The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: harry on August 28, 2011, 01:23:23 pm
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i have 4 kks now 10 weeks old will kill at about july 2012.... may get some more piglets in a couple of weeks, what pig would suit me... i have plenty free range, docks and nettles etc, dont want ground completly destroyed but want it dug over, not more kks, but a medium breed that will grow quicker ie kill about jan feb. different paddock for these new ones if needed, or could i mix them ..... there are several adds for gos and gos x tamworth in my area ..any good for me?
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I'd be careful about Tamworth crosses: lovely pigs but we had some that were real escape artists. I think they might have had mole in their ancestry the way they dug! The GOS sound good.
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we have had tammies for years and never had an escape yet hampshires are very clever just google perky oppening gate any pig will escape if it is hank marvin
you would be better with a spade there is no happy medium with pigs they will either graze root or poach the ground
just get something YOU are happy with :farmer:
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As Robert says, go for anything you like the look of, we have 10 different breeds and freely mix them together (inc our KK) without any worries!
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I'd be careful about Tamworth crosses: lovely pigs but we had some that were real escape artists. I think they might have had mole in their ancestry the way they dug! The GOS sound good.
You know, when I started thinking about keeping pigs many moons ago Tamworth's were the one breed I wanted, but following advice I went for lop eared pigs and stuck with them being wary of the Tamworth's reputation ::) Diggers, escapers, the racehorse of the pig world etc etc etc. Maybe it's because I've kept pigs for over 5 years now, but having aquired 2 Tamworths this year I've got to say they are brill ;D
Really friendly, quite easy to manage (they're no worse than any of the others really) and they've only escaped once, but it was through an open gate so I can't really blame them. Maybe I've been lucky with these ones ? Maybe there's time for all that to change before they go off ? Maybe we'll go up to feed them tonight and they'll have dissapeared just to prove me wrong :D But the one thing with them though - they DO dig ! Massive holes and absolutely trash the ground, but it's nothing that a roller, a bit of grass seed and a bit of time won't change ;)
Karen
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No - Tamworths ARE brill!!
We've never had pigs and went for a couple of Tams. They were lovely. Never tried to escape despite our rather bodged job of fencing the enclosure. Very easy and healthy. Killed out beautiful - long backs so lots of bacon.
Lovely long snouty faces.
Beautiful.
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ok i think it may be gos,, not sure yet, but what breed will they be ready in 5-6 months for kill
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I am very biased, harry, but I do like Oxford Sandy & Blacks. I bought my first at weaning (8 weeks old) in August last year and had the one we ate ready in January. She was 60kg deadweight with 2cm fat.
A neighbour got Welshes (castrated males) a couple of weeks earlier. One was ready at the end of October and the other three weeks later.