It’s been almost a month to the day since we got our four piggies. So I will tell ya what I have been up to.
First we have been hauling pallets for the fencing, can’t use a slip lead like I used on Pumba. He is an awesome pig and we miss him. Anyways so we have been hauling FREE pallets. It was left up to me to put it together.
I figured four by four would be a okay size to start with.
I used scrap wood, nails and screws to attach the pallets together.
Then we had to figure out a house. We wanted it strong because pigs push and scratch on everything. We also needed it large but not to large. We also needed a way to insulate the walls.
So we came up with this...⬇️
Two pallets for the walls and 1”x2” boards for the roof. We used local moss from our land for the walls(they have ripped it out since 😏). I also tore apart a pallet and used one for the bottom of the doorway so they cant push it out. We actually had a few sheets of plywood laying around from last fall so we used those for the roof and an old tarp(we didn’t have anything else at the time).
We have been clearing our land for a fire break so I found some tall logs and made emergency escapes in the pen. Just incase the pigs become jerks and we need out quickly.
Then the day came that we got our piggies!
They are Dirac - Berkshire pigs.
Getting them in the crate was kinda easy, but getting them out wasn’t that easy. They peed all over the crate so it was slick. I ended up tipping it on its end and pulling pigs out by their legs.
Once they realized they had dirt they were happier. Earlier in the week before we picked them up, the breeder had them in a small dog kennel on cement.
They all came from the same breeder but different litters. Porky is our breeding male, Petunia is our breeding female, Pork Chop and Sausage are our butchering pigs.
We got breeders because it is one step closer to being self-sufficient. We also got a great deal on them at $100 each, normally they are $200 each.
We give them greens just like our goats, chickens and ducks.
They are so scrawny! Petunia was chosen because she was the fastest female and the biggest. I think Porky was chosen for us because he is white and easy to tell apart, it also helps they tagged his ear. I should bling it out for fun. 🤪
We have been feeding them pig rations mixed with cracked corn.
But one day while shopping for our own discount bread at the bakery I asked them about bread for the pigs. She said “yeah I have one.” I said okay. Then she rang up $12, I was all “wait, what was $12!?” She said “the animal food”, I was all “you said one”. She said “yeah one barrel”. 🤯 Okay we drive a Prius, so all this is running in my head. How the hell do I pull this off with everyone in the car! Come to find out it’s a big garbage can full. I’m talking cookies 🍪 , doughnuts 🍩, cakes 🎂, buns, and loafs of bread 🍞 🥖 🥯.
This is what our car ended up looking like.
So we found out they love white bread, love cookies, but the shortcakes are piggie nip for Porky. He goes crazy!
A few days pass and someone made a mess in my cupboard and spilled sticky stuff(come to find out it’s corn syrup), so we cleaned it out. In doing so we found expired evaporated milk from 2014. About 30 cans from WIC, we didn’t use it all up and can’t legally do anything else with it. So, it became pig food after I found them shoved in the farthest darkest corner in the cupboard.
So I came up with a yummy slop for the pigs.
I dumped their pig food in their bowls(they use two feed bowls) dumped four cans of milk on top, then broke a loaf to loaf and a half in their bowls and stired. The first time I gave them that all you could hear was slurping. No fighting, no squealing, just slurping.
I have talked to a local big box store about getting their expired veggies for the pigs but they said people were digging through it and eating it. But they said in the past they have donated to pig farms, and that I should talk to such and such about it. Of corse I forgot to do that while I was there. 🤦♀️ We routinely check the discount produce for the animals, it’s always a hit or miss. But I know the bread store seems to always have a supply.
We went back to get more bread, this time we took our new to us truck. We got two cans of bread this time.
Needless to say with the bread, and the sticky mess we are finding all kinds of yummies for the piggies. They have noticeably gotten larger, well all except Porky.
They temps have been ridiculously warm, 82°F. Even the pigs are enjoying the spray from the hose.
Our neighbors who live on the propterty next to us just got a baby potbelly pig. It's so cute! It's a pet not food though. I really like how made their pen out of pallets like that. You can use pallets to make just about anything. And you get them for free almost anywhere.
Be careful potbellied pigs can be mean. Our neighbor, when I was a kid and lived in a city, had one. It chased me and would bite me. He was an ass hole. But he was cute at the same time. Such a conundrum.
I was trying to think of a way to keep them without them trashing fencing like Pumba did, he would rub on fence posts then plop down. We have been fortunate that we only have to drive halfway to town to pick them up from a gas station. I love that they are free!
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I would like to have one, but I do not have an open place, I live in the house without a patio, I liked how you describe your day and how you take care of it, but I would not kill them if I have already taken care of them in some way.
It was very hard to butcher our first pig, Pumba. He was a good boy, we loved him. But that’s the difference between us and factory farm. We love our animals, they all get names. They are loved all the way until the end and we cry like we are suppose to, in respect. We thank them for their lives, just like when we hunt and fish.
Piggies love bread. Used to stop at the used bread store routinely....
When I was a kid and we had cows to milk we fed our pigs several gallons of skim milk per day. Generally with cracked grain. They grew fast and sweet! Another thing. They love apples but will turn themselves inside out for squash....
I loved raising pigs. They are truly pleasant animals to have around, and oh so tasty in the fall....
We are trying to find sources of milk, but there are no dairy’s in Alaska anymore. All our milk is shipped in from the lower 48. So it’s all about talking to stores before the dump it in the garbage.
I wish we had apple orchards around here, but mostly it’s u-pick farms or private ones. Apple trees are hard to grow, I have gotten them to grow to about three inches and they died on me. It may be time to try again.
Pigs are awesome animals. Pumba would play with our dogs and chase them. He truly was a good pig. He didn’t taste to half bad either
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