Why do you have to register and give a email to view. I prefer not to do that.

Keep a throw away email on hand for such things you do not want to participate in. They can force collection of email addresses but they can not force you to give them your primary address. Standard Operating Procedure.

Hogstar, if you have sloped land that runs off you may find the terracing trick we use more effective. A lot of water falls from the sky. A lot ran off years ago, carrying with it nutrients. I noticed that where a log fell across the hill, where a stone wall was built with the contours, the dirt would pile up behind them forming small terraces. I fence with the contours as much as I can. Then hooves, wind, water and frost action pushes soil to the down hill fence creating a boundary, a swale, a bump that terraces over time and allows the water to soak in. Rather than having a big water supply our land is a sponge. The trick is to give it time to soak in.

I used to have a couple throw away emails but found it was not worth the trouble so discontinued that practice.

My problem here is the soil is nothing but clay and nothing soaks in as in should or retain moisture as well as it should. It will take a long time before this old farm land becomes truly fertile again after having pines on it. Being that your in Vermont you have some really nice dirt in them hills highlands.

Real, nice gravel about 1" to 5" deep for the most part. The rest is bare ledge and rocks. It works for pasturing. I don't try and till the land. It is swiftly sloping and I don't cotton to rolling tractors down the mountain, sideways. Or end over end. :) I like it here.

Your pigs will have a blast! We pasture our pigs too. Ours get a week in each of our four paddocks. They have to be reseeded every time it rains.(:

Rotational grazing resource
 

http://www.learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A3529.pdf

I wasn't sure if I should add this to the sticky or not. Even though technically the only info I seem to find in this article about pigs is that they aren't very well suited for raising on pasture, which I'm paraphrasing. However, I think we can disagree with that.

There is ton of good info in this article nonetheless. There is also formulas for how many animals per acre, life cycle of plants, as well as a bunch of other useful info in my opinion.

I hope you guys enjoy. Feel free to move this to the appropriate thread, forum (because we all know pigs have to be raised in containment/feed lots:hammer:), etc.

Planted forages
 

I planted a lot of different forages for the pigs this year. I actually tilled the soil and broadcast the seeds in. Then incorporated them in with either a light roto-tilling or dragging a weight. I tried a dozen different types on about 7 acres. The neighbor farmers thought I was insane with my little fields. Some strips would be only 20' wide by 300' long.

The best thing by far that I found, for me, was tillage(forage) radish. These things grow so fast its unbelievable. The pigs loved the tops, which run 17-18% protein. The tuber they did not care for so much in the warmer months. Although this was a good thing. Take them off the field for a few weeks and they were 15" high again. The cows ate the tubers much more than the pigs.
The pigs liked the tops so much they will leave a trough you put a corn base feed in to forage radish tops before they finished all the ground feed.

My best pasturing this summer I had a field of 75% oats and 25% corn next to a strip of forage radish with some buckwheat. I fenced so the paddocks included some of each and for over 2 months this provided 75% of their diet. The oats were mature but the corn was not. It was amazing how they would work from the radish to the oats and corn then by evening be back in the radishes.

They grazed everything down flat over 2 months (3 moves). We moved them off, lightly disc the oat field, spread some radish seed in it. In a little over 30 days I was grazing it again (Pigs and cows). The oats they dropped while foraging and the radish seed I spread came right back.

I have found that my pigs prefer the radish tops over turnip tops. The cows don't seem to care which one.

excellent info, very informative. But I don't understand the sentence above. Can you explain that one further please?

For radishes we use Daikon radishes. They grow great for us and drill deep bringing water and minerals to the surface. As you noted, the pigs tend to graze the tops and then in the fall they'll eat the tubers.

-Walter

I planted forage turnips and dwarf rape; it's not quite ready yet but those turnips sure to grow fast even in our "hot" fall weather we've had. We are just now "down" to the mid-80s and it's all still alive. It's a brand new pasture so it will be a bit before we put anyone on it other than our teency "Boris" the kunekune young boar. I let him loose and he gathers the acorns under our oak tree first - then nibbles a little on the turnip tops.

I plant rape every year. The pigs love it and it is high in protein.

There is a nifty little book "Garth Pig Stockmanship Standards" that is filled with charts on just this sort of thing. I have the paper copy but it is also online at:

http://www.thepigsite.com/stockstds/...ship-standards

Lots of good info for this topic.

Here is my starter

DEKE01,
I still throw some ground feed out once a day. Corn is 'candy' to almost any porcine. My comparison was that they will come to me at feeding time and eat the ground feed, mostly. But they enjoy the radish so much it was 'just as' pleasing to them. That was the shoats more so than the sows.

Last year I was raising strait Yorkshires and I could hardly get them to graze a turnip/rape pasture I planted for them. Let alone to leave a corn based feed lay in the trough.
My Old Spots are by far more adapt at grazing.

Acorn season
 

Here are some pictures of some shoats foraging the wooded side of the pasture for acorns.
They have access to planted radish, sugar beats, chicory and young barley.
They also have full access to unlimited 'creep' feed. Yet I see them at the feeder only a couple times a day. They spend most of the time bouncing between the pasture items.

http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileSer...ns%2010-14.jpg
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileSer...en%2010-14.jpg

Daikon Radish and Forage oats
 

End of July I planted a field of Daikon radish and forage oats with a sprinkle of Dwarf Essex rape.

Here is the field after I ran cows on it for a week. Then left is rest a week.
This picture was mid September.
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileServer/SP/SP1.jpg
You can see on the right side is a fence and what the field looked like before the cows were in it.

Paddocks are made and move in some porcine. The starting paddocks are 35' x 150' (approximately)
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileServer/SP/SP2.jpg
The tires are for back-rubs. There are no trees in this pasture.
I'm raising registered breeding stock so it takes a few extra paddocks to keep breeding groups separate.


October 25 you can now see on the right side the cows were given the large paddock a couple weeks back. The pigs are still in the paddocks from previous photo back in mid September. But it is time to open up the back portions to give them fresh forage.
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileServer/SP/SP3.jpg
I've concluded that the pigs and the cows like the forage oats as much or more than the radish. And it grows just as well. Its a great mix.

This is a closer view of the pig paddock that had the most pressure of the 3 pig paddocks after 35+ days. The radish, even with constant grazing pressure, keep growing more leaves. There was 1 Boar 1 Sow the whole time and a 2nd sow for last 2 weeks in this paddock. They received < 3 lb/head whole corn daily as additional feed supplement.
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileServer/SP/SP4.jpg

Closer view of what the cows did in 14 days.
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileServer/SP/SP5.jpg
The cows will be returned in early November to trample in the winter wheat seeding and eat up more tubers.


10/26 Taking down the rear fence line to allow pigs the back 1/2 of the paddock.
http://www.fisherbeefarm.com/FileServer/SP/SP7.jpg
I most definitely could have had more animals on this field. And I am amazed at the tonnage of green matter it has provided in a short amount of time. The protein value of the forage oats changes with the stage of development but it is generally less then the radish. Overall the mix of the two does well for me running a mixed herd. The pigs have been slow to eat the tubers but they are starting to sweeten up now so I will see if that changes.

I have a slow motion rotational grazing. I am not in the position to move them daily or weekly at this time. And in the case above, I didn't move them I opened up more space for them.

Good pictures. The diakon radish is one of the things we use. Like with broccoli, beets, mangels, sugar beets, turnips, rape and kale we find the pigs eat the leaves but leave the tubers growing for the most part during the warmer months and then will eat the tubers in the fall if nothing else is better. This happens as pastures wane. With our deep early snows the tubers winter over and sprout early the next spring providing an early forage.

-Walter

great pics! I just ordered a bunch of daikon radish, Siberian kale, winter peas and chicory seeds that I'll scatter as soon as they come. We don't get any snow here and they will grow all winter. My forage bar selection keeps growing as I find new things to add to the mix. Fun!!

mine won't touch the kale

That's interesting because mine go for the kale first!

Wow. I am learning so much here

Maybe my kale was too mature or something, I had some Russian kale in the garden that managed to keep growing all summer long, the LBH sow wouldn't touch it for nothing.



...but I'm happy they're putting away the oat hay good :thumb:

means I don't need to feed much hog feed. I toss a bale of oat hay in and they eat on it for a few days and mulch the rest. You'd almost think it was a horse paddock by the look of the poop on the ground.

our Kunekune boar got into "our" garden by mistake; started taking out the tops of rutabaga like crazy! Really? We had to herd him back to his digs before he took the whole row out! I've never grown rutabaga before and I don't know if WE like it. If we don't like it we know who will - the never ending possibilities never stop cracking me up!!!!

interesting turnip developed for deer hunters specifically for winter foraging.

A turnip that grows mostly exposed so deer can get at them easy even in the snow.

http://www.whitetailinstitute.com/ta...tubers-annual/

I don't know if it's a GMO product specifically, it does say genetically developed but does that = genetically modified?

Anyways I bet the hogs would get at them, what other winter crops do you all plant for hog forage? The ground freezes rock hard.

The stuff is expensive though.

The genetically developed is just marketing to catch your eye and make you think it is special. It does not mean GMO nor does it mean they did anything. Looking at the pictures it just looks like a traditional purple top turnip. They grow above the ground. Pigs and deer first eat the foliage. As fall progresses they eat the tubers. We grow turnips in our pastures. Good feed.

Buying the seed in mixes is an expensive way. I buy the individual seed types per what I need and then hand mix. Much cheaper and it gives me control. Yes, I'm a control freak. :)

-Walter

I have found the same highlands. First it is cheaper in the long run to buy and mix and it does give you more control over what you plant where and when.

BTW
when planting forage it is sometimes much cheaper to buy grain out of the bin versus actual seed. I can get bin oats or barley for $3 to $4 a bushel. That is nearly 50lb of seed. Even corn seed if you have someone that is not growing proprietorial crops.
I had a field of 3-4 acres in a mix of oats and corn and the seed cost was < $25
I had purchased barley to grind into feed from a local farmer who told me he uses his own seed and that I could plant it in my forage mixes. So we pulled 200lb out and put in a 55 gallon drum and I used it in many of my mixes this past late summer/fall. Barley was < $3 bu. 1 bu is around 48lb

Take this into consideration along with bought commercial seeds and my mixes are quite affordable. Also, I have friends in the seed business and the difference between bin barley and seed barley is for the most part, the cleaning. But it cost %400 more as seed.

Now the 'bin' version are not cleaned so you get some debris and sometimes other seeds. In the example above of Oats and Corn I had the occasional soybean and sorghum plant growing. Not that this can hurt much.

Hey Walter, to start a good pasture for pigs to feed on what would I have to do first? I have about 2 1/2 acres of trees/rocks that I would like to pasture raise breeder pigs. In order to plant pasture seeds what would I need to do once spring comes? Could I raise my pigs at a young age on the pasture and seed once I rotate em or would it be best to start once spring arrives? Also, I have a 2 feeder pigs right now, could I use them to till up and rotate throughout the pasture that'll use for next years pigs to get a head start?

I would start by thinning the trees to the point where you'll have enough sunlight reaching the ground. Doesn't need to be 100% clear cut. Leaving some patches of trees is good for shade and shelter. We cut the stumps close to the ground and leave them in the soil - half the trees mass is thus left to decay improving the soil. Any regen from them is good forage for most species of trees - not cherry, etc.

Then I would frost seed with:
soft grasses (bluegrass, rye, timothy, wheat, etc);
legumes (alfalfa, clovers, trefoil,vetch, ect);
brassicas (kale, broccoli, turnips, etc);
millets;
amaranth;
chicory; and
other forages and herbs.
Exactly what varieties will depend on your local climate and soils. I avoid the grasses and such that turn toxic with drought, frost or other stress as they make our management system too complex.
I prefer perennials or things that self-reseed. Some things labeled as annuals are actually perennials in our climate because we get early snows that protect their roots over the winter - e.g., kale, broccoli, etc.

Seed companies we buy from: Johnny's, Hancock, High Mow, Bakers and a couple of others I'm not thinking of at the moment.

Getting good seed to soil contact helps with germination which is why the frost seeding. If you can drag it or mob it that helps. Otherwise just spread extra seed to make up for that.

I don't tend to remove the rocks, other than to make walls, as they grow back so easily... :)

It takes a lot of pigs to do a good mob grazing. >10/acre. I would setup a good strong perimeter fence and then start subdividing into many small paddocks. Do one paddock and then add more as you have time and money. Just keep splitting. Too large an area is more of a problem than many small areas.

The other thing we do is line trees in double fences of fruit like this:

http://www.sugarmtnfarm.com/?s=double%20fences

-Walter

My standby is winter rye and hairy vetch. These are extremely hardy and will reseed, hairy vetch more than winter rye in my experience. They over seed pretty well in areas where they will get some cover from existing vegetation.

Deer will be attracted to these and that must be considered, especially at ice out, big time. It maybe a problem to some agriculture or it my give enough alternate feed source to reduce problems.

Deer?
Dogs.

Deer. Beautiful and so destructive.

My Akitas never cared about deer much. They stand to attention when they see the deer but interest fades quickly. I think they learned early that I would deal with them. Now bears, coyotes, skunks and hedgehogs are quite interesting.

Right so I want 2-3 pigs next year, and have 1 acre avaliable to pasture them on all year and another acre that is usable in the summer only (too wet in winter)

The pasture is seriously overgrown, grass, thistles, rosebay (fireweed), willow sapplings (1-2 years nothing big) What is the best thing to do with this, it cannot be ploughed neither can it be weedkilled. I was wondering what to add to it/do to it, to improve the food value.

Climate. frost free from May to Septmeber. we spend 2 months just under freezing, and rarely have snow for more than a couple of days. 6 hours of daylight in Nov,Dec,Jan so nothing much grows. Drought is a non issue, excess water much more of one!

Soil, clay with chalk, LOTS of chalk

The pigs.. Most likely to be "dansk sortbroget landrace" or a mix thereof (although I just saw three potbellies 3year old mum and 2 2year old girls for $13 each lols) That breed is a hardy old breed, able to liveo utside all year in our climate with a 100lb or thereabouts slaughter weight. I'm only after feeders so there would be nothing on the field/s from october through to march or so.

Right now there's no fencing at all, so I can put whatever would suit the pigs best in, there is a mains electric fence hookup avaliable. There's also no water, so would have to figure something about that too, there's a stream/spring at the bottom of the field, but that's not going to help the rest of it!

I would setup a strong perimeter fence and then start dividing it up into paddocks for managed rotational grazing using polywire and step in posts at the least, 12g high tensile if you've got the money. That's enough land to raise a lot of pigs. Divide the whole area into four quadrants. Each quadrant gets used as a grazing system one year, then winter paddock, then high plant garden, then low plant garden, then back to grazing or something like that. We do this but on a much larger scale. It gradually improves our poor mountain soil and provides about 90% of our pig's feed along with food for our hens, ducks and geese and ourselves. Here's an example of a mini system:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2013/09/25/s...aning-paddock/

-Walter

I'm involuntarily raising pigs on native, un-managed pasture and believe me, they reproduce like pigs. I've seen 2 sows in the middle of 20 - 25 piglets. My neighbors are shooting about 25 a year and we are not seeing a decline in the herd unfortunately. These are feral pigs, not too far removed from farm life because some of them are spotted white, some are red, many have the higher, rounder hams of farm pigs, but some look typical all black wild boar. Pasture on my farm means they eat lots of acorns, persimmons, plums, grape, maypops (I think), Bahia grass and roots, plus over the last 2 years a few things I plant for the deer like turnip, rye, rape, soy, and cowpeas. And of course whatever they are finding in the swamp next to the farm.

They are good eating, but very lean, no boar taint that we've found. I can't speak to growth rate because I don't see the same pigs often enough.

Wild pigs are a problem in just about every state. No one is feeding those hogs a trough full of corn and soy twice a day. I don't understand why you think pasture, as I've seen Highlands describe, is such a foreign concept.

I follow Highlands postings quite a bit and don't recall him ever saying exclusively grass fed, in fact he goes out of his way to frequently describe pasture as including fallen apples, planted brassicas, and various other forages. He also makes a big deal about whey, eggs, and other feeds. So I'm not sure what your issue is with his system or his claims. It sounds like he does a pretty good job marketing his product since his family makes a living off those pigs, but I doubt his Vermont marketing has made such serious inroads into Washington state that you can't make a living off of pork, raising it in what ever manner you choose. I'm wondering what your real agenda is.

The nuts are likely key for the wild pigs. There are older finishing systems based on acorns and chestnuts, supposed to be gourmet pork.

What you are talking about is not pasture pigs.

I raised my hog last year with absolutely NO grain or commercial hog feed. She weighed about 215 at slaughter and is the best pork I've ever had. We fed lots of garden veges that we grew ourselves, including lots of butternut squash, and alfalfa hay free choice. She grazed on a mixed forage with a couple of steers, goat and another gilt. We also gleaned fruit and pumpkins. Maybe 3 times during the 11 month grow out she got a few hard boiled eggs. I consider this pasturing because my pigs don't get grain or commercial hog feed. The fact that it took 11 months to get to butcher size is the difference. That said, raising pigs this way commands a premium price that I find people willing to pay for.