Castrating Pigs

This is a year of firsts for us. This is the first year we are raising a gilt (female pig that has never given birth) to breed. Normally we buy a barrow (castrated male) in the spring, and butcher it in the fall. We bought a boar and gilt from different sows so that we can breed them in the fall, then butcher the boar and raise a litter. Having never had a litter of pigs before, this should be interesting.

Last week I was very busy selling goats, and bartered with someone to get 2 pot bellied boar pigs. She needed to get rid of the pigs, and I needed practice castrating before I have to do our big boar or piglets. Boar hogs are usually castrated a few weeks or months before slaughter because if left intact they can give an off flavor to the meat.

Today was the day. I have studied the procedure, had everything ready, and took the pig by the....feet.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE A PHOTO DIARY OF MY VERY FIRST PIG CASTRATION. IF THIS OFFENDS YOU PLEASE DON'T LOOK. IF YOU LOOK AND YOU ARE OFFENDED, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE HATE MAIL OR MESSAGES....ESPECIALLY IF YOU BUY YOUR PORK FROM A GROCERY STORE.

Here's your last chance to back out....

Levi wrestled the little guy into position while I waited with the scalpel. I used a fresh blade for each pig, so that it was a nice quick cut (which heals faster) and less pain. The pigs squeal more from being held than they do the actual procedure.

A quick slice, then another to free the testicle and it's nearly done. Just a gentle tug and it is done. You don't have to make a second cut in the skin for the second testicle, but the outer muscle that holds it must be cut before you can pop it out.Piggy #2 is captured and moved into "position"We repeat the procedure with a fresh scalpel blade.

We have used Underwood Horse Medicine for any wounds or cuts on our place for a long time. It is an herbal based herb wound medicine and it is fantastic stuff. That is the brown stuff you see over the wound.

And it is followed by a sprinkling of baking powder (per the instructions on the wound spray). I know it sounds strange but I have used this stuff for a couple of years on anything from open gashes to puncture wounds and it works better than anything I've ever used. Obviously this is the first time I've used it for pig castration. Will keep you posted.

My dear friend taking the pictures took these next two as well. I know people eat these things...but I threw them to the chickens....I'll opt for eating the eggs the chickens produce!

And now for the most terrifying picture of all. My dear friend took the worlds most horrifying picture of me I've ever seen. My family has had a good laugh...

And lastly, once we made sure they were okay (I thought for sure I'd do something wrong and kill them).....they got out to root and got a big bowl of bread soaked with goats milk and eggs.

Making a Homestead Work...

There are always tough decisions that have to be made when you are trying to keep your property and animals going. This year we had to make a lot of those decisions when it came to the goats. We sold 3 of our adult goats over the last week, and all of our kids except our 3 keepers. We still have 3 kids from our sister herd here to sell, but other than that I think the selling is done for now. We sold our big horned buck, Tucker...he's been here since he was a bottle baby and gave us many wonderful kids. We sold Nikki, Ben's goat...Ben is moving on with his life and has no time for her, and she just didn't fit into our breeding plans. And we also sold my dear Blessing. I kept a daughter from her this year, and had to decide where we are going with our herd. Blessing was not only beautiful, she was a good milker...but it was time for her to move on and be a good milker for another family. It has been a hard week.

Both of Faith's kids sold, which means we are now getting between 9-10 pounds of milk from her per day. She's the only one that was nursing kids. With selling Nikki and Blessing we are down to 4 milkers now. We still have Annie the llama taking 6 bottles/day....and 5 kids on 3 feedings/day and 7 kids on 1 feeding/day. We have not yet had any milk for us...but we are getting close!

Our pigs are doing great. Butterfly (the girl), is a bit smaller, but she is younger and also a girl.

And then Sirloin (the boy)....he mostly roots and eats...then he takes a nap, scratches and roots and eats more....what a good little piggy!I also got another meat bird into the freezer.... we are down to just a handful left....
And Rebekah and I starting making sausage with the venison from last Fall. Today we made 10 rolls of Summer Sausage, which will go into the smoker tomorrow..... Doesn't she look thrilled?
Once we grind and season the meat, it has to be hand stuffed into the casings. We don't have a stuffer with the sized orifice needed for summer sausage...so we hand stuff them.
They will stay in the fridge tonight and go into the smoker tomorrow.
We also made some "slim jims" ... snack sticks. These are venison/beef mixture and they are so good that I never tell anyone when we are making them.
They look so bad...since I don't buy sheep casings, we just hand roll them....
And they bake on a very low heat for a long time until they look like this....
And OH MY are they ever good! They just scream for a sharp cheddar complement and wow! They will keep vac sealed and in the freezer until the goat cheese is ready!

A Tail of Two Piggies...

It is the best of time, it is the worst of time....to get 2 pigs. We are smack dab in our busiest season of the year (not like there is a slow season) and we brought home 2 little piggies today. I have no idea what their breed is, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. Whatever they are, they will taste good.

We went to the hog farm last weekend and picked out the size pigs we wanted. They were ready to pick up today. They are cute little piggies, 1 boy (we take him back to get castrated in a month or so), and 1 girl. It is cold and rainy. These were muddy little pigs.

We got them settled into their pen, and made them a big bowl of pig starter and milk. YummNot!
There is a reason they are called pigs.
Not to get too political, but I feel like the taxpayers of the US are like this food in the bowl...and the government is like the piggies.

Oh well, they seem to be settling in well, got full bellies and are rooting and finding all sorts of yummies in their pen.

THE END.

Garden Update and More Garden Plans

After finding a deal on some shallots, and getting things finished in the garden, we've made a couple of additions to the garden. Here's the new Spring garden map.

I dug out the perimeter of the garden and then put down feed sacks and mulch to help keep the grass from invading. Once the seeds start sprouting, we'll use the same method between rows to help with weed control.I also planted 150 peat pots with the seeds that will go into our Summer garden.

The weather has turned cold and rainy, so I sure am glad that I got the work done while it was nice. The peat pots have been tented with heavy plastic to keep them nice and warm.

The goaties are growing well, these are the 4 girls that we still have. 1 of them is for sale, as are Faith's 2 kids. We are going to do some herd reduction so that we can keep 4 doe kids plus the 2 monster bucks. It'll mean some difficult decisions, but it will be better for the herd and our milk production in the long run.

The Spring Garden is in

And here's how we've got it laid out. Everything has been or will be direct sown, except the asparagus which has been in the ground for a year. We've got it all done except for the peas. We're moving the trellis from the front bed to the garden spot, then we'll plant the peas.

Here is the garden map.

The pigs will be here soon!

Bob and I finished barn chores then had our date morning at one of our favorite breakfast places. By the way, this is a place that has no frills, but KNOWS how to serve a breakfast buffet! Not like last week's breakfast.

We had a few things to do while we were in the next town...
...We found the rope and fittings we need to tie out the goats in mom's yard. (she's got a ton of overgrowth right now, and fencing is expensive).
...We stopped by a friends' house to see her newest cria (baby llama).
...We stopped by the pig farmers' house and picked out the sized piglets we want. At his place, you don't pick the piglet....you pick the size. We wanted something that was small enough to handle and tame easily, but not too delicate. They'll be here Thursday. They'll be in the freezer by Christmas.

We sold enough eggs this week to cover the layers feed bill! YAY!

Spring is coming!

After a couple of nights of frost....today it looks like spring is just around the corner. The high for today is supposed to hit 62. With the warmer weather our chickens are in full production, so once again we hung out our sign...

We usually get enough eggs to feed us, freeze a few for fall and winter baking, and then sell enough to pay for feed. Of course we give a lot of them away too!

I also selected another one of our meat birds to finish out this week. The meat birds spend the last week or 10 days in a finishing cage, where they are fed corn, veggies, and given all the clean water they want.

It looks like our pear tree didn't suffer from this last frost. It's buds still look healthy.

Our last surviving blueberry bush is starting to bud as well....

Our doe Legacy is doing much better. She gave birth to triplets on Feb 17 and it was a very difficult birth. She is still a bit thin, but she is no longer running a fever and is getting around well. I very rarely use antibiotics in the goats, but this was one of those cases when it was necessary.

And of course my assistant was there to help me wrangle kids.

And look at how well little Diva is is developing! I've already got 4 keeper kids this year....in my head I know I really can NOT keep this girl....but in my heart I sure do want to!