small amount to be happy. They are what they are.
I suspect if we get our truck and trailer feeder hogs will be a thing. Pigs ARE easy meat.

 

[Mini Horses]

Much better pork, homegrown! Yes, better marbled and lovely fat to make lard. . My AGHs we're delish.

 

[farmerjan]

Maybe this was just a "bad batch" with the litter and after a little more maturity, the young sow will do fine the next time around.
I never liked farrowing in July or August.... or late Dec Jan or Feb... but feeder pigs sold best in April and May so had to get them farrowing in Feb/Mar.... Bred again in May/June for pigs before Christmas and could take on the cold better when they were 4-8 weeks old... lots of bedding... I actually tried to farrow most in late Feb/Mar/April/May... then there were years where fall feeders sold good and some farmers were looking for vigorous feeders to run through the winter and ready to sell for butcher in spring... feeder pigs never brought any money in August for some reason....

 

[Ridgetop]

A lot of livestock doesn't bring as much in August (lambs for one). Maybe because there are few holidays coming up, or growers looking at end of pasture through the winter. Even mature breeding sheep bring less in August.

 

[Ridgetop]

Do they still measure backfat? I remember doing that in school (eons ago An Sci class).

That is what they use to determine how much fat they want on an animal. About 20 years ago (keeps getting further back somehow they dropped the amount of "finish" allowed on hogs and lambs. LOL) "Finish" is the Fair/show term for flesh and backfat - probably sounds better in the showring. Anyway, customers complained about dry, tough meat and the USDS went back and increased it a bit several years later.

Processors were paying by the lb. and then having to trim off too much fat ($$$ out of their pockets) and they complained to USDA. Did not help that there was a real push for lean meat (dieters). USDA lowered the depth of fat allowed, resulting in producers having to decrease the fat coverage. Breeders started selecting for that leaner animals that did not put on the fat. Great for kids in the showring who didn't have to learn how to properly feed for weight gain without excess fat. Good for processors who didn't have to pay for fat they trimmed off. Bad for consumers who lost juiciness and flavor which comes from fat.

Eventually consumers complained about lack of flavor and juiciness and USDA readjusted fat allowances slightly upward.

 

[farmerjan]

And with the hogs, people were on the "anti-fat-cholesterol-anti everything" kick .... so lard went way out of favor with things like corn oil etc and now they are finding that true fat is actually healthier... The big thing is ....people do not get out and get the exercise in even day to day work as so many sit on their duff in an office... so... they are not working off the fat they are eating, get substitutes and that turns out 20 years later to be less healthy... doesn't matter the kind... people are not eating in relation to what they are doing... substitute stuff is not healthy... but as a nation, MANY way overeat....
All the fat trim was not wasted when people actually ate "good healthy fat" ... lard and beef tallow..... but as soon as the "fat is bad" kick got going, fat was bad for everything... like the margarine/butter thing years earlier...