The Grass Is Greener

We've been moving the cattle and horses around to access the best grass available.  This is called rotational grazing.  In the pic below, you can see the grass on the left is brown and eaten down.  The grass on the right is green and lush.  It's separated by 2 strands of poly tape.  It CAN be hooked up to and energizer to keep it hot, but honestly, our animals are terrified of it, we don't have it hooked up.  We do have secure perimeter fencing around this 10 acre pasture, so if they were to get out, they would still be contained. 

 

Once we moved the animals over, the grass on the left will have time to rejuvenate and grow lush again.  The goal is to keep them on one side for a minimum of 4 weeks to interrupt the lifecycle of any parasites in their poo.  Plus, we have the chickens out there and they are scratching and picking through that manure.  It's an awesome symbiotic relationship. 

Water

We don't have water on the land.  This has been a bit of a problem for us, as our animals require water.  Our well is expected to be drilled next week, but in the meantime, we had to think outside the box.  So we bought one.  I found these food preservative tanks on Craigslist and drove nearly 2 hours to pick it up.  We washed it out, went to a commercial plumbing store to fit the valve to a garden hose, and we were in business.  We are blessed with great neighbors, and our one neighbor has graciously allowed us to use his well to fill tanks and water troughs.  We may give him some pork for his generosity.  :) 

We rinsed out the tank, and filled it about half full.  We have a F-250, but that tank holds 250 gallons of water.  And that's heavy.  Half of that will last the pigs about 4-5 days.  We park the truck on a hill and let gravity do the hard work.

We connected a commercial grade hose and my ingenious hubby put a water float on the trough.  When the water gets too low, the water fills up.  No more thirsty piggies!



 

I used to be obsessive about water cleanliness with the pigs.  Then I realized that it's a losing battle.  We do rinse out the troughs every week, and you should see the layer of mud on the bottom.  They come to drink with dirty snouts and that dirt makes for dirty water, and the heavier bits fall to the bottom.  If the water gets too dirty, I do change it out, but as long as it's semi-opaque, I'm happy.  They don't seem to mind.  After all, they pretty much eat all that dirt.  God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt. 

The little ones aren't tall enough to reach over the side and drink.  I love to see their little hooves on the edge. 

Weekly Moving

 We believe in pasture rotation.  We haven't always.  But after seeing what livestock can do to pasture (pretty much eating it down to a moonscape, but leaving weeds) I researched pasture rotation.  Since we don't use any chemicals on our farm, and therefore, don't spray for weeds, I wanted to discover how people did it back in the day before nasty chemicals.  They moved their livestock daily, and weekly.  We decided to give it a try.  Pigs are rough on pasture.  It's a fact, but a fact we will use to our advantage.  They are the ultimate tillers, and we plan on exploiting their gifts.  We moved the pigs on the above lot for one week.  Surrounded by 400 ft of electric netting we bought at Premier One Fencing.  We use a 1 joule solar charger.  It's AMAZING!

After one week, it looked like the above pic.  So, we moved them again.  They rooted up stones, and turned over this rich soil, leaving behind manure. We will let it rest for about 10-12 weeks.  By that time, the whole grains we feed, in addition to the residual grass roots left behind, will have reseeded and it will be lush and thick again.  We will put them back on it.  See how it works?



We moved them to a larger lot full of trees, brush, thickets of ferns and of course, their favorite--grass.  We added 200 ft of fence so now they have an area of 600 ft of fence surrounding them.  They have already started eating the brush and undergrowth. 

 

 

Pigs are smart, so a busy pig is a happy pig.  They have friends, and lots of work to do.

 

They know their job, and they do it well.

 

Big Momma loves being out on pasture and woods.  Look at her round belly full of babies!

This is the moonscape reseeded.  This is barley, rye, maybe some oats and wheat.  The whole grains in their food, have already started to sprout to cover up the bare earth left behind.  SCORE!

How Can We?

They are seriously cute.  Most people that know me ask how I can eat them.  I understand their feelings of guilt, attachment, fondness over all things cute and small and cuddly.  But these little piggies are only 2 weeks old.  In 4 months, they will be HUGE.  I mean, 250 lbs, HUGE.  They wont be so cute.  They will be sleeping and rooting and getting into mischief, like all pigs do.  They are smart, too.  I love Jesus, but sometimes I cuss pigs.  I have to out think them every day.  We raise them on pasture, where they are free take naps in the sunshine, drink fresh water, eat grass (when available in the spring, summer and fall), eat apples out of our neighbor's yard and get belly scratches from my kids.  They have such a great life while here on earth.  They are not confined in a building with a concrete pad, bored out of their minds, getting sick.  They are not fed antibiotics as a preventative.  They are not given growth hormones.  They are given love and respect.  That's how we are able to eat them.  We can't imagine eating pork that isn't raised like this.  That's how.