pigs

PIGS

Spots was supposed to be butchered that
first year, but after taking her to petting zoos
and spoiling her rotten, she was here to stay.
The first year the we bred her, she had 7
piglets. She was so much fun, because she
would let me babysit the piglets and go off for
walks. I would open her gate and she would
take off for the pond and go have some
"Spots" time. When I wanted her to return, I
would hold up a piglet so it would shriek and
she would come wandering back. She
allows children and adults to be with her and
her babies. We can pick them up and they
can scream like crazy and she just snorts
and looks the other way. She knows we won't
hurt them.
Spots and I go for walks all over the farm. I
have had UPS drivers pull in, get out, start to
approach me with a package, ask if that is a
pig, and I say yes. It is so funny to see them
set the package down and back away. I
would chuckle at how fast they could get back
into their truck.

It is so much fun to be there when piglets are
born! They come out wiggling and ready to
eat. They are very smart and use a "potty
place" right from the beginning. It really
proves how clean they are from day one.
Spots really enjoys having me as a midwife,
and doesn't mind having a child help clean
off and put babies on the nipples. We have
had a number of children come over to see
Spots delivering and end up helping.

This is Pig-Pig. And yes, he knew his name. One
morning we found him to be a little stiff in the back
end. After a few days he would fall on his side and
scream until someone placed up on his feet
again. We knew he had been injured, and after
countless times of placing him upright while
nursing, we started feeding him raw goat milk.
He lived outside of his family's stall, and would
burrow down into the loose hay near our Anatolian.
If it was extra cold, he would completely cover
himself and wait until I showed up in the morning
with his milk.
If he felt that I was late in the morning, he would
come down to the house, come around to the front
door and bang the door with his snout until I gave
him his milk.
We would laugh like crazy watching him run down
from the barn to the front door. He was quite the
character!

Pig-Pig made his rounds. To the school,
where he spent the day living in a
classroom. When he had to go to the
bathroom, he would go into the bathroom
and use the "paper" that I laid down.
He went to farm education centers, petting
zoos, and was borrowed quite often. As he
grew older, he ran around the farm and
healed and was ready to join his family in the
pasture.

Here he is at Munnell Run Farm, waiting
patiently, loose, for the children to arrive.

Here are some of 2006's piglets.
They were sunbathing, and of course, there is always one
that is different!
Spots had 15 piglets, and that was a little too many for us.
We weren't set up to raise that many pigs, just a few. So we
made a very difficult decision and gave her to a friend of
ours who raises pigs. She has a great home, had a big
pasture, and has some of her daughters with her. And we
get to visit whenever we want. Maybe someday when she
retires, we can bring her back here to live. We'll see how it
goes.

The farmer will give us pigs to raise in exchange, pigs that
will be raised on goat's milk, pasture and eggs. We will only
raise a few each year.
If you are interested in pork, please contact us, if we are
sold out, we can refer you to other farmers who raise
healthy pigs.

We raise pigs every year on rotational
pasture. We always had extra goat's milk,
whey from cheese making, extra cheese,
excess eggs, and extra vegetables and fruits.
And we knew it was time to add a pig or two.
We started out with two, and rotated them
around, having them root and turn over future
gardens for us. It was a perfect fit. We
needed areas for planting and they did the
work without the resources! We took them
while they were little to petting zoos and Earth
Day celebrations, and the kids would put
them through what I like to call "Child Boot
Camp".
It was important for us to have pork that was
not fed all of those chemicals and antibiotics.
It was a good choice. Our pork is full of flavor
and healthy.