4 things to consider when you buy piglets for your home raised free range pork
Raising your own pork can be very rewarding but wading through all the adverts for weanling pigs in spring can be a nightmare.
Of course, I am biased and am going to say look for Berkshires but it’s not always an option.
In your search, price and location will likely be deciding factors but beware of what looks like a really good deal - especially if you are new to raising pigs.
Piglets raised in pig barns, uncastrated males and very young pigs can usually be found cheap but could be costly in the long run.
Consider these 4 things when you are buying your pigs.
AGE Piglets should not be weaned until they are at least 6 weeks old. Don’t buy them any younger. The longer they are with their mother the stronger and healthier they will be. You want piglets that have had a good start in life.
PROPER WEANING - Adverts will usually say piglets or weanlings. Weaners or weanlings are young piglets that have been - or should have been taken from the sow (their mother).
Hopefully, you will find a farmer that actually weans the piglets and doesn’t sell them straight off the sow.
Piglets straight off the sow and not weaned are fast and feisty. If you have no choice but to take these you run the risk of them escaping, never to be seen again - Your pen needs to be like Fort Knox when you unload them - or even leave them on a livestock trailer until they get used to you feeding them.
If they get away from you they are just going to run as fast as they can looking for their mum and you will be lucky if you catch them.
We wean ours at 6 weeks old then we have them in a pen for 2 weeks - this allows them time to get used to people feeding them and they are less stressed when they go to their new home.
AVOID BUYING BOARS (uncastrated males) for meat.
Buy barrows (castrated males) or gilts (females). Boars have what is known as boar taint when they get older. This is an awful smell that will put you off eating pork for years.
Women seem to notice boar taint more than men and I have seen numerous social media posts saying it’s not anything to worry about - I can tell you from experience it is! We worked in abattoirs that processed hundreds of boars and you can definitely smell it.
With the price of feed right now it’s not worth the risk of raising boars that will almost certainly lose you clients when you sell them stinky inedible pork.
You do have the option to get them castrated but this will be a costly vet visit.
LOOK FOR PIGLETS RAISED OUTDOORS - If you want free-range pork look for weanlings that are raised outside. Avoid pigs from a commercial, climate-controlled barn these piglets will not be hardy.
Happy Piglet hunting
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This blog post was written in participation in a Blogging Bee--an online gathering reminiscent of the quilting bees and sewing bees of days past when women would bring their work together to create art. If you enjoyed this post with the theme of “Four,” take a look at these posts from other farmers, small business owners, homesteaders, and creatives.
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