Our oldest is raising 2 pigs to earn money for the laptop he’s been wanting. Although he’s been doing most of the feeding & watering, we’re all learning a little about pigs.

THE FIRST COUPLE MONTHS

Back in September, the day they came to live with us.

They always came to say hi when I walked by. I’m sure they were hoping for food. Whatever the reason, it was super cute.

They liked to nibble on our shoes. It didn’t seem as if it was meant to be mean. Maybe they were hoping they would taste good?

WATERING

We use a bucket with watering nipples for our thirsty chickens The goats have a bucket. Neither of these methods were going to work for getting water to the pigs. We tried buckets and shallow containers. They stepped in them & spilled them every time.

So, Farmer John went to the feed store and came back with this. It works well as a constant source of water… in warm weather. Once the temperature started freezing, though, he had to unscrew the hose. Which, of course, meant no water.

The pigs then got upgraded to the container we use as a brooder for our chicks. They’ve had this for awhile and seems to work fine.

FEEDING

We had the same problem with a feeding bucket as we did the water. They dumped over every container they were given.

They have moved on to eating from this metal container we once used for our dogs.

SHELTER

We talked about getting pigs and Farmer John started a shelter. But, the day came sooner than we were thinking. We had 2 pigs, but no home for them.

The pigs moved into what we call “The Duck Pen.” It was originally built for ducks. But, ducks, chickens, quail, turkeys & goats have all resided in this pen. It was empty at the time, so the pigs moved in. Straw bales were lined against the chicken wire to keep them from pushing under the fence. This worked for awhile until they were big enough to break the bales.

Sleeping in their cozy duck house. We had a light on them for awhile. But, don’t anymore.

Their current home is a mix of materials we had on hand. Their pen is set up inside the fenced area for the goats. Cattle panels were attached to the beginnings of the structure Farmer John originally started for the pigs. Their house is a hoop house we’ve used for gardening projects and housing chickens.

GETTING BIG

The pigs are definitely growing. I don’t know how much they weigh, but they outweigh our son. They are getting a bit aggressive. They are no longer the cutie patootie piggly wigglies

Resting in the hoop house.

They still come up to me at the fence.

I have no idea what the goats and pigs think about each other. But, with the fence between them, there doesn’t seem to be any problems.

It didn’t take them long to turn their living space into a soupy, sloppy, mucked up mess.

Rootin’ for something

So far our pig raising experience is going well. We’ve had a few minor issues with figuring out the best way to feed and water them. They escaped once. Farm Kid1 has had to figure out how to get them their food without the goats jumping all over him and without the pigs trompling him. But, he’s figuring it out.

They probably have about 2 more months until they reach butcher weight. Until then we will enjoy them.

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Here at Ridgetop Farm & Garden we process our own birds. This post is about how we do it. So, if you’re squeamish or not interested in how the live chicken ends up on your dinner table you might want to skip this post.

THE CHICKENS

Sometimes we purchase Cornish Cross chicks for our meat production. Other times we process cockerels that we hatched a few months prior. The advantage to raising Cornish Cross is that they are bred for meat, so they have a nice, big breast come butchering day. Ironically, that is the same reason people choose not to go with Cornish Cross. They grow too big, too quickly.

Our broilers live in a chicken tractor that gets moved around every couple days. They eat grass, weeds & bugs. We also give them a gmo free, high quality feed that we get from Buxton Feed.

PROCESSING DAY

When they grow to a good size we have a processing day.

The chickens are placed head down in a cone. Farmer John slits their neck & they bleed out. It’s quick & there’s very little thrashing around using this method.

Next, they are dunked in 140° water. If the water gets over 150° the chicken skin tears.

We use a Whizbang Chicken Plucker to pluck off the feathers. It is a huge time saver.

The chicken is placed in the Whizbang Plucker.

The Plucker is turned on and the chicken gets spun around while the rubber fingers catch & pull off the feathers. Spraying water while the plucker is spinning rinses off the feathers. It’s messy, but it works great.

In about 30 seconds your bird is feather free.

Next step is cleaning the bird. The feet, head & neck are cut off and the innards removed.

A typical Cornish Cross will weigh a little over 4 pounds when all clean.

We put the bird in a shrink bag, dip it in hot water, let it rest a few minutes & put it in the freezer.

It is a lot more work & more expensive to raise & process your own chickens than to buy them from the store. But, it is much more rewarding to be self sufficient. Since we started butchering our own chickens I haven’t once wanted to buy chicken from the store. I haven’t needed to – our chicken is delicious!

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In the Spring of 2012, we decided to raise turkeys for the first time. It was a great experience, but cost more than we expected. Here’s the run down on our expenses.

PURCHASE COST

We ordered 3 different turkey breeds:
6 Giant White = $42
5 Bronze Breasted Bronze = $35
4 Rio Grande = $40
Shipping = $20
Purchase Total = $137

FEED COST

May = $90 (13 turkeys)
June = $95 (13 turkeys)
July = $140 (12 turkeys)
August = $150 (12 turkeys)
September = $105 (9 turkeys)
October = $70 (6 turkeys)
Total Feed Cost = $650

TOTAL COST(ISH)

Purchase Total = $137
Total Feed Cost = $650
Total for 9 Turkeys = $787
Total for 1 Turkey = $87.40

The Giant White & Bronze Breasted Bronze Turkeys ended up being around 26 pounds when butchered. That meant they were about $3.36/pound.

It’s personal preference whether the turkey is worth that amount of money. But, I can say everybody who’s tried the turkey has thought it was the best they’ve ever had.

THE REALITY IS IT COST MORE THAN THAT TO RAISE OUR TURKEYS

The $87.40 was easy math. It’s really more complicated than that. That cost didn’t include housing, feeding supplies or butchering costs. Our cost on those items was about $800. I’m not sure the best way to include these expenses. Although, we paid for these things, they will be with us longer than the turkeys.

Farmer John built a Turkey Hut to house the turkeys, which cost around $275.

He also bought a waterer, which he thinks is the best type for turkeys. It was around $30.

We didn’t have to pay anyone to butcher the turkeys because we have the Whiz Bang Chicken Plucker. But, we paid $500 for this best invention ever.
To make the monetary matters even more complicated, the 2 Rio Grande turkeys weren’t processed that first fall. They take another year to mature & get to butchering weight. So, we kept them around & ended up getting babies from them. That’s got to be worth something on the positive side, right?

HOW WE LIKE TO COOK THE TURKEY

Our favorite way to cook the turkey is in my mom’s electric roaster.

Well, that was confusing. Plus, I’m not sure I really want to know the exact cost. It’s an expensive hobby/way of life. But, our kids are learning a ton & we’re showing them the benefits of good, homegrown food.

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