Country Homestead Tour #4: Large Black Hogs

Meet Henry and Henrietta! 

We eat meat.  And we're picky about it.  So for several years we have raised our own pork and chicken.  Its easy enough.  Buy a few piglets (usually 5) in the spring, feed them and treat them really well until fall and then into the freezer they go.  We go through almost 2 a year ourselves and we would sell the remainder as CSA shares. It was just fine.  Until....the year that everyone in our county decided they wanted to raise their own pork...and there was a bit of a piglet shortage...and the piglets we got were, let us just say, not choice.  So after one annoying year of piglet sourcing we decided to go whole hog (i couldnt resist that pun opportunity--really).   We decided to get a breeding pair of pigs that would become permanent residents at our farm and produce piglets, for meat and for live sale.

We went with the Large Black because they produce an excellent meat and are gentle and easy to handle.  We were able to acquire a breeding pair as piglets and since then have farrowed one great litter of piglets.  The other wonderful thing about this breed is that they are in demand so we have had no trouble selling our piglets and they go for a premium price. In fact, we ended up selling out the last litter and not even keeping one for our own freezer! This is nice as it offsets the cost of feeding these piggies all year round.  The other nice thing about them is that they are "pasture pigs".  They are inclined to, and do, munch on grass--cutting their grain needs slightly.  They do, however, root in areas where the pasture quality is low or there are grubs to be found. This is a con if you dont want your pasture torn up--on the other hand--we have found it to be a plus since those areas of poor pasture are now tilled and fertilized and can re-seed and grow properly.  The pigs, just two, have been a great help in renovating and fertilizing our small pasture areas and we also used them to turn under one of our gardens this year.  Just a little moveable electric fence--and you have an automated tilling machine at your service.

Henry now weighs in at close to 700 pounds and the Sow is close to 500 pounds as best we can measure.   They are so docile that our kids can go in their pasture with them with no trouble.  Its really quite amazing. 

I wasn't so sure at first about having year round pigs on our property.  I was concerned about smell, and the hassle of doing extra chores in the winter (lugging buckets of water across knee deep snow fields).  But, they have definitely earned their keep, are not smelly at all, and we are looking forward to another litter in November if all goes well.   We are very thankful to know where our meat comes from, from day one.  And for the opportunity to share our space with two very sweet, very special pigs that will likely be with us for a very long time.

For more information on the Large Black and other Heritage Livestock Breeds check out the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/largeblack.html

Country Homestead Tour #1: Hens

breakfast in the #14

Well isn't this timely. We are in the midst of a half a BILLION egg recall in this country. Seriously. Something is terribly wrong. And I think most of us know what that is.

I thought, as we started this blog that it would be fun to periodically give a "tour" of the parts and pieces that make up our homesteads. Here in the Country we have a diverse range of animals and vegetables (weeds) and other random things that make life here what it is, and what we love. So, to kick things off, lets start with the very thing that got us started on our path. The simple, lovely, and oh so tasty egg.

Years ago we started out with a half dozen hens. Somewhere in the middle we got up to about 60 hens. Now we are happy with our 8 hens. Things are constantly evolving here!
So here's the deal. We eat eggs. We eat our own hen's eggs. We eat fresh eggs. And after that--all other eggs seem pretty...well, pale in comparison. If you have hens, you know what I am talking about. Having a few hens in your yard is a no brainer. Its easy, inexpensive and a wonderful lesson for the kids on everything from care of animals to reproduction to responsibility. The birds are good for pest control and, properly managed, offer fertilizer in return for being well fed.

Lets look at some Eggonomics, just in case you are on the fence about whether to bring feathered friends into your life. A dozen organic, pasture raised eggs (organic feed and grass and sun) costs $5.00 retail around here. A dozen of the same eggs from your own back yard will add up like this:

$7.00 pullet will lay about 60 doz eggs over her 2 year laying life. So she costs about 12 cents a dozen. A good layer (RI red, Golden Comet, Barred Rocks) will eat about 5 pounds of feed for every dozen laid. That 5 pounds of organic grain will cost you about $2.20 around here. So your cost per dozen is $2.32! Using non-organic feed you can cut the feed cost in about half.
Of course, there is some up front cost for housing, fencing and whatnot. Some people go crazy .
We go with the more "homebrew" set up involving yard scrap lumber and free tarps. But we have no neighbors to offend, and we take advantage of that.

So now if you are not totally numb bored from me taking you to egg school, you can enjoy a few pics of our ladies and their lovely accomodations. No egg recall worries at this house. We encourage everyone to do the same!

Toasty warm in the winter inside their hoophouse

Summer living, easy, with their mobile range house and fencing