My new rototiller

897tgigvib · Apr 28, 2012

I just would not have the heart to eat an animal I raised...

I can't even kill a fish anymore...

Stubbornhillfarm · Apr 30, 2012

Jared, we are keeping them all, housing feeding etc. One is for a man that works with my husband and one is my bosses. We are just having them pay for the pig and the grain that their pigs are eating. We are doing the work. We like the idea of being able to use our land and energy to help provide for other people. So two are ours. We will still need to buy another freezer!

vfem, If I run out of area for them to till I will be sure to bring them up! I have always wanted to visit your neck of the woods.

ninnymary, we have 1 heifer and 3 steer (cows), chickens, turkeys on their way and these pigs. All together hard work but we love it!

lesa and Jared, thus far, they have been the easiest animal that we have. They came to the farm, they were put in their pen, they learned the electric fence real fast, and at this age, seem to be really happy just being pigs. They are fairly social; will come close, but still a little skittish. They are lazy though. They sleep until around 9am! We think that as Jared says, "pound for pound" they will be a much better investment then our cows. But we like beef too!

retiredw4acres, sounds like the good ol days to me! Temperature is definately a consideration. My hubby is going to make a smoker/pizza oven outside as time permits. He is a trained meat cutter, so we will definately save some $$$ there instead of having to go to the butcher.

marshall, I understand where you are coming from and it is not easy for us either or done lightly. I really do understand your thought process with it. Currently our point is, if we are going to eat it, and we have the land and the ability to raise it, it is best to do it that way. We then know where the food is coming from, know what it has eaten, and know that we have given our future food the best lives available while they were here. It has also been placed on our hearts to raise chickens for eggs, beef, pigs, vegatbles in abundance so that we can help provide good healthy food to local people that don't have the ability to do it themselves.

I will keep you all posted as things progress! Thanks for the well wishes.

Jared77 · Apr 30, 2012

Stubborn thats really cool. I've been trying to get other members of my family to go in on a pig at the fair but they always back out soon as fair season kicks in. I know we couldn't eat that much pork YET, but as my family gets grows and gets older I definately see us raising our own meat. I can easily picture us raising 2 pigs, (one to eat one to sell or 4H project) and a handful of chickens. Right now the only red meat we have in our freezer is vension. Ive got easily 40+lbs of burger plus steaks. Beef just isn't a priority for us because we have a plentiful harvest of venison. I do want a couple of goats for milk, and a wether as a draft goat. Haul compost, feed, manure, a cultivator in the garden, a cart and sled for the kids. Yep big plans. Like I dont have enough projects as it is :th

I'm trying to remember where I read the article at, I think it was Mother Earth News or maybe it was Grit, I don't remember. Pork was number 1 as far as conversion rates. Beef was lowest. I think they all used sustainable breeds which were defined as reproducable so things like the Cornish Cross and the Broad Breasted White turkeys were not included in the study. I don't think they did a dairy study but Id be curious about that too. The amount of feed in to get how many gallons of milk kind of study.

Like I said keep us posted and keep up the great work!

lesa · Apr 30, 2012

Jarred, we buy a whole pig from a local farmer. It is pasture raised, so they don't grow huge. It really is not a lot of meat...It is only two of us, and occasional guests. That meat won't last till next fall. It is super delicious. I am hoping someone invents a pig that is only bacon, when you butcher it!!

Stubbornhillfarm · May 1, 2012

lesa said:
Jarred, we buy a whole pig from a local farmer. It is pasture raised, so they don't grow huge. It really is not a lot of meat...It is only two of us, and occasional guests. That meat won't last till next fall. It is super delicious. I am hoping someone invents a pig that is only bacon, when you butcher it!!

You're funny lesa! I think you are not alone in that wish! As you say, it is really not a huge quantity of meat. For instance we are raising ours until approximatly 225-250 pounds in hopes of getting 175-200 pounds of meat. That is still a lot. But without a doubt, once people hear that you have farm raised pork, they will want to try some and buy some.

We got Yorkshire pigs. They have a longer body then some=more bacon!

Stubbornhillfarm · May 1, 2012

Jared77 said:
Stubborn thats really cool. I've been trying to get other members of my family to go in on a pig at the fair but they always back out soon as fair season kicks in. I know we couldn't eat that much pork YET, but as my family gets grows and gets older I definately see us raising our own meat. I can easily picture us raising 2 pigs, (one to eat one to sell or 4H project) and a handful of chickens. Right now the only red meat we have in our freezer is vension. Ive got easily 40+lbs of burger plus steaks. Beef just isn't a priority for us because we have a plentiful harvest of venison. I do want a couple of goats for milk, and a wether as a draft goat. Haul compost, feed, manure, a cultivator in the garden, a cart and sled for the kids. Yep big plans. Like I dont have enough projects as it is

I'm trying to remember where I read the article at, I think it was Mother Earth News or maybe it was Grit, I don't remember. Pork was number 1 as far as conversion rates. Beef was lowest. I think they all used sustainable breeds which were defined as reproducable so things like the Cornish Cross and the Broad Breasted White turkeys were not included in the study. I don't think they did a dairy study but Id be curious about that too. The amount of feed in to get how many gallons of milk kind of study.

Like I said keep us posted and keep up the great work!

Ah...venison. Yes, we have that too. You can't get much more natural than that. Clean meat, low fat, healthy. Most generally we have 2-5 in the freezer depending how much time we can dedicate to hunting.

In regards to the fair. Do you have small children that are old enough to do the pig scramble? At least if they were able to get you the pig for free you would be ahead of the game. I didn't see it, but my husband said that the guy that picked our 4 out of the trailer of 200 pigs grabbed them by the hind legs and that was it. No fighting or struggling from them. He said it was pretty slick. I figure I'll keep that in the memory bank for next year and see if I can get my grand daughter to do the pig scramble for us!

I have never heard of a draft goat but sounds interesting. I understand about adding projects to the "to do" list. We have a habit of adding more then we take away!

Wisher1000 · May 1, 2012

Good Morning, Garden Gang! I have been away for a while and am thrilled to see old friends here as well as lots of newcomers! I think the pigs are precious, but like Marshall, I could not eat one I raised. I would like to find someone like Stubby that I could get to raise one (humanely) for me. I would be happy to provide the pig and feed and pay for the slaughter. I just wouldn't want to meet 'em and eat 'em!

Jared77 · May 1, 2012

The results I've seen were similar to what Stubborn posted. 240-odd lbs live weight produced around 200lbs of meat. I don't know what the breed was that they raised but thats a good amount of pork products. The couple that had the pork processed were bringing all sorts of pork products to get togethers to help get it eaten up and free up the freezer space because they had so much. Even at 175lbs that averages out to be just under 1/2lbs pork a day for a year. That's why I haven't taken up raising them yet. I definately see us doing it though since its such a short difference between live weight and what you put up in the freezer.

Lesa do you know how much meat your putting up in your freezer. I wonder what breed it is too. There is a free range farmer who has a son in my daughter's preschool class. I haven't bought anything off them yet but I know they have pork, chicken and rabbit. Id love to get some but at what they get for it, it may have to be a Christmas dinner kind of meal.

By the way my 40lbs of venison burger is what's left right now in the freezer not what I put up.

peteyfoozer · May 1, 2012

Love it, and they ARE great rototillers. LOL..
I always named mine after politicians and never had a problem killing and eating them after that.

Stubbornhillfarm · May 1, 2012

peteyfoozer said:
Love it, and they ARE great rototillers. LOL..
I always named mine after politicians and never had a problem killing and eating them after that.