One species I have long wanted to add to the farm is pigs. And this week I put a deposit down on that dream, for four Old Spot (British Breed) / Hereford (American Breed) cross piglets.
They were just born this week and so we won't get them until the second week of June (an early birthday present for myself), when they are eight weeks old. Two Gilts (a female who hasn't been breed yet), and two Barrows (castrated males).
The Barrows will be Feeder pigs, they are being bought to raise for meat. They will have a great life living outdoors with a mixture of pasture and pines (and of course mud).
The Gilts will be kept for breeding. Their piglets will be sold or raised for meat for sale.
I know we don't like to talk about where our meat / poultry comes from. And I get it. I paid over $12 for a package of chicken thighs today so I didn't have to buy Purdue or one of the other poultry abusers. Yet, I have over 50 chickens of my own in my back yard!
I am just getting to the stage where I am ready to raise poultry, and obviously pigs for eating.
As much as an animal lover that I am, I would be fooling myself if I said I could become a vegetarian. I actually had this very same conversation with a new client to my pet care services business yesterday. She said she thinks if she lived on a farm, she wouldn't be able to eat meat...but it hasn't stopped her so far!
So, I would much rather offer a source of humanly and lovingly raised poultry and meats.
