raising pigs without smell and on the cheap

Pigs are a naturally clean animal that will do their business in one corner of a bigger space. No smell. No stink. Brian says the only way pigs will stink is if you let them fester in one spot.

The pig fence is stock panels held together with caribeaners.

Brian is growing lots of stuff that the pigs will self harvest. The most important being sunchokes (jerusalem artichokes). But no matter where you move the pigs there is plenty more to eat, thus reducing the feed costs.

Pigs love to eat blackberry roots - and are a great way to control blackberry problems.

https://www.youtube.com/paulwheaton12#p/u/0/LXeZ7oVhAUg

 

Paul,

Smallholders have been raising pigs 'without' the stink for generations, especially small sucker pigs that do not shit too much and have decent drainage.

My point being.... if animals are kept in reasonable conditions that allow for their habits, ie, pigs are grazers, sheep are grazers too, chickens need an outdoor area. If you do the right thing by the animals and not cage them. Most of the domestic stock we seek or need are very easy to deal with.

Pigs dont stink.... pigfarms do, rabbit farms do, cat farms, minx farms and so do chicken farms, hospitals and dog farms... you get the point. Even people dont stink when they are compressed into nasty situations that they cannot move from...

So bring on moveable pens, it works for most of God's lil creatures and especially... GET A PIG.
They are just the best and remarkably responsive..

cheers,

 

I'm with you Mike now I need to convince the decision maker!!!

 

Vegetarian pigs

It leads me to the question ....
How can you convincingly argue for a pig in your system if you are a vegetarian??
=-

 

The smell of bacon cooking. lol.

 

Pigs are easy!

I have an employee who came to me and said...."we cant some really cheap pigs''... So we borrowed a small stock trailer and went to visit this place. Anyway, this person is RSPCA accredited and has 'had pigs for years'.... I was also offered the sow?
Sadly, I suggested this lady shoot the sow and I said this with a honesty. These 3 month old piglets were runts and could have been put in the glove box. I was also offered the 'sow' for free, to be honest i recommended the sow be shot. She had been bred early and continually which is an act of cruelty in itself. The RPSCA lady, when I suggested this became a bit introverted and said she didnt know much about 'small livestock', and gave me 2 piglets. I am not the RSPCA type or I would have taken all 8 piglets.

This person is a remarkable volunteer with the RSPCA, my point is it does not make them experts. I only say this,
that the RSPCA do a remarkable job, it is always altruistic, sometimes naieve, and often these guys need a hand!!!

The RSPCA need volunteers, they also need a few 'old hands' to assist them. Assist them lots!!

 

Purple,

I support vegetarians.... I could be one... 'cept for eggs and bacon and toast'. I could be an ovo-bacon-chocolate milk sorta vegetarian. I said that in a silly way, I really like vegans.... I give them a lift to the supermarket and tell them to 'plant' stuff.
Vegans are a special nasty product of the supermarket generation. So I encourage them to graze my front 20 acres....EEEK.. when that doesnt seem to work......... I encourage them to 'graze' at my 1700 MILE supermarket. [I live remote]

I grow a lotta vegies... so my family dont do 'fibre or carb'... they just do 'too much'..


End point.. I like vegetarians.... i really dont know how to 'do' vegetarian, which is my issue not theirs. BUT VEGANS THAT LOB\INTO MY SPACE AND DEMAND TO HAVE 'GRAZING RIGHTS' over my miserable supermarket aisles... well those numbskulls should get on the next 'long hydrogen carbon greyhound bus and fuck off!!'

cheers

 

I am not trying to convert anyone honestly. This just came up on my radar and as there are a lot of comments I thought it may interest some.
https://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/02/02/133304206/why-bacon-is-a-gateway-to-meat-for-vegetarians

 

Purple - they'll dig over your garden beds much more effectively than the chooks will. Or so I'm told - have never got up close and personal with a live pig. Apparently they make nice pets. Could be good for kids to pat when they come to visit your place on their school trips or something. You could bag up and sell pig poo as a niche item. Will that be enough to convince Kate?

 

I had a pet pig once and she was sweet. Her mother had been killed accidentally so it was brought home. It was on a work site and she used to love to get under the table when all the men and me were sitting there and tackle our shoelaces. I think i had velcro on mine and she loved that.

But I wouldn't have a pig. They don't make dairy food and i would never want to kill a pig (killing roosters and ducks is bad enough) and think the whole looking after them sounds difficult and you need a lot of room for them if they are to have a good life.

Animals are a lot of responsibilty and I think people don't realise how much until they get them. Because of the costs involved many people are inclined to let animals suffer to avoid paying those costs.

 

It's a funny thing Permasculpture, but friends of ours were quite sure that a vegetarian quiche contained bacon (don't all quiches?) NO
I,m a bit with you Mike - though there needs to be enough room for everyone (mostly) in this world.
I don't think Kate will buy it Eco - except maybe the school kid angle. I'll give that a go and let you know.

 

Progress report.

Well,

I have had Piggamee & Black Betty for about 1 month now and they have at least doubled in weight and size and are doing well. They are fed a combo of scraps and commercial pellets as well as plants, prunings, weeds and cut grass.

For some reason these pigs are not fussed about bananas. I have explained to them that 'cos of the cyclone they are worth a lot of money, but they seem to leave them till very last anyway. I have a couple of clumps of bananas that produced huge fruit that make great smoothies but seem a little pasty to eat fresh. It took the pigs about a week to finish off the bunch. I eat them but the family ignore them. I thought the pigs would love the bananas, the horses, sheep and cattle do.

The pigs are enjoying all parts of the pawpaw and also like wilted cassava branches. I havent given them any cassava root yet, I think I will probably boil it for them.. They seem to play with arrowroot a bit but do eat it. They like lemon grass stalks but drop the leaves.

I need to relocate their pen as we are having a heavy wet season and they have now squelched it all up. The do have dry quarters and some nice dry hay to nest in.

What has been nice surprise is that friends and neighbours often turn up with pig suitable scraps when they learned we were pig owners.

cheers