Pasture Raised Pigs

Well, our buck, Jake went to live at a different farm last weekend.  So with his buck pen available, we decided to really jump off the homesteading deep-end.  After consulting Craigslist, I was able to locate some feeder pigs for sale not to far from here.  So Sunday afternoon we headed on up the road and picked up 3 wiggly, squealing piglets!  

I must say, I’m a little shocked at how much fun we have had just watching the pigs so far.  They are busy little creatures!  Constantly on the move, rooting up the soil with their little pig snouts.  I have no idea what they are digging for, but they are hard at work on it!  

In an effort to keep them well fed, we have transformed our kitchen compost bucket into a slops bucket for now.  (Yes, my children have read too much Charlotte’s Web!) Into the bucket we throw all leftover food scraps, milk, and other edible tidbits.  In the morning, that gets poured out to the pasture raised pigs to supplement their diet.  It looks gross to us, but the pigs are somewhat less concerned with aesthetic appearances.

Now for the real part of homesteading

They are cute now, but they are growing fast, and yes, someday they will grace our table with a myriad of pork products.  It will be healthier meat than most grocery store meat, provided by happy, pasture raised pigs, who were well-fed and only really had one bad day.  Will I be sad on that day?  We’ll just have to wait and see.  

As meat eaters, I feel like the most humane way to raise meat is to be as connected to it as possible.  We can never forget where meat comes from, or we will easily tolerate the confined feed lots and unsanitary conditions that much of our mass-produced meat comes from.  So for us, it is important to raise as much of our food ourselves, as we can.  Until then, I am avidly reading this book called Homegrown Pork  (affiliate link) and tons of blog posts about how to raise bacon!

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