A few days we were just some folks who drink too much coffee and are getting ready to buy more land... Then we rescued some abandoned Seabright / Red Jungle Fowl Hatchlings and put them on heat. When my bf went to the feed store for chick starter, he came home with 2x 3 day old piglets who's mom was killed by a hunter and the shop owners asked us not to eat them. So I've been bottle feeding them and trying to teach them how to eat from a pan. I feel like I'm feeding mini bodybuilders because Colostrum reminds me of whey protein. Lol. They've got some nice racks of ribs coming in... 3_days_old by Alanaana posted Jul 27, 2024 at 17:08 I've become quite proficient with snaring, trapping, and butchering pigs, but I have no experience with live pigs. What are your tips and tricks? They are very smart. This was their very first time around a hula hoop and it was easy to get them to walk through. They were more skeptical about 2 hula hoops though. For the first few days the hatchlings and the piglets were sharing the heat in my living room. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little shocked to go from wanting coffee to having a micro starter farm in my living room, but I'm rolling with it and taking it a day at a time. I_was_shocked by Alanaana posted Jul 28, 2024 at 20:21 A lot can change in less than 24 hours and like they say, "the best things in life are free!"
Oh, the only experience I have with pigs, is when I worked for the Navy on Guam, and they lived wild on the land the fuel farm (where I worked) was on. Occasional sightings, and if you were quiet, they oftentimes wouldn't see us. I'd wait until they were halfway across the road, then holler, "SOOO-EEEEE!! PIG-PIG-PIG-PIG-PIG!!" They'd take off into the boonies, like someone had set their curly tails on fire!
They're pretty self sufficient at the age you have them. Pigs are as smart and emotionally charged as smart dog breeds. They are trainable if you start early, though I eat my pigs and don't generally get very social with them. A pig will generally grow as much as you feed it. If they have access to enough food and nutrients they can get pretty big depending on the breed. As they can eat anything you can and more you should be safe after the little rooters get over 10-15 pounds.
I follow a homesteader/farmer website regular - one of the things I observe is their reluctance to expand their meat production - they buy 3-4 weaned piglets - have like 1 - 1 1/2 acres of penned woodland for them - butcher in the deep falltime ....
@Seawolf1090 Haha I like those name ideas. I'm adding them to the list! I've been a little reluctant to name them because then I'll be a little more attached. So far everyone that has expressed interest in them wants to eat them. Lol.
I love reading your Guam stories! Whereabouts were you stationed? It's hilarious to watch pigs run. They are so awkward, like there's a hitch before they move forward
Your talking to the girl who named one of her favorite hens "Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC for short) nothing's off the table. I kind of thing "Meaten" had a nice ring to it. What do you think? Almost like Martin, but not. Lol
Thank you for sharing. I only have experience with pigs to eat too. I'll have to learn more about ways to train them. So far everyone that has expressed interest, wants to eat them. Honestly, I'm kind of ok with it, but my bf wants to keep his word and not have them slaughtered. So I guess we have these piglets for now. They started eating out of cast iron so that's exciting because I think it's a lot better than bottle feeding.
I like this a lot! I don't know why it made me think of Orwell's "Animal Farm." I recently reread it. If these piglets start wearing our clothes, using utensils, and sitting at the table, then I'll be in trouble. Lol.
I reread Orwell's "Animal Farm" back during the obama regime. The parallels and similarities between the farm critters and obama's cabinet were amazingly close!
Yikes! Now that you mention it, I can see where you're coming from. So much corruption. I cried when they killed Boxer. Not gonna lie.
I worked most of the time at the Navy fuel "farm", in Asan. Main tank farm is there, and there's a secondary tank farm for diesel down closer to "Big Navy". Part of the maintenance department, taking care of the fuel system for bulk storage of pretty much any fuel used on the island, by the Navy and Air Force (diesel, jet fuel, etc). A total of ~65 MILLION gallons of fuel, at max capacity. I left Guam in early 2000, for a new job working for the Air Force, in Texas. The attached map will show you where I worked. Red circle was the lower compound, with pump houses and truck loading racks. Orange circle is the tank farm (see all the roads that lead to circles? those are the tops of underground fuel tanks). Yellow circle is the diesel tank farm, further south, near Big Navy.
