Farming, Land, Hopes
When did you start?
We started with chickens as our first farm animal in 2022. Soon after, we started getting ready to have our Idaho Pasture Pigs join the farm.
What is your property like?
We have an open pasture of 5 acres. Right now two acers are used, and sectioned into four rotating pastures for the pigs. More pasture will be given to them as we acquire more pigs. There is a small garden and some fruit trees. A cold creek wraps around the property, and is the water supply for all of our animals.
Why are you doing this?
We moved to the country to have a more peaceful laid back lifestyle. The idea of having fresh eggs, vegetables, and meat that we know was raised on green pastures sounded healthy and rewarding to us. Starting this venture with hopes to bring fresh pasture raised pork to others, or the opportunity to help them start their own farm of pasture pigs.
Do you have future plans?
Yes! . We have meat chickens in the summer, and might try rabbits. Trying easy animals to see how many we can handle, while giving us a variety of self-sustaining options.
Pigs
What are Idaho Pasture Pigs?
Idaho Pasture Pigs, or IPP's as they are also referred as, are a newer breed of pig discovered in 2006. They were bred specifically for small farms and homesteaders because they graze on mainly grass. This helps in keeping feed cost down dramatically. They are a cross between Kunekune, Berkshire, and Durocs. If you would like to learn more about Idaho Pasture Pigs, check out Idaho Pasture Pig Registry.
Why did you choose IPP's
We started looking for a easy farm animal after our chickens were older. Because we don't have a large property, cows were not an option. I stumbled upon Jodi's book "Raising Pigs on Green Pastures". After I got done reading, we couldn't wait to get our property ready for the new addition! They are friendly, easy to care for, minimal rooting, perfect size for small farms, and can be contained by an electric fence or wire.
What do IPP's eat, I heard they don't root?
Majority of there daily intake is grass, they graze all day. We also feed our pigs a blend of corn, soy, distillers, and minerals to help them get everything they need to grow up happy and healthy. The proper balance of feed and rotated pastures for them to graze, produces a rich red colored pork. Pasture pork has higher levels of vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids than traditionally raised pork. They get plenty of exercise, that makes happy healthy pigs! Their cute, short, up-turned noses reduce the amount of rooting they do. So if your looking for a pig, but don't want craters like the moon, they might be the pig or you. They WILL root up any dandelion they find. They WILL root to make a mud wallow in the summer. They WILL scrape or roll the top layer of the pasture a little in random places. 2"- 3" bumps, compared to 12" - 18" craters like other breeds. They WILL root up the area that you feed them because of spilled food. If it rains a lot you WILL have mud. They DO graze on grass like a goat or sheep. Just keep in mind they ARE pigs and they will not be perfect grazers all the time.
Do you sell pigs?
Yes we do! We have a registered boar named Clifford and a registered Sow named Susie. When they have piglets we sell breeder quality females and males. We also castrate the males that are not breeder quality and sell them as feeder pigs. We keep the non-breeder quality females, raise them up with love, and sell them as half or whole hog for your freezer. At the time, we can not offer breeding pairs. There's plans to change that in the future. We do have relationships with other IPP breeders that might have litters at the same time, so we can contact them and possibly make a breeding pair if that is what you desire. If you are interested in pigs, visit our "Available Pigs Page" at the top. If you are interested freezer meat, go to our "Purchase Pasture Pork Page" at the top.