We have had the young pigs now for 5 days. They have come a long way in that time. Upon their arrival they were frightened and skittish. They now have gotten used to be called out 2 times a day. They come running to greet us and happily accept the warm morning meal of apx 2 cups of warmed whole unpasteurized milk. I mix this with a small amount of their feed in a large bowl, and once finished I fill the bowl with water. They still have NOT figured out the water barrel. I put peanut butter on it being told by many that that was a fail proof way to get them to drink. NOT so in my case. Of course they MAY be getting enough water from the bowl during the day and not in NEED of figuring out the water. The small female is definitely the adventurist one of the two and the male the protector. LOL
They seems very interested in the sheep and alpaca in the next pasture. Alpaca and llama typically DO not like to even be in the same zip code as a pig so their response is nearly as humorous as the pigs chasing them around the safe confines of their pen.
The food consumption has increased as well as their activity level. I picked up the LITTLE one yesterday and it was amazing the weight she has gained in just 5 days.
They are too small to operate the automatic feeder, but we have successfully gotten them TO the feeder and are eating out of the base. The barrel is too heavy still for them to move, but with their current rate of growth, it Will not be much more than a week or two until they graduate to the full ability of the feeder.
With talking to my dad today, he recommended that we consider processing the pigs our selves. He worked as a butcher YEARS ago and is still very adept at butchering nearly anything that walks, flies, swims or crawls. I am going to call the butcher Monday am and see if they STILL allow this. What he said to do is take Live pig to them. the charge to uumm dispatch the animal is between $20-$40 each. then have them hang for 3-5 days in their coolers. IMO sure there will be some sort of a fee for this service as well. then at end of hanging time, pick up carcass and return it to home where we would make into the cuts we want, vacuum seal the cuts and begin any smoking/brining/curing of the meats. We have opted to AVOID the salt peter and other cures that are artificial and in my eyes dangerous. No sense in raising healthy animals on clean antibiotic/steroid free feeds only to taint the meat with chemicals. Kinda a NO Brainier there.
When I find out the details of the above proposal I will add the information on to the site. Until next time.
They seems very interested in the sheep and alpaca in the next pasture. Alpaca and llama typically DO not like to even be in the same zip code as a pig so their response is nearly as humorous as the pigs chasing them around the safe confines of their pen.
The food consumption has increased as well as their activity level. I picked up the LITTLE one yesterday and it was amazing the weight she has gained in just 5 days.
They are too small to operate the automatic feeder, but we have successfully gotten them TO the feeder and are eating out of the base. The barrel is too heavy still for them to move, but with their current rate of growth, it Will not be much more than a week or two until they graduate to the full ability of the feeder.
With talking to my dad today, he recommended that we consider processing the pigs our selves. He worked as a butcher YEARS ago and is still very adept at butchering nearly anything that walks, flies, swims or crawls. I am going to call the butcher Monday am and see if they STILL allow this. What he said to do is take Live pig to them. the charge to uumm dispatch the animal is between $20-$40 each. then have them hang for 3-5 days in their coolers. IMO sure there will be some sort of a fee for this service as well. then at end of hanging time, pick up carcass and return it to home where we would make into the cuts we want, vacuum seal the cuts and begin any smoking/brining/curing of the meats. We have opted to AVOID the salt peter and other cures that are artificial and in my eyes dangerous. No sense in raising healthy animals on clean antibiotic/steroid free feeds only to taint the meat with chemicals. Kinda a NO Brainier there.
When I find out the details of the above proposal I will add the information on to the site. Until next time.
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