Ringo’s Lambs! Baymule’s 5th Lambing

[Baymule]

Acorns are also bad for horses and cattle. I stuffed the sheep with hay before I let them out to graze the winter rye in the yard. There are oak trees in every pasture, all over the property. We can't cut them all down. I have thought about a couple of pigs for fall, just to eat the acorns, but tossed that idea. LOL Don't turkeys like acorns and fatten on them? Maybe I need a flock of turkeys.

My heart horse, Joe, whose blue eye is my avatar lost over 200 pounds one fall. His ribs were showing, hip bone stuck out, I was getting frantic. I wormed him, he still lost weight. Finally I saw him standing under a huge white oak tree, waiting on the next acorn to fall. He would hear the thump and go snuffling on the ground until he found it. There were plenty of oak trees on that property, so keeping him away from that one tree would have had no effect. It was just his favorite tree.

Feel free to offer advice or criticism any time you see me going down the wrong road or see a better way for me to do things. I don't wear my feelings on my shirt sleeve and don't get angry if someone has a different opinion. How else are we to learn if we do not share our own experiences and wisdom-often gained by our own mistakes and loss.

 

[Coolbreeze89]

My pigs RACE out of their overnight pen to eat the acorns that fall each night around our property (most trees are post oak). It’s quite funny to see the girls hustle like that! Maybe a couple Kunekunes could help you out with your acorn problem. Great temperament, minimal rooting, and they get along with other animals. They take longer to mature, but I’m told they’re quite tasty. Many people feed only forage in the summer, and they’re pretty gentle on pasture.

 

[Baymule]

Si far, I have raised Large Black/Berkshire feeder pigs, Red Wattle and Hereford hogs. All were rather rough on the terrain and no way I would have let them out to go foraging. I looked into Kune Kunes, but they were pretty pricey at the time. Come spring I'll be buying 2-3 feeder pigs.

 

[WolfeMomma]

Si far, I have raised Large Black/Berkshire feeder pigs, Red Wattle and Hereford hogs. All were rather rough on the terrain and no way I would have let them out to go foraging. I looked into Kune Kunes, but they were pretty pricey at the time. Come spring I'll be buying 2-3 feeder pigs.

We thought about getting some feeder pigs this spring too. We love pork. We rolled around the idea of an american guinea hog, but they take to long to mature. So i think we are just going to go with the big commercial ones that mature quick so we dont have to dump a lot of grain in to them over an extended period of time.

 

[Baymule]

We thought about getting some feeder pigs this spring too. We love pork. We rolled around the idea of an american guinea hog, but they take to long to mature. So i think we are just going to go with the big commercial ones that mature quick so we dont have to dump a lot of grain in to them over an extended period of time.

Heritage breeds put more fat on, have better marbling in the meat and it just tastes better than the "commercial" breeds. The modern commercial breeds are bred to grow fast with less fat, to me the meat is dry. The heritage breeds may take a couple of months longer, but to me, they are well worth it. By all means, raise a couple of pigs, home grown meat is the best. Book your slaughter date well in advance, waiting until the last minute or even month or two, will ensure that you get to feed them for a much longer time!

In this thread is how I built my Pig Palace. Love it!

Baymule’s Pigs 2018 HEREFORDS!

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...

www.backyardherds.com

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We rolled around the idea of an american guinea hog, but they take to long to mature.

The beauty of the American Guinea Hog is that if you have the time they will grow out on pasture.

 

[Mini Horses]

My AGHs were grown with a LOT of veggies. At the time I had access to large amounts of "close dated" from a distributor that couldn't be sold. But, they WILL work on a psture to get roots & grubs. Friendly as they were, just didn't want my pastures replowed. It took about 12-14 months for them to reach mature weight but I was really pleased with the tasty meat and beautiful lard I rendered from it. May do another in the future but, not now. Don't want to deal with them until I stop working more (retire???) LOL Both were boars, had been breeding and no issue with meat taint AT ALL.

However, I have made contact this a person who does raise pigs in a way I would and may consider just buying one ready to butcher. You know, you can't do everything!

 

[WolfeMomma]

The beauty of the American Guinea Hog is that if you have the time they will grow out on pasture.

we are really not pig people. So ideally we would like to make it a quick experience. We have raised the commercial ones before, and it was a great experience minus the grain cost. They grew fast and tasted great. I have never had such big pork chops in my life lol we used the fat from them to add to our ground deer, worked out really well. I do see the benefits of raising American Guinea hogs, its just not for us i dont think. I am willing to look at heritage pigs depending on their growth rates.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I do see the benefits of raising American Guinea hogs, its just not for us i dont think. I am willing to look at heritage pigs depending on their growth rates.

I do enjoy mine but realize they're not for everybody. We've bought feeder pigs and had Hampshires, Durocs and crosses. They do grow quickly and we enjoyed them immensely.

 

[Baymule]

Domino greeted me this morning with a very spotted black and white ewe lamb. Sentry is in the lot now, checking everything out. Isn’t she beautiful?
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