From: Tom Bri <[log in to unmask]>

How many pigs on how much woods? Do you have to feed them anything?

Trying to get cheap pig feed without using corn or soy will be very tough.
There are substitutes but all are neolithic.


Two pigs on acres and acres of a wooded hillside.  They are an experiment.  Yes, you have to feed them a basic slop ration, or they don't grow.  Probably years of domestication has taken its toll on even the best "heritage" breed of pigs.  We're trying to work out a mixture of barley, rye, crabmeal, field pea as an alternative to the corn and soy. I was reading up on the "wooley pig breed" aka Mangalista pigs of Europe, supposedly the fattest pig ever.  Their fat is so tasty, the Austrians whip it like butter and serve it plain.  They're fed a ration that includes rye and barley, which causes their fat to be much more monosaturated, which thus makes for better curing properties (less spoilage).   The  organic mill we buy our feed from is  trying to work with us, suggesting other alternatives to corn/sory such as  peanut meal, sunflower oil/meal, and fishmeal.  Yes, mostly neolithic.  Its a sincere effort to try and come up with a
 better formula that renders the pig fat closer to that of the Mangalista or mimics the wild boar.    Pigs need a certain percentage of protein and enough of a source of energy in order to thrive. Plus, the feed has to be affordable.  Those Mangalista pigs get upwards of 800 pounds, but they take two years to come to market weight.  There's no way our pork industry would give a pig that long a life.  Most commercial pigs are slaughtered at 6 months old, and the lack of flavor shows.   My pigs get plenty of paleo table scraps, they root all day long in the woods, but still if I don't give them their organic feed, they suffer and get stunted.  Same with the chickens.  I'm raising  75 "Poulon Rouge" an  old world broiler that come from Normandy, France originally.  They are slow growing, heavier boned, yielding more flavor which are not genetically hybridized to fall asleep in the feed trough.  I planted a ton of trefoil and clover on
 the pasture, turned them out, and eventhough they hunt and peck all day, they would be rail thin and just bones and feathers if I didn't supply them their feed.  So, it makes the wild turkeys that much more precious when we can lure them in.

Our sheep are the most paleo creatures on the farm.  Those guys just eat grass or hay and chew their cud all day long.  

Sorry to get carried away with farm talk.  However, we also eat plenty of deer and rabbit - the same ones  that laugh at us all day as they watch us carry the slop bucket to the pigs!  

Batsheva

________________________________