Eggs and Bacon!!!

"Are you getting PIGS?!"

That was the FIRST question my seven-year-old niece asked me when my sister told her I had bought "a farm" as we now call it.  First of all, it's so funny to me that we call it that, but I secretly love it.  Dad now calls it the "farm to the south" as his parents' farm will always be "the farm."  But that's what it is!  A farm home complete with pastures, acreage, and a barn!  It's a farm!

Piggies!!!

But back to the piggies!!!

Ever since I learned about winning the auction, I can't even begin to tell you how many HOURS I have spent researching pigs.  I mean, HOURS!!!  And what a fun experience it has been!

With nine acres, livestock is just a natural addition.  Plus, it's a farmstead, for crying out loud!  It NEEDS livestock!  I already will be bringing over my 12 chickens whom I have told about the move.  Yes, I speak to my chickens.  "Two more weeks, girls, and you'll be able to explore so much more land than just this backyard!"  "You girls are going to love the new place!"  "How would you like it if I added a rooster to your mix, hmm?!"

But back to the piggies!!!

I have watched countless videos on picking up feeder pigs and what to expect.  I have scoured numerous ads on craigslist advertising feeder pigs for sale.  I have researched how much land you need (not much!) to hold pigs, what they eat, how fast they grow, what types of breeds there are, and on and on and on...

ALL of the house stuff has been put on hold as I think about piggies!!!

And let me tell you, I was just flat-out IGNORANT of pigs!!!  I mean, IGNORANT!!!  I guess I never really thought about what they ate before, but I really had zero clue that they rooted in the ground.  I mean, I knew they ate OFF the ground, but the first time I saw a pig tear up the earth, I was mesmerized.  These are living, breathing tilling machines!  Before the research, I would have probably told you grain products for food.  But when I saw a pig eating hay, I couldn't believe it!

So.much.to.learn.

I have talked much to Dad who raised pigs growing up.  He initially suggested against having livestock, but I think he has learned I am pretty dead-set on putting something out there.  I don't want to mow seven acres!!!

My dad with a huge pig!

But from those conversations, it's so nice to have living knowledge.  My dad tells the story of his dad (my grandpa) raising pigs in their teeny, tiny backyard when Dad was little!!!  I have seen the pictures to prove it!  I miss that piece of Americana.

Which is why I am sooooooooooo excited to get PIGGIES!!!  So after her question, I told my niece with a resounding "YES!!!" that I am getting pigs!

It's actually a lot of work to get ready for pigs (or any livestock for that matter), and I have learned that the number one item is fencing.  It doesn't matter what else you have if your pigs get out.  Thankfully, this farmstead actually comes with probably a couple of thousand dollars' worth of fencing.  And for that, I am so grateful.  What is more, then fence is already up!  And for that, I am also grateful!!!

But it will need to be addressed, for sure.  Some of the fencing has swing-gates that the pigs can most-certainly get out of.  I will have to add panels (from other places of the farm) to those gates.

Photo of the cattle fencing.  The square holes are all uniform, whereas hog fencing has smaller slats at the bottom.

Another auction photo showing a handy swing-gate.  But the pigs will run right through that!

The planned pasture for the pigs.  I should have about 1.5 acres for them to roam!

The auction photos show the fence is actually cattle panels, but at least for this first year, I think that is OK, as I will be getting 40-pound feeder pigs to start.  They shouldn't be able to fit through the cattle panel squares...I hope!  I may have to add electric wire at the bottom just to be sure.

But what a fun adventure and journey this has been.  Not only did I learn about the rooting of pigs, but I have learned about their very short growth period!  You can go from "zero to hero" in just six months!  I had ZERO clue about that, too!  I would have probably guessed two years.

Which is why I am excited to get them SOON!  If I pick them up in March, I can take them to slaughter in September.  Or if picked up in April, I can get bacon in October.  The beauty is that I don't have to worry about animals in the wintertime.  It's a win-win.  Down the road, I might pursue winter animals, but unlike with cattle, for example, I can try my hand at pig-raising and remove myself from that venture in six months if need be!

I have watched videos of fencing, pastures, grazing, rooting, rotational grazing, picking up new pigs, moving fat pigs, and even butchering.  Yes, you can watch a very detailed video of how a hog is butchered, complete with the saws and bleeding and all.  It's pretty neat.  EVERY part of the pig is kept.

I've even contacted the local butchers to ask about cost.  The closest one says an average 220-pound pig will cost around $315 for normal cuts and curing.  A butcher 40 miles west says their price is $225-250 per head for the same weight.  It might be worth a drive?

Feeder pigs are going for around $40 for a 40-pounder to $60-80 for 60-pounders.  In other words, I am paying $1/pound (obviously).  So fully-grown, what would I charge to a local family?!  $220 is not that much for a whole pig and six months of work!  At $1.50/pound, that would give me $330.  Take it up to $2.00/pound, and I could get $440 per head.  But does the local market command that?  I think I have seen one local guy sell his pasture-raised hogs for $1.85/pound.

Estimates are that a 250-pound pig gives about 180 pounds of meat.  So a 220-pound pig might give you 160 pounds (158.4 to be exact).  28% of the pig is not able to be processed for meat (think blood, water, and other stuff).

So what's the total "grocery store" cost?  Well, at $2.00/pound, with a $440 pig plus $315 in processing fees, I would get 160 pounds of meat for $745.  That comes out to $4.65/pound.  That is probably similar to a grocery store.  If I dropped that down to $1.00/pound like when I purchased the feeder pig, then the price drops to a low $3.34/pound.

But it gets even lower than that!

At today's current market rate of $0.56/pound (guess why farmers struggle!), a 220-pound pig would only fetch $123.20!  This price would likely not cover the cost of feed, water, housing, or medicine.  It's actually kind of sad how little farmers get paid!  But with this commercial price, you would get 160 pounds of meat for just $2.74/pound.  Of course, a pasture-raised, home-grown pig currently commands the love and respect of soooooooooo many humans that a premium is paid for home-grown, happy pigs.  So the $0.56/pound price is far-fetched.

I think I could easily advertise a happy pig in the sunshine and get that price up!

But I am likely only six months away from having to ask for a price from a consumer!  (And that's kind of exciting!).  Someone will be buying Polley Pigs!!!  Keekers, you better be good at raising bacon!

Actually, that's what gets me so excited about this whole process.  I have been doing the nitty-gritty research for what makes a pig live and grow, but the real joy is going to come in the first time I take my niece on a little country drive to pick up her first little piggies.  If only I could see what she is thinking!!!  I think she is going to fall in love with them, but I think she is going to be SO surprised, too, to see that her tiny little 40-pound piggie is 80 pounds, then 100, then 220 in such a short period of time!

I'm actually not sure what she will think when she sees a pig waaaaaaay bigger than her!

But the whole process is just downright fun.  My sister and I are still trying to figure out the best way to take her "pet" to market.  "Andy, she will never talk to you again if you butcher her pig."  haha.  While I don't plan on her watching with me as the butcher cuts the pork, it will probably be difficult to let her know her special pig is no longer on the farm.

Speaking of special pigs, I may be receiving spotted pigs!  I put an ad out on craigslist looking for an automatic pig feeder (no responses) and for feeder pigs ready around March 15.  Well, yesterday I received a message from a guy who has a litter of Duroc-Berkshire crosses.  He says they were born the first week of February, so mid-March puts them at about six weeks old!  Perfect!  He says they are red with black spots with four of them being all-black.

The fattened version of the Duroc-Berkshire breed I may be getting.

A photo of possible pig colors!  These are not the actual pigs, but these are the same Duroc-Berkshire cross.

My niece says she wanted a pink pig, but I might be able to convince her otherwise if I can tell her that she can identify the pigs by their spots!  No need to put tags on their ears!  I still want to get her approval, though, so she can enjoy the excitement, too!  Spotted pigs?!  Why not?!

Oh, what fun this has been.  I still have MUCH to do to get ready. Last week, I built a QUICK set of fencing for my truck to get the pigs.  I literally screwed four pallets together.  I had the whole project complete in about 45 minutes.  But the more I researched, the more I realized that if I am going to get pigs, then I might as well GET SOME PIGS!!!

The free pallets coming home.

The crate for the feeder pigs!

Total cost?  Zero bucks!

The early number of pigs I desired was four, hence the small crate in my truck.  But that number has since jumped to about 8-10!  If I have the land (I do), if I'll have an automatic feeder (I will), if I'll have an automatic waterer (I will), then I might as well do it right!  I contacted a gentleman about an old automatic feeder today.  He is asking $300 but wants it gone SOON.  I think I could get it for $200 if I picked it up next week!  That would be a tremendous help!  I could put 500 pounds of feed in the unit and be "done" with feeding!

The automatic feeder I hope to buy.

(As a fun side-note, I had my dad pick up my grandpa's old book from his ag days.  It's called Swine Science and is hundreds of pages of pig information.  While I love the YouTube lessons, I wanted OLD lessons that are buried deep in print.  Our society has lost so much of the small farmers that the lessons of small farms has been nearly been lost, too!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading about feeding the pigs "Garbage."  Literally!  While this would be frowned on today, it was common practice at one point!  THIS is the type of information I was looking for.  Time-tested traditions.)

First published in 1952!  Full of so many nuggets of knowledge, lessons, and wisdom!

THE reason for pasture pigs!  A savings of 500-1000 lbs. of grain and 300-500 lbs. of protein supplement!  Let God raise the pigs!!!

You won't see this in today's books!  We call it slop!

Oh, one more point that I had to ponder much of the morning.  Want to get a "mutt" group of pigs nearly back to nearly full-blooded in just five litters?  Breed a "scrub" pig to a full-blooded for just five litters, and you will have a 31/32 full-blooded pig again.  Amazing!  Let your mind wrap around that one for a bit, and it will make sense!

What a concept!

Ok, back to the piggies!!!

I will have about 1.5 acres dedicated to the pigs to start.  My ultimate goal is to set aside another acre or so for rotational grazing, but the fences are not up for that yet.  Some recommendations are 25 pigs per acre, but I am trying to stay way ahead of the pigs here.  I don't NEED that many!  I want the grass to flourish and stay ahead of the pigs, too!  So 10 to start?!  I think that sounds perfect.

The barn for the pigs.

They will have indoor stalls for staying out of the elements.

I love this old barn!

It comes with a hay loft for straw and hay storage.

But as Dad said, "Andy, you could get a litter in March and then another one in April and have them both ready by next winter."  Ahhhhh, so true!!!

How fun is this?!

Seriously, though, I really do love this whole process.  Ever since I was a little boy, I was just enamored with livestock.  I played in the hay at my grandpa's farm; I fed his Limousin cattle alfalfa from my bare hand; I picked eggs from his chickens.  And now I have been raising chickens of my own for more than two years!

What better way to enjoy the joys of livestock than to have a little farmette?!  Pigs and chickens!!!  Bacon and eggs!!!

I'm so excited!  I think the only person more excited than me is my niece, and frankly, that makes me even MORE excited!!!

The piggies are coming!!!  Maybe in just two weeks?!

So here's the checklist!

1.  Get the mini farm.

2.  Check the fences for rigidity!

3.  Install a low single-line electric fence?

4.  Build an automatic waterer.

5.  Pick up an automatic feeder.

6.  Build an actual whole-truck-bed stock pen.

7.  Take my niece to pick up some piggies!!!

8.  Sit back and enjoy the farm!

(Oh, that house stuff?  Drywall and plaster and heating and air...and...and...and...yeah, that can all wait.) :)

We've got piggies to raise!!!

I love this.