Raising pastured pigs: a guide to rearing, butchering, and preserving pastured pork

83 Pages·2012·5.98 MB·English

by  Samantha Biggers

Biggers' Farm Guides Volume I
Raising Pastured Pigs
By Samantha Biggers
Text Copyright 2012 Samantha Biggers
All Rights Reserved
This book is dedicated to all the small farmers past, present, and future.
Table of Contents
Introduction 5
Chapter 1 Pig Breed Descriptions 7
Chapter 2 Great Pig Myths 13
Chapter 3 Planning Your Pig Fence and Managing Your Woodlot 14
Chapter 4 Housing 22
Chapter 5 Feeding 24
Chapter 6 Breeding 27
Chapter 7 Farrowing 28
Chapter 8 Pig Health 31
Chapter 9 Butchering 32
Chapter 10 Canning Pork and Pork Broth 41
Chapter 11 Curing and Smoking 43
Chapter 12 Recipes 47
Pig Organizations 50
Farms That Graciously Contributed Photos of Their Purebred Pigs 51
Table of Contents
Title Page
Introduction
Chapter 1 Pig Breed Descriptions
Chapter 2 Great Pig Myths
Chapter 3 Planning Your Pig Fence and Managing Your Woodlot
Chapter 4 Housing
Chapter 5 Feeding
Chapter 6 Breeding
Chapter 7 Farrowing
Chapter 8 Pig Health
Chapter 9 Butchering
Chapter 10 Canning Pork and Pork Broth
Chapter 11 Curing and Smoking
Chapter 12 Recipes
Pig Organizations
Farms That Graciously Contributed Photos of Their Purebred Pigs
Introduction
Years ago pork was raised a lot differently than it is produced today. Out in the
country almost everyone kept a pig or two. All the household scraps would go to
the pig instead of going to waste. As late as the early part of the 20 century,
th
people in the Appalachians were turning pigs loose with notches in their ears.
The pigs were allowed to fatten up on forage such as acorns, apples, and
chestnuts. Come cold weather, a family would find their pigs and butcher them
for the winters meat.
Things have changed a lot. Most pigs are raised on industrial confinement
farming operations. This results in soft and fatty pork. Although mass producers
of pork do not use hormones, they do feed pigs antibiotics to encourage weight
gain and combat diseases that more commonly occur in industrial farming
operations.
Many people choose to become vegetarians because they cannot bring
themselves to eat meat from animals raised in Concentrated Animal Feed
Operation (CAFO) conditions. For those of us that cannot give up meat there are
many great options out there. There has been a local food revolution in many
locales. My husband and I live near Asheville, NC, home to many small farms
producing quality grass fed meats and abundant produce. We operate Biggers'
Farm where we have been raising pastured pigs for years. We produce all the
pork we eat. Each year we smoke and cure bacon, ham, and ribs. The fat is
added to sausage or rendered into lard and cracklings. Our pigs are out in pasture
there is entire lives. They live on a diet of sweet feed from the local feed mill,
milk, and scraps. We also pick up acorns and apples. This helps to give the pork
that old fashioned taste that sets our pork apart from commercially produced
pork. Raising pigs is not hard once you have your infrastructure in place. You
too can raise and cure quality pastured pork for your family or farm business.
There are a lot of assumptions made about pigs. We have found that they are
very pleasant to raise and easy to fence. This book will help you separate fact
from fiction when it comes to raising quality pork.
Hopefully this volume will provide you with the information and guidance you
need to get started planning your family's food future today. Good luck to you in
your farming endeavors.