I ’ve said this time and again here , but when my wife and I welcomed two shoat onto our primal Kentucky farm just months after move onto the land ourselves , we did n’t quite know what we were getting into . Thanks to the sage mentorship of agriculture friends and hours of online reading ( we fatigue out some books on pigs , too ) we cipher it out . Looking back , though , I can clearly see that we put ourselves through a lot of unneeded trouble when setting it all up .
So , if you ’re new to farming ( and I hope some of you are — the human race needsa circle more folks willing to take up solid food production , irrespective of premature experience ) and considering adding some porcine friends to your farm , here ’s a list of pointers , compiled by me without any claim of authority other than my own experience . It ’s not a comprehensive summation on how to become a individual who raises pigs , but it provides a canonic start .
1. Evaluate Your Land
Before anything else , hit the books your land to determine whether it fits with how you need to raise pig . Do you wish to leaven hogs solely on grass ? You need a lot of kingdom , ideally lay out in a mode that accommodates a“wagon wheel ” pasture method . At the very least , you ask the elbow room to move your pigs to tonic grass every calendar week or so . Do you desire tosilvopasture(raise pigs in the woods ) ? You should have sex what kind of tree diagram you have and which ones bring forth fruits and bollock that supplement a alimentation programme . Do you be after to raise pigs in a barn with access code to Sunday and grass ? ensure your b is accessible and large enough to suit the number you hope to raise .
2. Consider Security: Install a Fence
buy and prepare up fencing before you bring your pig onto the farm . You might say , “ duh , ” but folks do drop their pig into a b , then puzzle over how to get them out into a unattackable arena . Also , if you ’re on the fence ( sorry / not sorry ) about what materials to use — telegram fence , hog panels , galvanizing and so on — that you buyelectric wiring powered by a portable charger and solar raiment . It ’s easy to be pall by the setup toll , and you might doubt that your pigs will respect those three or four little wires , but trust me . After make out with your umpteenth breakout from the budget fencing , you ’ll turn to electric anyway , because it works . An added bonus : An galvanising fence sets up soft — the portable charger will have you rotating pastureland in no meter .
3. Provide Shelter for Your Pigs
explore and decide what kind of tax shelter you desire . Pigs require little — a dry dapple to crouch down in inclement weather and protection from the sun . That say , they do take a property to call habitation . Atarp - and - panel hoopis tardily to place up and deplumate down . Or , you could build movable pens if you ’re rotating pastures .
Barns are easy to modify for pig purposes , though make certain any walls outside the fencing material are heavily secure ( or the fuzz will bust through ) . Farrowing shelters must offer extra trade protection , so consider that if you ’re thinking of play a sow to the farm .
4. Make Feeding Easy
This is just my thought , but do n’t fix with pig feeder you notice at the farm supply storage . squealer deal them like toys , and they let in urine and pesterer , no matter the claims . or else , feed your pigs their ration twice a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , morning and evening , andjust coldcock it on the primer . We arrived at this after trying a number of thwarting eating technique . And I can promise you our hog do n’t grow any slower now than before .
5. Identify Your Helpers
bump your professionals now . Will you need a veterinary or international avail to maintain health , emasculate males , clip savage teeth and so on ? come up those mass now , before you really want them . Do the inquiry tofind a central processing unit , be it USDA - approved slaughterhouse or community abattoir , that will do what you want , whether it ’s nitrate - free 1st Baron Verulam or nose - to - ass butchery .
6. Happy Trail(er)s
Get a house trailer . We get abumper horse traileron Craigslist year ago and have transported more pigs in it than I can even count .
7. Stick to the Schedule
Once you ’ve located your pigs and can name an arriver engagement , sit down with a notebook computer and make a schedule . Pigs allow with ration are typically ready for process at around 6 to 8 months quondam , with various adjustments and marker along the way ( peculiarly in recommended amounts of feed ) . So plan everything based on the hogs ’ ages when they move in . Then call your central processor and earmark your date , because handiness disappears fast .
fuzz are fun animalsthat produce copious quantity of pleasant-tasting protein , and I extremely recommend getting a few ( at least two — they’re ruck animals ) for your farm . And if you plan and get everything ready before becoming a hog keeper , you ’ll enjoy your beast all the more , starting on day one .
