
Have you ever wanted to get pigs, but are a bit on the fence about getting them?
In this episode I discuss 5 of the main reasons we are looking to get pigs next year. We have kicked around the idea for a few years now, but if nothing goes awry between now and the new year we will get them.
I think pigs are going to be a great addition to the homestead for the income, work, and knowledge they will bring. To find out more, and to see what has gone on recently around here give this episode a listen.
We’ve been through five rounds of feeder pigs. But this is the first year that we are experimenting with breeder pigs and a bit of rotational grazing.
Timing. If you are using a butcher beware of hunting season, we have planned poorly and had butcher dates in the middle. They don’t have as much time, packing gets sloppy (awful in the path of the vacuum sealer doesn’t seal), we also sent two hogs to be butchered and received one pair of ribs back (needless to say we won’t be using that butcher again). If you get the timing right you can push all the plants or spoilage from the garden through the pigs. (They might not have a taste for all of it but they will still break it down as trample on the field.)
We seeded a paddock last fall but we didn’t let the hogs onto the paddock soon enough. Pigs eat from the top down; so once the forage is over their head they cannot get to it and there will be more trample. Might have some reseeding from the pasture mix but that paddock wasn’t very useful as feed because of my foolishness.
Need to figure out the smoking as we will be butchering ourselves. We had the luxury of trapping a wild boar and getting some practice a few years ago. Lambs, deer, rabbits, chickens, ducks, guineas, turkeys, it is all the same after awhile. If your customers don’t require USDA figure out how to cut the expense.
The upside down bandsaw anything like the G0503 12″ re-saw. Great machine for taking a cant down into boards for a project.
If the diesel engine ever dies the 100 HP motor sounds like the way to go. We would have to trench power to the mill, being able to hear a bit more and not breathing diesel fumes sounds like a dream.
I like the triton but not the price. I love my keter folding work tables because they give me a flat surface that isn’t buried by junk; but plastic is expensive and wood is free enough. I’m looking at youtube.com/watch?v=lWdR9xOG7S0 (yes, the channel is clickbait and the video is over zoomed allowing a poor overview.) Might not be the design I settle on but the side vise looks versatile.
Trailer- the mass of a overloaded trailer and the leverage involved in tilting it scares me mathematically. I think I will stick to easier things.