With much controversy amongst a few friends and family, we have once
again jumped into another project. Head first, just jumping right in
there is how we have always done it. We recently had a very nice former
teacher of mine and friend to my mountain man hubby that passed and it
reaffirmed that we are not getting any younger and unless we try we will
never know.
Pigs are pretty smart animals and are a large source of meat that we can put in our freezer for somewhere around $1.53 a pound. They are hard work and if they become ill or are not well cared for, then we risk losing them and having lost our small investment in them. But the local Amish have been so kind and helpful and promised that we could help when it came time for them to butcher their animals and said that when it was time for ours, they would oversee our work to ensure we were doing it correctly. They are small now and we are going to do a winter raising. Due to the frigid climates here, we are building them a nice but smallish pen for the 2 pigs, and loading it with straw and a small heat lamp for those really frigid days. We have been researching this for awhile but now its time to take the leap.
We are buying 2 of them at a very good price. Not sure which ones, but I will be happy with whatever. The hardest part to the process is when it comes time that they are ready to be processed. I myself cannot take part because I am so tender hearted and love all God’s creatures. But I have made a promise to myself and God that I will take extra good care of them and make sure they have happy piggy lives before that time comes. All life is so precious, but we are also wanting to be sure that we know what we are feeding them and where our meet comes from. Today, the conditions that animals in commercial factories are so poorly cared for. It’s my goal to get a nice sunny area fenced off for them so they can experience all the fun things that piggies should. We will have a great big veggie garden next year and I hope that this will supplement future livestock as these guys will be processed in the spring. The kids are OK with this; we had long talks about where our food comes from and why we want to be self-sufficient in any way possible.
feeding costs and the costs of building the sctructure (which is quite minimal as Dan is cutting down trees and using free scrap wood from one of the local Amish that we have made a barter system with. We cut wood and help with his business when we can, and they allow us to dog through their huge stack of crap wood and take whatever we need.
I am quite excited for this new adventure and I hope any of you out there with pig-raising experience will feel free to comment. We chose winter time for our first raising because of the smell and flies, so hopefully, we can keep them warm and dry and happy in their new little hut.
Pigs are pretty smart animals and are a large source of meat that we can put in our freezer for somewhere around $1.53 a pound. They are hard work and if they become ill or are not well cared for, then we risk losing them and having lost our small investment in them. But the local Amish have been so kind and helpful and promised that we could help when it came time for them to butcher their animals and said that when it was time for ours, they would oversee our work to ensure we were doing it correctly. They are small now and we are going to do a winter raising. Due to the frigid climates here, we are building them a nice but smallish pen for the 2 pigs, and loading it with straw and a small heat lamp for those really frigid days. We have been researching this for awhile but now its time to take the leap.
We are buying 2 of them at a very good price. Not sure which ones, but I will be happy with whatever. The hardest part to the process is when it comes time that they are ready to be processed. I myself cannot take part because I am so tender hearted and love all God’s creatures. But I have made a promise to myself and God that I will take extra good care of them and make sure they have happy piggy lives before that time comes. All life is so precious, but we are also wanting to be sure that we know what we are feeding them and where our meet comes from. Today, the conditions that animals in commercial factories are so poorly cared for. It’s my goal to get a nice sunny area fenced off for them so they can experience all the fun things that piggies should. We will have a great big veggie garden next year and I hope that this will supplement future livestock as these guys will be processed in the spring. The kids are OK with this; we had long talks about where our food comes from and why we want to be self-sufficient in any way possible.
feeding costs and the costs of building the sctructure (which is quite minimal as Dan is cutting down trees and using free scrap wood from one of the local Amish that we have made a barter system with. We cut wood and help with his business when we can, and they allow us to dog through their huge stack of crap wood and take whatever we need.
I am quite excited for this new adventure and I hope any of you out there with pig-raising experience will feel free to comment. We chose winter time for our first raising because of the smell and flies, so hopefully, we can keep them warm and dry and happy in their new little hut.
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