tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post280165275187709851..comments2023-11-07T06:51:41.301-06:00Comments on The Beginning Farmer: "The Accidental Farmers" :: Chapter 5 Book ReportEthan Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01333115493519268802noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-85105628672274542522011-03-31T08:15:47.931-05:002011-03-31T08:15:47.931-05:00I am new to your blog and have enjoyed perusing it...I am new to your blog and have enjoyed perusing it - especially since you are in my neck of the woods:). I noticed that you mention that Dexters may not be the cattle for you, having just purchased 2 Dexter cows (one calved at the beginning of March) I was wondering why you might be thinking that way?Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00824099043615639585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-60719793851799025852011-03-22T10:00:30.955-05:002011-03-22T10:00:30.955-05:00We don't currently sex segregate our growers. ...We don't currently sex segregate our growers. By the time they go to butcher they're still not pregnant. Gilts typically get pregnant at eight months and farrow at about a year. Once in a great while we'll have a Lolita as we call them who farrows around 10 or 11 months so she got pregnant in her sixth or seventh month. Since we slaughter at about five or six months this means they're not pregnant by the time they go to slaughter.<br /><br />This isn't to say they're not fooling around - they are. But pregnancies aren't resulting from this early sex play.<br /><br />I am planning that at some point I may separate finishers by sex but that is more a matter of wanting to be able to watch gilts longer to catch the primes who I may want to keep for replacements. Right now I move the best of the best to the gestating sow herd. We just introduced the latest group of them to our smallest breeding boar.Walter Jeffrieshttp://SugarMtnFarm.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-18823422306735354042011-03-17T02:03:32.027-05:002011-03-17T02:03:32.027-05:00I had a runaway pig last year, too. She leapt righ...I had a runaway pig last year, too. She leapt right out of the truck on processing day, my cattle racks notwithstanding. My pigs have certainly been my most entertaining homesteading adventure!Issahttp://lovelivegrow.comnoreply@blogger.com