# Feeder pigs on woodlot?



## MelissaW (Jun 18, 2003)

Hi friends! Has anybody ever raised a couple of feeder pigs on mixed pasture and woodlot? We are clearing the brush from 1/2 acre section of our woodlot, which borders good pasture, and I'm curious as to whether or not it is advisable to raise a couple of pigs on the lot for the dual purpose of digging up roots and providing freezer meat. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!


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## cseger1 (Mar 23, 2007)

We haven't done it, but have seen it done. It is AMAZING how completely three pigs cleared out their little area of the woods. I assume they had supplemental feed, though. ...especially once the area was turned into well-tilled mud.


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## MelissaW (Jun 18, 2003)

That's great news! I've just started doing my research. I'd like to get two pigs in the spring. I'd like to use a movable A-frame type house for them, and divide the area into two areas that can be rotated, each with half pasture, half woodlot of about 1/2 acre each. The pasture is already planted with an alfalpha, livestock mix. I was thinking to start them off on starter ration for a little while (would a couple of weeks sound right?), and then taper them off to a balanced ration supplimented with pasture, woodlot, and table scraps. I wish I had a cow or goat for extra milk, but I don't. My other issue is water. While a self-watering system sounds ideal, the area is quite a ways off from the main barn and water supply. It's close enough to run a long hose, but I'm not sure if that works with a self waterer. Have to look into that some more. Our pond is right next to the pasture, but I don't know anything about how pigs behave around large bodies of water beyond that painting of the diving pig, lol!


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

I raised a single feeder pig on approximately 1/3 acre pasturette. She got about 1 quart of goats milk a day for the first month or so. The entire time she got free choice hog pellets, alfalfa hay shared with calves, graze (and holy cow, she really really grazed!), and produce/bakery product from Safeway discard. No smell in the pasture and she was so neat and tidy with her toilet habits. I am now hoarding the chops...they are so ding-danged good! We will do another one in the Spring; I won't do two only because I think they'd start to degrade the area.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Works great. Train them to electric fencing and they're easy to keep in. Add some additional feed. We provide hay in the winter, pasture in the summer in addition to the brushy areas. Additionally we get whey and cheese trim. The dairy balances the diet. Excess bakery goods and produce from the local stores (pre-consumer) can be good too. I also always grow a lot more than we need for pumpkins, beets, turnips, sunflowers, etc and the extra goes to the pigs in the fall and winter. They harvest it.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## Gregg Alexander (Feb 18, 2007)

I have several lots that I keep clean with pigs. It is a mix of woods and pasture, been doing it for yrs


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## MelissaW (Jun 18, 2003)

Thanks all! That's really good news! I'm glad you mentioned the bakery, cheesemaking, and excess produce. I'll start looking now for suppliers who may be willing to share. Great advice!


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## stoneunhenged (Sep 22, 2007)

I do it all the time. In fact, it's the only way I do it. Butchered two pigs today. I supplement with corn and slops, but they forage for roots and acorns, too. I get about 300 lbs. of slops a week from the best gourmet restaurant in a city of a quarter million people. Those pigs eat better than 99% of the world. When I have extra eggs from the hens, the pigs get the surplus. 

There is no pig smell if you use big pens. The pigs stay happy, get lots of exercise, and their meat is excellent. 

I built a small pen within the pen to catch them so I can castrate the males, and I built a chute off the pen so I can get them in a trailer to take them to the butcher. I feed them in the trailer so there is zero resistance when it's time to take them to be processed. In fact, they compete to get into the trailer.


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## furholler (Feb 1, 2005)

I read an article recently in the "Stockman Grass Farmer" about "season finished pork". They were finishing pigs on wooded land on acorns the 3 weeks before slaughter. Trouble is enough land. In order to have enough acorns to finish the pigs, they needed 1 acre/head. However, the article said that the meat was dark and lean and tender. Chefs went crazy over it and paid top dollar for it. Apparently the taste was outstanding as well. I think it said they were getting an average of .40/lb more than the usual price. Again, they raised them normally, (pastured, that is) until the last 3 weeks, then finished them in the woods on acorns.


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