Unusual passenger on saturday :-)

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:26 pm

wibble_puppy wrote:off to find an outlandish creature to photograph in the back of the van

A self-portrait?

Post by **wibble_puppy** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:32 pm

yer a cheeky monkey Alex - maybe a pic of you would do

Post by **Orkney** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:43 pm

LOL Alex is just asking for trouble there !

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:10 pm

So Orkney - will you soon be having a 'Gordon Ramsay' moment with the pig ?

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:37 pm

Oh no chance of that, going to get another one when the weather picks up.
Its a working pet

have a 2 acre field thats about 3ft deep topsoil on places, and its organic. So the pigs job is to plough it and de weed it bit by bit

Its actually very surprising how much they can turn over in a day. take grass thats been there for a couple of years, its a backbreaker to do with a fork e.g. (not that i would cause thats what tractors are for

) but that pig has no trouble at all turning the stuff over.
Loves dock roots too of which theres no shortage!
She's just started a strip where peas are going, next week will be on a 150m run which is being planted with hedging just as soon as i get the fence put up.

I am serriously considering trying 6 or so for meat maybe in the spring, need to give it some serious thought. I eat meat so would rather eat something thats had a free & happy life, the big IF though is can i do it?
Wouldnt put it past myself to bottle out and end up with 6 more pigs which really i dont need

Of course theres a lot to it as well, all the regulations & red tape might be a nightmare, then theres the cost of the slaughtering, butchery etc. Other consideration is what if there was an illness, i'm not wanting to spend any more on vets bills this year thats for sure !

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:12 pm

Good luck with it! Ramsay went along with his pig to the slaughterhouse - but afterwards, I notice he bottled it and the lambs went to 'good homes' - and not for slaughter as had been his plan.

Post by **Peetee** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:18 pm

I eat meat so would rather eat something thats had a free & happy life, the big IF though is can i do it?

Well good luck to you. It's not something I could do easily. Probably not best starting with swine though. They are regarded as the 'most human' of farm animals. Sheep would get my vote. Dirty, smelly, stoopid things they are.

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:05 pm

They are pretty endearing things, mind you sheep do have thier moments, got 8 pet rescued ones for keeping grass down, they are very far from stupid too contrary to belief.

I just look at the pet pig, see it doing what it does and enjoying itself. Then it occurs well if you go and buy a pack of danish bacon in the supermarket the chances are thats from some poor intensively reared thing thats never done the things that come naturally.
Being outside, running, playing, digging and forraging. My choice is that i dont buy such bacon, i might have done at a push but not now having started to get to know a pig.

Think your right though peetee, it would be a heck of an undertaking. Think apart from the trying to detatch yourself emotionally aspect theres the 'it's not right to do it for profit' part that i'd be very uncomfy with.

Dont know who saw the chicken run thing recently, I really cant stand HFW but fairplay the guy has changed a lot of peoples opinions for the better for the sake of animal welfare so can be no bad thing.

Ive got egg layers here, a hundred and something of them, but apart from a couple of particular ones i'm pretty indifferent to them. They make zero money, cost in fact, the eggs they lay dont cover what they eat in a year, they're getting old and guess most people would say well making no money costing time so get rid of them.
I look at it as they did lay well for 2-3 years, they probably did make a few bob then so they've earned a happy retirement.
They can clean up ground a bit, course never have to buy eggs and they provide some brilliant compost for veggies.

Reckon the solution to pigs lies in the chickens, might let a couple go broody, sort out a seperate shed and bring up 15 or so just for the table and see how that goes. Seems madness paying £8 for a free range one from the co-op when i can rear some for less and know theyve been better looked after i.e. not on a scale of mass production.

Chicken BBQ the night of the vintage show for the LEO lot i reckon

Post by **bmcecosse** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:53 pm

I'll just stick to my salad burgers Orkney!

Post by **Peetee** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:37 pm

they are very far from stupid too, contrary to belief.

Interesting. My comments are based on observing them over a week at an agricutural farm. The pigs seemed to do what they could to keep their patch clean and not spread unmentionables about. The sheep on the other hand didn't care on what or where they did it.

Post by **dalebrignall** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:27 pm

thats because pig are intelligent animals.i used to work on a farm for 15 years and whilst i was at ag colledg we worked in all departments.i liked the pig breeding unit but i hated the fattening shed,the weaner pigs were kept in a controlled enviroment in a dark shed no light and fed fish meal for maxiamum growth rate,no straw concreate floor and a slatted floor for them to go to the loo on i did not agree with it ,but that is the reality people want cheap food.its good that this is comming to peoples attention how food is produced,people should see all aspects offood production then they would have a better idea of what effort goes into producing our food .then they could make an informed choice on what they eat,and where it comes from .most people look at cost and dont let there emotions rule there heads gets off soap box

Post by **Orkney** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:29 am

The sheep on the other hand didn't care on what or where they did it.

Your spot on there ! Sheep just do thier business anywhere they want whenever they want - mine have 2 sheds/stables they can use whenever they want, they can walk there from thier 10 acres of grass.
None of the farmed sheep here have shelter outside apart from a bit of wall or ditch they migth be able to find, feel really sorry for them in the course weather.
It's a devil of a job to keep the sheds clean, trying the deep litter thing this year, just topping the floor up with straw as and when neccessary. Does give a few cubic metres of the most amazing compost every year though.

Pig on the other hand wont mess in his house out of choice. When the new one gets built will make a seperate area for it to use as a loo.
Think what Dale said there sums it all up about the rearing process.
Not a pleasant thing to see.
When i collected Fig the Pig the place looked after them way better than expected, but oh the little piggy did smell for the first 2 days becuase of the way they are kept.
2 days later and ever since its never had an odour whatsoever, its even got a locely straw nest she made herself in an old huge plastic dog basket !

Post by **Orkney** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:17 pm

Blame dave1949 for these pics not me