Small-Scale Pig Farming...

As with any beginning operation I knew there would be a fairly steep learning curve associated to adding pigs to our farm. But, I also knew that pig farming was something that everyone in my family (dad and uncles) had experience with so there would be help when it was needed. I have relied on them greatly many times and I thinking I'm beginning to learn along the way in little bits and with baby steps. But, one difficulty that I didn't anticipate was how hard it would be to get feed!

I will readily admit that I'm not one of the biggest feed purchasers in the county and I'm actually probably in the minority when I purchase pig feed, but it has been trying at times to get the attention of the mills and get the feed I wanted. One thing that most people probably don't think about with the loss of diversified farms is the loss of feed mills. There was a time that practically every local co-op or feed store had a mill. That is no longer the case now.

In our area one cooperative has purchased many of the local co-ops and then consolidated their services. Where at one time there was a working feed mill in town the closest one is now over 20 miles away. And, at that feed mill I have had a problem getting them to work with me on a ration that I like (basically a vegetarian Niman Ranch style feed). There is another locally owned mill about 30 miles away and they have been helpful, but distance is a factor.

Both feed mills deliver to our town on a fairly regular basis, so I have been taking advantage of that. But, with the increase of our swine herd and the addition of the bulk bin I was hoping to get feed delivered to the farm in bulk. That would cut down on the handling (I filled the feeder this weekend with 80 bags of feed and that took awhile). But, since the mills are so far away they would rather not deliver.

Maybe it's time I begin to think outside of the normal box. We will begin running pigs in the woods next year and that will cut down on their feed intake a little bit, but I think I also need to be looking at different feed sources so I can make sure we are getting the rations we need.

Are Pigs That Smart?

Here is a lighthearted post after yesterdays "thinker". I ran across this neat little video blog over at the Sustainable Farm website. It doesn't really have a ton of practical application other than proving the point that pigs are pretty smart and can take care of themselves when give the opportunity. Although I'm not quite ready to place the intelligence of a pig over myself...

For those of you with slow internet (like myself). This is a two-minute video that took about 4 or 5 minutes to load on my computer. I just paused it and then let it load.

Small-Scale Pig Raising :: Chapter 5 & 6 Book Report

Well, I'm tearing my way through this book! Actually the chapters are fairly short, which I tend to like because it makes it easier to knock out a section each night. But, I'm also working through it pretty quickly because I think it is a pretty good read. I also think that it helps that it is about something other than grazing or cattle. I have been hitting the grass-fed cattle books pretty hard for quite awhile no so this is a change of pace. It will probably make me more interested when I pick up "Grass-Fed Cattle" again.

Chapter five of Dirk van Loon's book, "Small-Scale Pig Raising" deals with selecting a pig. Mr. van Loon writes mostly about selecting a pig for your own home pork, but also includes a few paragraphs on buying pigs for breeding. This is something that I was somewhat ready to read, although I already have our pigs picked out, because it dealt with what we are dealing with right now.

Of course he is specifically talking about "small-scale" and in this case that means two or three pigs. This is a perfect number for the family that is looking to provide meat for themselves and maybe to sell in order recoup some of their feed money. This is the number of pigs that I was looking to buy, but that isn't what happened (more on that next week). The chapter is full of great information for the beginner and I am beginning to understand why Walter Jeffries recommends this book so highly.

In Chapter six the topic is pig handling. Again, it is full of a lot of good information for the beginner including stuff about transportation (think small-scale and people without stock trailers) and moving on the farm. I do like the section where he talks about using the tail of the pig to direct them where you want. I believe we are going to be a farm that leaves the tails on our pigs.

Overall my impression of this book is very good and I think it is perfect for someone who doesn't know much about pigs. It puts everything in good practical terms and makes it all seem doable. Pigs is one area where I have the benefit of a little prior knowledge. For much of my growing up life we had pigs on the farm and I was able to help out quite a bit, but there is still a ton of good information for everyone!

Small-Scale Pig Raising :: Chapter 3 & 4 Book Report

I have pigs on the brain recently! Mostly because I hope to have some pigs on the farm within the week and have been getting things ready for that. Hopefully I will soon be able to tell you about our new Hampshire x Tamworth pigs, but for now I will just report on this great book by Dirk Van Loon which came highly recommended by Walter of Sugar Mountain Farm. I would say he is a very innovative pig farmer, so I was really looking forward to getting into this book. And, I must say it has been worth it so far.

One thing about this book is that it is very practical. It does not spend a lot of time talking about the "evolution" (not a big fan of that word) of the pig or the social/political reasons to raise pigs on a small-scale. Mr. Van Loon just gives plenty of great how-to advice for the complete beginner. While chapter three is about the history of pigs (from the standpoint of domestication), it is told in such a way that it gives great working knowledge to the beginning pig raiser.

A couple of the most interesting things I found in the third chapter were the discussion of pigs as land clearers and the historical information on swineherding. Pigs have natural plows attached to their head, and because of they they are naturals at clearing the forest. One great quote from the book comes from Mr. Zeuner (an expert on domestication). He said, "Pigs prepare the way for man, both in regard to pasturing - for the pig can be followed by sheep as happened in the Bronze Age in Northern Europe - and in regard to agriculture." We plan on allowing our pigs into the forest, not so that we can wipe out the woods, but so that we can clear some of the thick undergrowth. I am looking forward to seeing what they can do.

The other interesting section was a short couple of paragraphs on swineherding. In days gone by each household would have a few pigs in a yard pen. Then each morning a swineherder would go through town and herd all of these pigs to the woods for feeding ... bringing them back in the morning. Can you imagine each house in town having that now? Well, not in Knoxville because we can't even have chickens!

Chapter four is the essence of the practical knowledge in this book and I couldn't even begin to share all I like about it without rambling on for quite awhile. But, there is tons of great "how-to"/"this is what you need to know" in this chapter titled, "Behavior and Form".

I have only read five or six chapters so far, but I think I'm beginning to agree with Walter of Sugar Mountain ... this is the book you need to check out if you want to have pigs on a small-scale.

Small-Scale Pig Raising :: Chapter 1 & 2 Book Report

I must admit that lately I have had a pretty short attention span when it comes to books. I don't really think that it has anything to do with the quality of the books, but rather it has to do with the ebb and flow of my interests at the moment. I started out working through "Grass-Fed Cattle", then I couldn't find it one day so I switched over to "Dirt Hog", and then last night I had pigs on the brain again so I decided to pick up "Small-Scale Pig Raising" by Dirk van Loon. This book came highly recommended by Walter Jeffries over at Sugar Mountain Farms, so I was really excited to read it.

This book was published in 1978 so some of the economical figures that it gives are a bit off and I think it could easily win the greatest cover ever award (see the picture above), but if the rest of the book is anything like the first two chapters I think I will enjoy it very much. It seems to be written from a very practical point-of-view and easy to read.

What I really liked about the first chapter was Mr. van Loon's answers to the question, "Why Raise a Pig?". His first reason was because they can be a low risk/short term investment into livestock. With my Dexters I have to wait a long time before they finish, a long time before they calve, and I have to pay quite a bit for them. But, with pigs I can buy them for less money and finish them out fairly quickly. Along with that there can also be lower costs in fencing and shelter. Mr. van Loon also mentions lower feed costs, but that may not be true at this point.

The second chapter mostly covers the wild pig and the emergence of the domesticated pig. It was just a short chapter, but it was interesting to read some of the back ground and differences between the two. Understanding a domestic pigs wild brothers and sisters helps understand what makes a pig tick and what their social structure can be like.

As I mentioned pigs have been on my brain lately so it was good to read the first couple chapters of this book, and they are shorter chapters so that is nice when the days are longer and we are so busy. But, the reason that pigs have been on my mind is because I have been searching high and low for some feeder pigs. I thought that I had some located, but it looks like that isn't going to work out now ... so, if you know of anyone in Iowa or Northern Missouri with some pastured pigs or even just outdoor conditioned I would be interested in hearing about them!