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Pigs don't stinkThis may come as a surprise to some of you, but pigs don't stink. They do chew loudly and sloppily and slurp when they drink, but they do not stink. That is, if they are raised well. If they are forced to lie in their own excrement in an enclosed area, well, the smell is unavoidable as well as sickness and the meat is just not as good.When we have the industrial mindset when it comes to raising animals, we do not take into consideration the amount of space each animal needs and we cram as much as we can into the space we have. Then the pasture and/or pen becomes barren and picked over and loaded with manure, minerals are depleted and parasites become a problem. When we raise the animals the way they were created to be raised, we allow them to live the way they were intended to live and eat what they were intended to eat which contributes to their health and they don't smell. Our pigs are outdoors with access to sunshine, grass, dirt/mud and fresh water. They have a good-sized lot to root through and do what they were created to do. The little pigs are allowed to go outside of their boundary as they fit easily under the electric fence. They pesture the goats, chickens, cows and sheep. They root through their manure. They root through dirt piles, wood chips, venture out to pasture, clean up decayed hay. Soon we plan on fencing them into the lot we are planning on planting to an orchard next year. They can clean up the tree roots and prepare the soil for us. We feed them kitchen scraps, give them access to organic Thorvin kelp (which we feed to all our animals and like it so much we are now selling it). The kelp provides a natural source of minerals and vitamins contributing to their overall health. We also give the pigs extra milk from our goats. Their little hams are growing by the day. We have selected gilts we plan on breeding early this winter. They are the ones who are absolutely thriving on pasture in that they are growing quickly, are hardy and forage well. We've already sold our extra piglets without even trying to market them and are looking forward to expanding our pastured hog operation. More and more folks are realizing the taste and health benefits coming from animals raised the way they were created to be raised just can't be beat. Gotta go slop the hogs, The Farmer's Wife 09:22 - 2006-Aug-4 - post comment
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Description Sharing our thoughts, events, ups and downs, as we restore a once profitable farm to its former greatness as a Christian agrarian family. Home User Profile Archives Friends Lighthouse Farm Our DVD's for homesteader's Homestead Series e-books Lighthouse Farm Podcasts No NAIS Recent Entries - Pig-headed or chicken-hearted???? - Health care - the way it used to be - The Egg Hog - Back in blogdom after chasing sheep - Ode to Winter 2007 - Chicken and Hog DVD's are now finished!! - Video clip of the birth of a piglet - News about Haitian friends!!!!! - Authentic AgricultureTM - Welcome! - A Peaceful Night in the Pasture - Big Sale at The Old Schoolhouse!! - Rendering Lard - Hog Butchering Time - John Ray - Founder of Biology - A Breath-taking Field Trip - Fat and Sassy - Real Men Eat Quiche - Green Tomato Recipes - Harvest - Two Cents Worth on Pinching Pennies... - Cockle burrs and stinging nettle a blessing? - Gourmet Meals At The Farm Table - Seeds Worth Saving - Sweet cartoon - Commercial rice supply has been contaminated - Spermicidal Corn - Agricultural Science Fiction Horror Flick or Truth? - SImple Entertainment - "Gardening is like a treasure hunt!" - Pigs don't stink - Diggin' For Gold!! - Rain - a Blessing or a Curse? - My Sheep Know My Voice - er - Chain Saw... - The Old Farm Dog - An Alarming Nightime Visitor - Farming Magazine - A Pig's Nest - Meager chicken harvest - Bacon + Garlic = Piglets? - A Rare July 4th Tribute to Farmers - Fencing in more pasture - Three months on our new place.... - Blood suckers in Minnesota :( - Miss Bacon and Rocky Mountain Oysters - Sheep without a shepherd - Haying with my man! - Mink solutions, anyone? - Goat meets pig... - I Smell a Skunk... - URGENT!! Please forward!!!! - Did Adam Smell Like That? - Minnesota!!!!! - Problem solved - God is good - The Rat Trap and One Happy Girl - New Podcast - Farm Restoration - The Beginning - An Honorable Gentleman Has Died - Why teach our children about agriculture? - Cheap, Safe Food??? - New NAIS links worth reading - Old Tractors Never Die - A Lawyer comments on Constitutional Rights and NAIS - Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks - Big Bellies and Big Bags - Hosting Haitians on the Homestead - Minnesota, Here We Come (after we sell our house) and "the Chip" - And God saw that it was good - Greetings |