Our New Boar

Our new boar Hector hails from a small farm up north in Penasco.  He is a Hampshire cross.  We've raised Hector from a wee little piglet.  He is a very friendly and happy fellow with an enormous personality.  As you can see, this gentle boar enjoys a good belly scratching.

The American National Swine Registry notes this is probably the oldest American breed of hogs. Importations of this hog breed were thought to have been made from Hampshire in England between 1827 and 1839.   Hampshire hogs are noted for being well-muscled and rapid growers, and for exhibiting good carcass quality when used as meat animals.

Meet Rosy - Our New Tamworth Sow

Rosy is a Tamworth.  She's a year old.  Usually, she is quite a serious pig, but here she is all full of herself on a cool spring afternoon.  The Tamworth is among the oldest of pig breeds but as with many older breeds of livestock they are not well suited to modern production methods.  Long, lean, and athletic, the Tamworth is probably the most direct descendant of the native pig stock of northern Europe. 

The Tamworth was traditionally considered a “bacon” breed, meaning that the pigs thrived on low energy foods but grew slowly. They produced meat and bacon that was lean and fine grained. The breed has an excellent carcass yield of up to 70% due to their fine bones creating a more productive meat to bone ratio for finished meat products. The breed is listed as "Threatened" in the United States by the American Livestock Breed Conservancy.

Save Bakers Green Acres - The State of Michigan has deemed heritage hogs to be an "invasive species".

A family farm in rural Michigan may be shut down by a government entity who has passed a law stating that the breed of hogs they are raising are a threat to neighboring croplands. In truth, the Big Pork Industry has been planning this campaign to take down all family farms with hopes to eventually siege complete control of the American Food Supply. This short-film was created with hopes to inspire the public to take action.

The Baker Family website is www.bakersgreenacres.com and their battle has just begun. Please join in their fight.  See the article at Natural News here:  Insane Michigan government announces plan to destroy ranch livestock based on hair color and arrest hundreds of ranchers as felons.

Respect the Tater

It is very important to treat a Large Black Hog boar like our Tater with all of the respect and dignity that is his due as the undisputed king of the barn yard.  

(Even if he is named after one of his all-time favorite foods...)

Summer is Way Past

We've had a couple of snows already.  The mountains are capped in white.  And I am still asking myself -- where did the summer go?!

We sold most of this summer's litter as breeding stock, raising a couple for ourselves through the winter. 

Fall 2011 CSA Large Black Hogs

These sleek and glossy animals are going to the processor mid-November, just in time for Thanksgiving!  

They were born in the dead of winter last year, on an evening when it was twenty below.  Our Large Black Hog sow Prudence seems to wait until I get home from work, every single time, to go into labor.  These barrows have lived with a herd since the day they were born, have had room to romp, roam, play and just be a pig.

Large Black Hog Piglets! Born Monday, June 25, 2011

There's an awful lot of cuteness in our barn at the moment.  These Large Black Hog piglets were born on Monday night, June 25.  4 Gilts.  5 Boars.  All are well.  I am spending way too much time in the barn!