Roundabouts - where did you buy your Guinea hogs? Are they hard to find and really expensive? I've seen feeder pigs advertised on Craigslist locally (Berkshires) and they're very cheap right now. But I'm not sure about how hardy they are and how well they'd do on pasture and in the elements. One add did say his were bred to be in a hoop structure on pasture, though.
Thanks,
--RH
We got our AGH from here Cascade Meadows farm. We got one male and one female. Then went back and got another female. Hard to find? depends on your area. How far you need to travel. I figured we would have to fly some in but they were only 35 min away. So we lucked out. Cost? That is a very broad $75- $300. Depends on what you are getting or doing. A castrated male that someone does not want to sell the meat you can get on the down low side. Breeders are going from $100-$300 depending on genetics and if they are registered.
To me there is much more than cost to consider. The AGH are still on the critically endangered list. So I am enjoying helping bring back this breed for future generations. I also wanted a small pig that is easy to handle, would take as little human intervention/ input as possible. I was not looking to make a living on mass meat production. So a large animal with fast growth is not something I was looking at. The slower growth rate is a plus to me.
I also did not want to be stuck with hundreds of pounds of meat to have to freeze or preserve or sell all at once . I wanted to store just a bit but mainly have all my food stored out in the pasture. Cuts down on energy for running freezers. We can have a suckling pig roast any time we want.
We also needed a breeding pair as I did not feel it was self sustaining to go out and buy a pig to finish off. So I wanted a breed that would not have huge litters. Just enough to keep us in food with the ability to sell a bit of the extra.
These factors about this breed is why we choose them. We decided we wanted pigs by pure accident. I love pork. However everything I had heard or read about raising pigs was not for me. What I had see from family and friends was not for me. So was pretty sure we didn't want pigs. Although I do think they are cute and do love pork.
We were also against any poultry. I didn't like how other people were raising them all very dirty and smelly. The biggest factor was we wanted to be self sustaining as much as possible. Well it didn't make sense to me to have to buy chicks yearly (or pigs) then buy feed then pay for the waste removal after butchering. I mean what were we to do with all the guts and stuff we would not eat. ( most had said throw out with your weekly trash) Burning was the only thing I could think of that would not bring in predators. (Not going to work in middle of summer or winter)
Worms maybe but cutting everything into smaller pieces so worms can do their thing quickly. Nah not for me. So we started looking at mini cows. That's where we came across the pigs. Cascade meadows set up is a close to self sustaining as I think it's possible to get. When I asked so when you butcher a cow what do you do with all the stuff you don't eat? Well we feed to the pigs of course. They chuckled. They we on and explained if we didn't have any animals pigs would be the first to get. They are the farm disposal system. They keep pastures in check and their poo is fantastic fertilizer (since most of their diet is grass and such). he picked up a pig poo broke it and before we knew it had it stuffed in our face saying take a sniff. Sure enough it just smelt like grass. NO ZERO NONE NADA ZILTCH of the foul smell I had smelt at other farms. So we were sold. Of course it didn't hurt those tiny piglets were just so dang cute. Mom and dad were also cute and greeted us at the driveway for a belly rub. Dad or Roots was his name had huge tucks that were razor sharp. He had been trained to not head butt for attention. So we got to rub his belly and get a real close look at those weapons he was sporting. Our Sunny has his tusks coming in they are about an inch now. They won't be fully grown for another year or two. From what we have been told.
Now we have turkeys too LOVE them great animals. We also have what I call our practice flock of chickens. It wont be long an they will go in the freezer and we will get a heritage breed.
So in building your plan I would suggest some focus up front on the waste side of things and how everything can be connected. Then hold on to your hat it is a wild ride. Never had so much hard work, stress and fun in my life. I have waited for this dream for 40 yrs and it's everything I though it would be and more.
