Yes, in my experience, pasture health is everything in fattening animals on
grass. Rotational grazing, so that the animals get 'more fresh grass' in a
season than they do in an unmanaged pastured helps a lot also. Soil testing
and amendment of pastures are essential. -Allan in WV

On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 11:05 PM, Hilary McClure <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Ron Hoggan wrote:
> > My physiotherapist raised some pigs and tried to avoid feeding them
> grains
> > but they just wouldn't fatten without the grains. She had to feed them
> some
> > corn to get some fat on them and still, the butcher teased her about how
> > lean they were.
>
> I've certainly seen that with lambs. One year we raised half the lambs
> with just pasture and the other half with supplemental grain. The ones
> getting the grain had more fat, and the meat was more tender. I
> suspect you can get around that, though, with maintaining exceptional
> pasture health. Hope to try that someday...
>
> We've gotten pigs to fatten up very well with no grain. Fed them on
> hay, and surplus full-fat dairy products from a local cheese factory.
>
> Hilary
>