Bacon & Pork Chop

This week we started a new trial on the farmstead. We decided to try growing our own pork. Yup, we added two Idaho Pasture Pigs for meat production. Our friend Dawn at The Fun E Farm in Pulaski, NY hooked us up. She runs her own farm, raising goats, pigs and chickens. We've been wanting to add more livestock, but having the commitment of 365 days being home to take care of them or finding a farm sitter was holding us back. When we talked to Dawn about her pigs we thought it might be a good fit. At first we thought we'd start with the older piglets she had that were 5 months old, 1/2 grown. That would put butcher date in April before the planting and crazy spring season. Also the weather is turning cold and the thought of 2 tiny piglets in the snow was terrifying. But after careful consideration of all aspects we decided the right choice was the little ones. The little piglets were 6 weeks old when we picked them up on Sat. They will be ready to butcher in August (around 10 months old). Our son Caleb affectionately named them Porkchop and Bacon (lest we forget their purpose). It's hard to not get attached a little while training them to be people friendly. For the first couple days they were in a temporary pen we setup. Today we finally finished the fencing for their new pen. We are starting with a 32'x48' pen divided into 2 paddocks. We are going to add electric fencing in the near future and eventually when they are trained we can put them on a larger pasture. When spring comes they will be pasture grazing for a healthy (and more cost effective) diet. We are hoping this endeavor leads to more piggos in the future. If it works out we will be adding pork products to our on farm productions and offering them at our farm stand (coming soon - blog about our opening coming soon). Check back for updates on Porkchop & Bacon.