Red Wattle Hogs

Since I kind of have hogs on the brain right now I thought I would take some time today to give a little insight into my hog research. I have gone back and forth between purebreds and hybrids, but I am beginning to lean towards the purebred side of the fence. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to deal with another registered animal and the registry and mess that can come with it, but the more I think about it and the more I think about what my passion is I keep coming back to the heritage and smaller (numbers) breeds. One breed that I have been researching a lot lately is the Red Wattle.

Marian of Five Ponds Farm is the one who turned me on to Red Wattles. Five Ponds is the farm where we are purchasing our Dexter bull from and they just happen to raise Red Wattles. Before contacting her I had never heard of them. You can check out this LINK from the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy if you would like to get a nice introduction ... and of course check out all the information that Marian has gathered at this LINK.

The origin of Red Wattle hogs is sort of hazy. Most of the history that we know for sure points to the 1970's and 1980's and the wooded areas of Eastern Texas. That is where these red hogs that had wattles (on either side of their face) were found and brought back to the public. Now, that is what we know ... there is some theories though. According to one theory (or maybe that is the way it is) the first Red Wattles came to the United States by way of a small island of the coast of Australia. The story goes that a wealthy Texan who liked to big game hunt had them shipped back to the U.S., but they never really took off because they were very lean in a time when lard was important to society. However we got them doesn't really matter, what is important is that we have them now.

Although Red Wattles are very minor breed in terms of numbers they are really starting to gain some traction with chefs and food critiques around the country. They even won a blind taste test going up against Berkshires, Duroc, a Tamworth/Chester cross, Ossabaw Island, and a Sam's Club special. It seems that they are starting to catch on all across the country, from Seattle to the Northeast.

So, Red Wattles are officially in the running for Stoneyfield. I would like to have a pigs that that are perfect for the family and an appeal for the white table cloth restaurants in the area. Do you want to throw any breeds into the mix?

**Today's Picture comes from Five Ponds Farm website. They are raising Red Wattles and have some for sale from time to time so make sure and check them out!**

We Found Our Bull!?!

Well, I think it is safe to let the cat out of the bag finally since I have signed a contract and sent out the deposit! After much searching, learning, discussing, and all of that good stuff I think we have settled on a bull for our herd. Finding a Dexter Bull that I was at least partially satisfied with has proven more difficult that I thought it would be. If you remember back in October I wrote THIS POST and THIS POST about selecting a bull. Both of those posts linked to articles and forum posts discussing the qualities and traits you should look for when picking out your bull. Things were more difficult because it just doesn't seem like there are a lot of good Dexter bulls out there ... I have a couple theories on why that is, but I won't get into that now.

So, here are a few requirements that were on my short list ... He had to look like a bull, not an old cow or plain steer ... He needed to be dun or carry dun genes ... He needed a decent background ... He needed to be old enough to work next summer and old enough to get a better idea of his looks ... And, he needed to be horned or dehorned. Well, I think I did pretty goods fulfilling those requirements and I may have even ended up a little better.

With out further ado let me introduce to you, SGF SANT Hershey! Here are the details ... The "SGF" stands for Spruce Grove Farms which is John Potter's farm in Michigan. Mr. Potter is a well respected breeder of Dexters and Dexter bulls and I had a chance to have a great conversation with him as I was learning about bull selection. In fact I would have loved to get a bull directly from him, but at the time I talked with him he didn't have anything that fit my bill. The "SANT" speaks to the year he was born and his sire who is Antares. Antares seems to be a pretty popular bull as evidenced by the 52 Dexters that he has sired! His dam is also out of Spruce Grove Farm's breeding so that is a plus. He is horned as you can see ... he is dun as you can see ... but, one little bonus that you can't see is that he carries a gene for red. So, if we had a cow that carried the red gene we would have the possibility of a red calf!

Hershey is about 20 months old so he will be plenty ready by next summer and we also have a decent idea of how he is going to turn out based on his looks right now. He has a nice set of horns on him so we will have to give him respect, but he also can be gentle and I have pictures of his former owners with their arms around his neck. Gentleness is one of the traits in Dexters that led us to bring them to our farm. All in all we are pretty excited about bringing him home and I'm really looking forward to the 2009 calving season!

He will be coming from Marian and Erik at Five Ponds Farm in Southern Missouri. They have be a joy to work with as we have gone through the whole process and I'm looking forward to meeting them in person when we get a chance to pick Hershey up (not sure when yet). If you are interested in Dexters, Navajo-Churro sheep, Red Wattle hogs, or even daylilies and hostas I encourage you to check out their website. They have a lot of neat things going on at there farm.

Hopefully in the next month or so I will be able to post pictures of Hershey at Stoneyfield!