Thursday, November 14, 2013

Adventures in Pig Raising


Pig raising. A new adventure for us :)

My honey has always loved pigs, he even has
some figurines he calls "Pigurines" :)

We have been wanting to venture into animal raising, my hopes were Mini-Jerseys, but Michael had his heart set on hogs.

After a year or two worth of researching different varieties, we settled upon Large Blacks. That is the breed name, not just how they look.

Large Blacks are a heritage breed and also critically endangered on the list for the Livestock Conservancy website.

They are originally from Cornwall, England and are known for having a docile temperament, great mothering skills, their large ears (and sensitive hearing), and their size. A mature Sow can get as large as 600-700 pounds and the Boars 700-800 pounds. Their meat is marbled like beef and is a darker color than regular pork. We plan on breeding the Large Blacks not only for the freezer but to keep the breed going.

Meet.....Endeavour


Our Large Black Boar. He is such a lover! He gives me cuddles whenever he sees me :)

Meet.....Rosie


Okay, now you are probably wondering why she isn't black :)

Rosie is our rescue pig :) We found out that pigs are herding animals and we weren't able to get a Large Black gilt right away so we picked up Rosie so Endeavour would have some company. She has a different personality, that's for sure. When we got her she was not very healthy. Really we should have left the place we purchased her from. My husband felt sorry for her so we brought her home. It has been great seeing her thrive and she is so much healthier now. Rosie is a Hampshire/Duroc cross.


Meet.....Trudy



Trudy is out Little One but growing fast! She squeals like you wouldn't believe and is finally getting more comfortable around us. When we brush the other pigs she comes over whimpering for attention and sounds like a squeak toy at times :)

I used to be afraid to raise livestock since neither  my husband or myself had any experience. Not even chickens! So far, we are loving it.

~smile~ 

2 comments:

  1. Sweet Sharon!!!!!!!!!! It is early in the morning and I was just doing some searching. I have thought of you soooooo many times in the last few years. I thought......hmmmm....I am just going to check your old blog.....and there you were......journals of your days......I just about jumped out of my skin! I was sooooo excited...can you tell? I loved it when you blogged and now to be able to escape in your writtings again. Thank you for coming back! I will be emailing you! Love love your pigs. I have 4 sheep. Birch, Olivia, Willow and Aspen. Birch is getting to happy and he is now chasing me. I am going to have to get tougher with him. Well, I am rambling.....but I am so excited you are back.....you were one of my favorite bloggers.....thankful the Lord brought you back! Hugs from my farm, Linda

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  2. Hello Linda,

    It was whim :) I missed blogging and decided I would try it again but not be a slave to it :)
    I need to check out your sheep, Love their names. I sure am loving having animals, I never knew how fun it would be.
    I will be e-mailing you soon too!

    Love you!
    Sharon

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