This man answered my email when I had sick gilt. He took an hour out of his evening trying to help me nurse her back to health. Thanks to his kindness and many prayers she made it. Thank you so much for the videos, please keep them coming.
I like crossing classic old lines.Growing up in middle Georgia , we raised mostly black Poland China crossed to Berkshire.Our most productive sows were mostly Black Poland China with some Berkshire. Our best boars were Berkshire from lines kept pure in the family for over 75 years. Our market pigs were mostly pre sold to BBQ joints in Macon and Atlanta .We never fattened on soy, it makes greasy soft pork.We used barley and corn and had firm solid fat with much marbling.This difference in flavor and texture made our pork stand out from other local product. Sometimes novelty sells,, like your colorful pigs. I have had Mangalitza, Mulefoot and Ossabaw pork in recent years but still nothing that beats the Poland- Berks we raised on our family farm. Glad I found your channel,. Have to say I covet that little Red Hamp boar, you are right ,he is exceptional. Love the look of him.
Hey Chris! I enjoy your channel and listening to you and your wife talk about your operation. Live on a farm too but no animals, just gardening. Keep up the good work. You almost convince me to raise pigs, but I’d be starting from scratch, including pen building……and I already got a day job.
I am wanting to get into raising hogs and have been watching all your videos. I love your old school no nonsense advice about pig farming. If I didn't live across the country I would be coming to get some feeder pigs from you. Please keep making videos, you knowledge is so valuable.
I'm glad to see and hear you. You folks are really special and I keep you in my prayers. It's a wonderful thing that you are doing helping people and sharing your thoughts on homesteading and life. The world would be a much better place if we had more people like you and yours. God Bless all of you.
This is my favorite Channel on TH-cam! Up Our way in Wilkes County Every One wants Berks. We had a guy come from Spartanburg Sc and get 3 Boars from us and another Guy come from 3 hours away in Wv to get our Gilts. Chris you oughta just recreate the Poland China if anyone in Nc can do it id be you.
That boar is definitely exceptional. A person that doesn't know much about a pig can tell that just by the look of him and the build. Good to see you brother. God Bless you and your family.
Hey from south Alabama we raise mostly Duroc and Hampshire and Yorkshire crosses. We get purebred old line stock from Jimmy and Albert haraway from north Alabama they have been line breeding those three breeds for 50 years. We take and cross them for that great hybrid vigor. Them pigs will grow buddy. The first cross with the Duroc and Hampshire will be all black and black and white belts. Then if we put a Duroc back over one of them we get a high percentage of Red and white belts. We also like the Hampshire Yorkshire female to a Duroc boar and get lots of color in that litter red with white belts black with white belts and no red spotted just pretty in pigs. We love the old line hogs these are like what my granddaddy raised I can't stand them show type and modern hogs. Enjoyed your video will be looking for some more. Keep up the good work and God bless you all
My daddy, his dad and on up the chain in my family raised hogs for generations. Daddy raised them up til I was in my 20s til he got down in his health. Now after 20 years I got about 12 acres and planning on getting some feeders and one or two extra for family. Went and cut some black locust 8-10 in diameter for posts last fall. I own a saw mill so I'm gonna mill up some good thick fence planks to add to the hog panels I got. Daddy always said better over built than not at all to keep in a hog. Got tired of seeing these pens built on TH-cam that wouldn't hold in a handicapped Chihuahua. Your closest one I've seen to the way we always built ours. Only thing we done different then is we used a heavy gauge fence instead of panels with a thick rough sawn fence plank nailed in with a 4 1/2 in ring shank nail. Normally all the fences were 4 to 5 ft minimum with heavy gauge barbwire at the top. Some times we would also ring their noses aswell. I also seen you talk about the worms issue. I remember daddy always gave them coal to eat and so did my papa. Not saying do it or any one try it but that's what they did and it worked for them apparently. I've not delt with it myself as of yet but I'll not be trying pumpkin seeds or diatomaceous earth. I wouldn't think that would work even if no one told me. I ever have an issue tho I'll make damn sure it's taken care of promptly and effectively. Anyways, like your videos there young man. Keep on porking Chris R.
With the parasites everyone forgets liver and lung worms . They used to mix lye with soaked corn after that they used arsinic . As long as the power stays on an electric wire inside the panel or hog wire will do a good job at keeping them in
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay That lye and arsenic tho is rough if I remember right. Could killem if they're to bad off. As far as electric goes it's a good thing as far as if the electric stays in. Back years ago tho they didn't have all that so a fort Knox to hold em in was necessary. Daddy never used it even when it started getting popular. I may run a hot on top instead of barb wire like he did but out here where I'm at you get a good wind gust or storm that electric could be off a few days. I'd rather over build it and have the electric as just a back up detorent. All my posts are gonna be 3ft if not more in the ground. All heavy clay around here so they'll be doing something they pull a 10in diameter black locust post out or even break it off.
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay What's a good indicator that they have lung or liver worms and best way to treat it? Not that I won't be having a vet check but old timer knowledge passed down often times is better than modern medicine.
@@Trecraven1 lung worms show a cough/wheezing with not other signs of illness liver flukes show an unthrifty pig and the slaughter house won't let you have the liver . Finding a vet that has the knowledge and willingness to treat outside pigs may be a problem. Big difference in problems from confinement to ground raised , parasites aren't an issue on a commercial farm most disease isn't an issue on the ground except pneumonia or if you're really unlucky and have wild hogs around pseudorabies or cicicadosis occasionally botulism or salmonella but they're rare
I've been binge watching Chris's video for bout 33 hrs now, the next time I leave my home i will be stopping to get a pack of red solo cups, and a pair of suspenders. I AM THAT INSPIRED BY THIS HERE FELLA🐖🐖🐖
I just picked up two more females. The first three Feeders i bought are like you say. They grow really well but they are on the lean side with not much back fat, three males. The two I just brought home are about 30 pounds apiece and they look much like some of the piglets you videoed. Broader across the chest and back with hams that look similar the piglets in your video. I might keep one for breeding in the future. Thanks for your instruction.
Id be interested in hearing you you discuss and explain how to choose (what to look for) in a good gilt to keep from a litter or choose from a hog breeder to keep for breeding.
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I appreciate that! I’ve got two nice looking gilts but two very different builds. One is going to be kept for a sow and one will be for the freezer. I know the one I like but am gathering other opinions. The videos on TH-cam on it were very vague or not trustworthy in my opinion lol
Glad you are up working, was worried about you since it has been awhile between videos. I got 3 pigs about 3 weeks ago and it's the first I've had in 40 years. Thanks for all you do
I love yalls videos. Yall have really helped me do better at raising my pigs. I have 2 grade spot sows, a duroc boar and 4 up and coming gilts and a young boar. Thank you for all the videos it's really helped me out alot
That hybrid vigor piece is the truth. I've heard vegetable seed breeders talk about genetic inbreeding depression, with things like grain corn. Good to mix up the heirlooms and inject more genetic diversity.
Nice setup you have for the pigs. With your breeding plans, liking the crosses best, you remind me of and you should look up, the Joseph Lofthouse 'Landrace Gardening' channel and his description of how he approached vegetables. I'm working that idea on corn varieties this year, seems all the dark blue and dark red heirloom corn varieties have 3x-5x the protein of typical feed store gmo-hybrid corn. That protein can increase pig litter size and grow them faster. I got my Blue Hopi through Hoss Tools for a fair price if you are planting corn and want to experiment, many others only have small packets. Bloody Butcher is another to look for.
GMO corn is actually rarely grown in our area , a lot of people are confused about what a GMO is . Look for the term bio-tech that's the genetically engineered seed the rest are just conventional hybrids . I wouldn't mind growing some of those heirloom varieties if for no other reason than to keep them around they might save the world one day
Congrats on things going right for you, I could hear it in your voice that you are proud of what you have to offer your customers. Enjoy, it looks like its your turn to find the acorn.
Hi Chris! It's great to hear from you. I remember you saying the Duroc/Hampshire cross was a great cross and your pigs show it. The Carolina Gold hogs look great as well as your Spots. Overall, they're the best looking bunch of hogs I've seen in a while.
Looks like that boar is doing really good for you, I know his dad has been the best boar we've ever had. We've picked up another new Hampshire boar from out of state and he seems to be just as promising as our other Hampshire boar. Happy to see an update from you guys and I'll try and get down to see you sometime soon
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I sure appreciate you sending us a shout out about getting the boars from us and it looks like he's getting the job done for you.
Thanks for your content Chris! really like your channel, you have a new subscriber here. my brother picked up 3 the other week to feed out and butcher in the fall. i hope i picked right, there long, Red with big floppy looking ears, i seem to be able to watch them grow!!
What cross is that spotted boar? And I’ve never heard of Carolina golds ? What is that? Been watching your videos for couple months ! Maybe I’ve missed a video .
The spotted boar is an Ivey commercial cross Im trying to bring SPC pigs back and they used a lot in their cross breeds . The Gold pigs are our farm cross we've been working on for twenty years should be a recognized breed by the end of this year .
Pigs raised outside normally don't need to be vaccinated they also don't need iron injections. We use ivermectin at weaning that's about it . We draw blood twice a year to make sure we don't have any issues and do fecal samples for parasites
U know your pigs for sure ..I just raise3 meat pigs a year ..and the Durock is always the best ...Your stock is the best Iv ever seen .Thanks for all your information and vids.What state are u lacated ..We havin a hard time find good meat pigs this year .
Really appreciate your content. You mention that the little boar is special. Can you do a video on how to judge/grade pigs? You mentioned growth rate but IDK what makes a pig subpar, good, great, etc...
Glad to see the video we have to wait to get our feeder pigs this year. Up here in Mn we still have 2 ft of snow and it’s still 30 degrees! Always nice to see your still getting to getting yet Chris. Still have a goal to at some point in the near future acquiring some breeding stock from ya👍
I'm a fan of the channel and I have a question. My boar is huge! We killed an old sow on the hoof she was 555 lbs and he is bigger than she was idk what he weighs I have to way to weigh him except farm scales. But I'm afraid to put him on some of my younger girls 250 275 lbs what do you think
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay that's what I was afraid of I bought a younger boar but he is still about 4 weeks haven't even picked him up yet and I've had bad luck buying grown boars from people so far
I notice your pens aren't ate up with Wallows and big holes where they've been rooting. Do you do anything to dissuade them from rooting or??.... cuz I've got 3 pigs in a 60 foot by 60 foot pen and the ground is just tore up with rooting holes
The right size and type of hog ring will stop the rooting. If there's something in the ground they want they can make a mess fast tree roots an old brick anything really that catches their attention
Thanks for the videos. They got me to move from just raising meat hogs for my family to getting into breeding. I live in Kansas and am located 500ft from a feed mill, so my location helps a lot. Have you tried selling processed meat rather than just whole hogs? Thanks.
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I guess that’s the way I’m going to try. Also thought about selling feeder hogs with the feed needed to grow them to a good weight. (600lbs?) I can maybe add a 20% markup and still give them quality feed for less than they’ll get at tractor supply or wherever.
@@kssooner3495 me too . They try to make it hard on little guys , every time I find something that would make a little money you have to have a hard to get license. I have enough equipment I could make feed for the neighborhood on shares and cut our cost to almost nothing. Nope not allowed
I just bought a bore and a sow,he’s supposed to be heirford and she supposed to be Duroc but I’m new with pigs and I have doubts about her more than him, any ways I could tell?
@@jimmycrum2529 I can usually tell if they're mixed , there's a lot of difference between types of the same breed . Makes it tough to describe what to look for
Durocs and hamps have as big of litters as York's . I like Yorkshires we had them for thirty years in the breeding program when blue butts were the main commercial pig it's hard to find the old type now though. Landraces never impressed me much
I’m in the northeast I’m considering feeder meat pig for us to raise for our family …what is a good gentle to start out. ? We are learning a lot from your videos 👍😊. Thanks so much for sharing
What would you say is the best recipe to break even? What would you say would be some breeds to think about purchasing. I am in new hampshire. Not too far away is some. Registered old spot. I have not seen any other registered heritage breeds Too breed For sale. I am interested in the durok the Hampshire the tamworth the old spot hereford. We have ten acres of Freshly broken ground as of four years ago. It has between 4 and 6 polled herefords on it now. I'd say 7 of the 10 acers are cut stumped and cleaned up should be the first year of grass taking hold this year. There is about 2-3 acers I could put hogs on
Our best market is for good cross bred meat pigs in the 85.00 to 100.00 range at weaning to customers that feed them out and sell cuts . Next is breeding stock third are finished hogs you'll have to do all three . Old spots and Herefords aren't that popular except with the homestead crowd neither are solid white or solid black pigs . Hamp ,Duroc crosses do very well so do SPCs and our farm cross does very well . Be careful you can spend a lot of money on registered stock that you can't get back. Start small maybe two sows and add on as you build a market keep input cost as low as possible and try to find some good pigs of the right type that will hit 3.5 or better on feed conversion and finish to 280 lbs in 4 to 5 months after weaning . Types the hard part you need a pig with an inch of backfat and a little marbling in the chops but not too much . Avoid big pastures use lots and rotate a little saves land and expense also makes it easier on you
Chester whites are kinda sorta a white Duroc so are some of the commercial crosses . I reckon it could be possible for a white pig to pop up in a litter especially if the parents weren't quite full blooded
Thank you so much. I'm just starting out and learning as much as possible. And a gentleman was telling me he has pure breed Duroc's that are white and I was just wondering cause all I've seen were red or brown.
@@annnichols8592 they're definitely not purebred Durocs . They only come in red and preferably dark red no white or black spots or markings. If they look like durocs just white they are probably chester whites
Not a stupid question but one I'm not sure I can answer. The pork off these is a much darker shade of red than confinement pigs so some people might use that term . When I think of pork as red meat there's a couple of Asian breeds that are supposed to have pork that is actual red meat like beef and taste similar. A neighboring farm raised some and it was not received well by customers that bought it at all it was tough,stringy, greasy and didn't taste like beef .
I raised them for a few years , they're a good hardy hog and dress out good about the right amount of fat . Grow a little slow but not terrible. They're scarce most of what people call Tamworths are Hamp Duroc or Yorkshire Duroc crosses any red prick eared pig really gets misidentified as Tamworth
Chris I wished you ain’t live so far away an i know how you fill about your durocs an my cousin down here in Alabama is about to have a fine litter of old line durocs that’s about all we fool with down here
I just got some duroc mix pigs and I watched your feed making video, he'll I watched all your video's. I feed them homemade laying mash and was wondering what you think. It's 18% protein. I have a little TH-cam channel if you want to see them and tell me what you think. Thankyou
We have some lard type sows for that reason some of my customers want a hog with two inches of back fat . I make a lot of cracklings/ lard and fat back and use some making deer sausage but have a lot left over off of the old bacon type hogs
This man answered my email when I had sick gilt. He took an hour out of his evening trying to help me nurse her back to health. Thanks to his kindness and many prayers she made it. Thank you so much for the videos, please keep them coming.
Chris is good people. I have never met him in person but I hope to one day.
I try my best to help
I like crossing classic old lines.Growing up in middle Georgia , we raised mostly black Poland China crossed to Berkshire.Our most productive sows were mostly Black Poland China with some Berkshire. Our best boars were Berkshire from lines kept pure in the family for over 75 years. Our market pigs were mostly pre sold to BBQ joints in Macon and Atlanta .We never fattened on soy, it makes greasy soft pork.We used barley and corn and had firm solid fat with much marbling.This difference in flavor and texture made our pork stand out from other local product. Sometimes novelty sells,, like your colorful pigs.
I have had Mangalitza, Mulefoot and Ossabaw pork in recent years but still nothing that beats the Poland- Berks we raised on our family farm. Glad I found your channel,. Have to say I covet that little Red Hamp boar, you are right ,he is exceptional. Love the look of him.
Hey Chris! I enjoy your channel and listening to you and your wife talk about your operation. Live on a farm too but no animals, just gardening. Keep up the good work. You almost convince me to raise pigs, but I’d be starting from scratch, including pen building……and I already got a day job.
I don’t care about color I care about meat and time!!! This is a good man trying to help us all
I am wanting to get into raising hogs and have been watching all your videos. I love your old school no nonsense advice about pig farming. If I didn't live across the country I would be coming to get some feeder pigs from you. Please keep making videos, you knowledge is so valuable.
I'm trying to get a list of breeders across the country to help folks find some good stock .
Chris!! You look great. It’s wonderful to see you. 🐔🐷❤
I'm glad to be able post again
So glad to see you miss you brother and sister
I'm glad to see and hear you. You folks are really special and I keep you in my prayers. It's a wonderful thing that you are doing helping people and sharing your thoughts on homesteading and life. The world would be a much better place if we had more people like you and yours. God Bless all of you.
I want people to succeed, if a little honest information will help it's the least I can do
I like the looks of the Momma & those baby's.
This is my favorite Channel on TH-cam! Up Our way in Wilkes County Every One wants Berks. We had a guy come from Spartanburg Sc and get 3 Boars from us and another Guy come from 3 hours away in Wv to get our Gilts.
Chris you oughta just recreate the Poland China if anyone in Nc can do it id be you.
I'm trying to , we've definitely got some lookalikes
Been concerned. Glad to see you all! Cheers from a place with 3 ft of snow. Way North!
Lol we got about a ten minute flurry last Saturday
Every time I see your piglets I’m amazed. They are so much better looking than most.
Thank you
You're looking good Chris and the new boar looks good too. A good cross makes a world of difference.
You know how it is old line stock is scarce and it's a challenge to bring them back
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay amen to that
That boar is definitely exceptional. A person that doesn't know much about a pig can tell that just by the look of him and the build. Good to see you brother. God Bless you and your family.
Im tickled to death with them
First year for me to try and raise pigs. If nothing else they are a comical bunch. Keep the videos coming , yall make a good team. Thanks for the help
@@hl8256 always glad to help
Hey from south Alabama we raise mostly Duroc and Hampshire and Yorkshire crosses. We get purebred old line stock from Jimmy and Albert haraway from north Alabama they have been line breeding those three breeds for 50 years. We take and cross them for that great hybrid vigor. Them pigs will grow buddy. The first cross with the Duroc and Hampshire will be all black and black and white belts. Then if we put a Duroc back over one of them we get a high percentage of Red and white belts. We also like the Hampshire Yorkshire female to a Duroc boar and get lots of color in that litter red with white belts black with white belts and no red spotted just pretty in pigs. We love the old line hogs these are like what my granddaddy raised I can't stand them show type and modern hogs. Enjoyed your video will be looking for some more. Keep up the good work and God bless you all
I have some haraway line Hamps that I like so far . I imported some Duroc boar's last year that were a major disappointment
I want to thank you guys for giving me the knowledge and confidence to get into pigs. I have just today got my first three feeder pigs. THANK YOU!!!
Glad to help , if you have any questions/ problems let me know
My daddy, his dad and on up the chain in my family raised hogs for generations. Daddy raised them up til I was in my 20s til he got down in his health. Now after 20 years I got about 12 acres and planning on getting some feeders and one or two extra for family. Went and cut some black locust 8-10 in diameter for posts last fall. I own a saw mill so I'm gonna mill up some good thick fence planks to add to the hog panels I got. Daddy always said better over built than not at all to keep in a hog. Got tired of seeing these pens built on TH-cam that wouldn't hold in a handicapped Chihuahua. Your closest one I've seen to the way we always built ours. Only thing we done different then is we used a heavy gauge fence instead of panels with a thick rough sawn fence plank nailed in with a 4 1/2 in ring shank nail. Normally all the fences were 4 to 5 ft minimum with heavy gauge barbwire at the top. Some times we would also ring their noses aswell.
I also seen you talk about the worms issue.
I remember daddy always gave them coal to eat and so did my papa. Not saying do it or any one try it but that's what they did and it worked for them apparently. I've not delt with it myself as of yet but I'll not be trying pumpkin seeds or diatomaceous earth. I wouldn't think that would work even if no one told me. I ever have an issue tho I'll make damn sure it's taken care of promptly and effectively. Anyways, like your videos there young man. Keep on porking
Chris R.
With the parasites everyone forgets liver and lung worms . They used to mix lye with soaked corn after that they used arsinic . As long as the power stays on an electric wire inside the panel or hog wire will do a good job at keeping them in
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay
That lye and arsenic tho is rough if I remember right. Could killem if they're to bad off. As far as electric goes it's a good thing as far as if the electric stays in. Back years ago tho they didn't have all that so a fort Knox to hold em in was necessary. Daddy never used it even when it started getting popular. I may run a hot on top instead of barb wire like he did but out here where I'm at you get a good wind gust or storm that electric could be off a few days. I'd rather over build it and have the electric as just a back up detorent. All my posts are gonna be 3ft if not more in the ground. All heavy clay around here so they'll be doing something they pull a 10in diameter black locust post out or even break it off.
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay
What's a good indicator that they have lung or liver worms and best way to treat it?
Not that I won't be having a vet check but old timer knowledge passed down often times is better than modern medicine.
@@Trecraven1 lung worms show a cough/wheezing with not other signs of illness liver flukes show an unthrifty pig and the slaughter house won't let you have the liver . Finding a vet that has the knowledge and willingness to treat outside pigs may be a problem. Big difference in problems from confinement to ground raised , parasites aren't an issue on a commercial farm most disease isn't an issue on the ground except pneumonia or if you're really unlucky and have wild hogs around pseudorabies or cicicadosis occasionally botulism or salmonella but they're rare
Thanks for sharing! Pigs look great. I’m just learning and it’s very helpful.
That's why we do this, to help folks get started
I've been binge watching Chris's video for bout 33 hrs now, the next time I leave my home i will be stopping to get a pack of red solo cups, and a pair of suspenders. I AM THAT INSPIRED BY THIS HERE FELLA🐖🐖🐖
Lol I wear the Dickies with the belt clips not snaps
I’m with you! My kinda people! Country as a turnip green and honest as the day is long!
I just picked up two more females. The first three Feeders i bought are like you say. They grow really well but they are on the lean side with not much back fat, three males. The two I just brought home are about 30 pounds apiece and they look much like some of the piglets you videoed. Broader across the chest and back with hams that look similar the piglets in your video. I might keep one for breeding in the future. Thanks for your instruction.
Glad to help, if you have any questions let me know
Good morning and lots of love from Ohio! Wonderful to see y'all again. Thank you for being you and all you do. Have a great day and God bless.
I hope im helping folks
Mighty fine looking boar pigs Mr Chris.
Been looking forward to a new video. Got myself a boar and two gilts. So far, so good and I really appreciate these videos
If you have any questions let me know
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I appreciate that!
Id be interested in hearing you you discuss and explain how to choose (what to look for) in a good gilt to keep from a litter or choose from a hog breeder to keep for breeding.
@@RaisedOutdoors I've been meaning to do a video on that , I'll try to make it the next one
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I appreciate that! I’ve got two nice looking gilts but two very different builds. One is going to be kept for a sow and one will be for the freezer. I know the one I like but am gathering other opinions. The videos on TH-cam on it were very vague or not trustworthy in my opinion lol
Enjoying your videos! Just found you few weeks ago! Thanks for sharing honestly!!!
I want people to succeed at this and it can't be done without knowing how things really are
Great video . Hope you’re doing good and GOD bless y’all
I'm a little better
I am very glad to see you guys back
We're going to try to get more videos up this spring
I use lard (and tallow) a lot. I would love to find a lard pig to feed out some day. Glad to see your video Chris and Darlene!
If you feed these up to 350 there's more than enough lard
Glad you are up working, was worried about you since it has been awhile between videos. I got 3 pigs about 3 weeks ago and it's the first I've had in 40 years. Thanks for all you do
I've at least stabilized a little, glad to help
Thanks for all your efforts in trying to educate others
I hope it's helping people out
Ight Chris we’re ya at we ain’t heard from ya all month. You Ight up there. We like your show
We'll get a video up soon , just planting season
We are in Thomasville nc
They are beautiful!! I'm glad he is doing such a good job for you ❤
I'm glad to have him especially after the bad luck we had with the other two
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay we're gonna come down again real soon! Gotta catch up 😊
I love yalls videos. Yall have really helped me do better at raising my pigs. I have 2 grade spot sows, a duroc boar and 4 up and coming gilts and a young boar. Thank you for all the videos it's really helped me out alot
Glad to hear that and glad to help
That hybrid vigor piece is the truth. I've heard vegetable seed breeders talk about genetic inbreeding depression, with things like grain corn. Good to mix up the heirlooms and inject more genetic diversity.
Line breeding is great to concentrate genetics but you have to cross out or you'll concentrate some bad too .
Love your videos and information.
Glad to help
Another great video! Thanks for making it.
Thank you
Boy them some good looking pigs.. we been getting our pigs for the sharps for two years now and they’ve done great
They have some good stock no doubt.
Thank you for posting your knowledge! Your pigs look fantastic! Our Yorkshire mature at 7 months.
Glad to , occasionally we'll have a guilt come in at 5 but most are 6 months at least
Missed y'all.
I hope to post a little more often when it warms up a little
missed your videos. Glad to see you looking so well. Nice, really nice looking new stock .
I'm going to try to get more up now that the days are longer
This man knows his stuff fooooooo sure and extremely helpful
Thank you
I went to the Fort Myers Florida fair 4H they were 5 Duroc Gilts and they were nice wish I had a property to have hogs I would of bought some
Glad to see you guys. Peace and blessings. Like watching your videos. I’m learning.
Let me know if you have any questions
Nice setup you have for the pigs. With your breeding plans, liking the crosses best, you remind me of and you should look up, the Joseph Lofthouse 'Landrace Gardening' channel and his description of how he approached vegetables. I'm working that idea on corn varieties this year, seems all the dark blue and dark red heirloom corn varieties have 3x-5x the protein of typical feed store gmo-hybrid corn. That protein can increase pig litter size and grow them faster. I got my Blue Hopi through Hoss Tools for a fair price if you are planting corn and want to experiment, many others only have small packets. Bloody Butcher is another to look for.
GMO corn is actually rarely grown in our area , a lot of people are confused about what a GMO is . Look for the term bio-tech that's the genetically engineered seed the rest are just conventional hybrids . I wouldn't mind growing some of those heirloom varieties if for no other reason than to keep them around they might save the world one day
Love your videos
Thank you for watching
Wow congratulations on the new breeding stock
I'm glad to have them
Looks like you have some good things going on my friends! Good to see (and hear) you.
Hey geeky glad to see you
Congrats on things going right for you, I could hear it in your voice that you are proud of what you have to offer your customers. Enjoy, it looks like its your turn to find the acorn.
We just got a couple of less than ideal boars in a row . That were expensive and cost some production
Don’t stop keep it up
I will as long as I can
Great stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'm praying for you.
Thank you and I'm glad to help
Hi Chris! It's great to hear from you. I remember you saying the Duroc/Hampshire cross was a great cross and your pigs show it. The Carolina Gold hogs look great as well as your Spots. Overall, they're the best looking bunch of hogs I've seen in a while.
I'm proud of them , I'm definitely think these genetics will help for years
Looks like that boar is doing really good for you, I know his dad has been the best boar we've ever had. We've picked up another new Hampshire boar from out of state and he seems to be just as promising as our other Hampshire boar. Happy to see an update from you guys and I'll try and get down to see you sometime soon
The Hamp boar is at Mike's and he's throwing gorgeous pigs too
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I sure appreciate you sending us a shout out about getting the boars from us and it looks like he's getting the job done for you.
Thanks for your content Chris! really like your channel, you have a new subscriber here. my brother picked up 3 the other week to feed out and butcher in the fall. i hope i picked right, there long, Red with big floppy looking ears, i seem to be able to watch them grow!!
Long is good and I personally prefer red
What cross is that spotted boar? And I’ve never heard of Carolina golds ? What is that? Been watching your videos for couple months ! Maybe I’ve missed a video .
The spotted boar is an Ivey commercial cross Im trying to bring SPC pigs back and they used a lot in their cross breeds . The Gold pigs are our farm cross we've been working on for twenty years should be a recognized breed by the end of this year .
Chris, what injections/vaccines do you give your piglets, and at what age do you give them?
Pigs raised outside normally don't need to be vaccinated they also don't need iron injections. We use ivermectin at weaning that's about it . We draw blood twice a year to make sure we don't have any issues and do fecal samples for parasites
Thank you, Sir.
U know your pigs for sure ..I just raise3 meat pigs a year ..and the Durock is always the best ...Your stock is the best Iv ever seen .Thanks for all your information and vids.What state are u lacated ..We havin a hard time find good meat pigs this year .
I think good pigs are scarce everywhere. We're in eastern NC
Really appreciate your content. You mention that the little boar is special. Can you do a video on how to judge/grade pigs? You mentioned growth rate but IDK what makes a pig subpar, good, great, etc...
I've been meaning to do one on how to pick breeding stock at least
Do more videos love channel
Hopefully we'll get some up more regularly now that the days are longer
Hey y’all glad to see ya. I was going to reach out to y’all for some good stock.
Email me homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
Glad to see the video we have to wait to get our feeder pigs this year. Up here in Mn we still have 2 ft of snow and it’s still 30 degrees! Always nice to see your still getting to getting yet Chris. Still have a goal to at some point in the near future acquiring some breeding stock from ya👍
I'd love to meet y'all in person
I love when a new video comes out.
Hope to get them up more regularly this summer
I'm a fan of the channel and I have a question. My boar is huge! We killed an old sow on the hoof she was 555 lbs and he is bigger than she was idk what he weighs I have to way to weigh him except farm scales. But I'm afraid to put him on some of my younger girls 250 275 lbs what do you think
He can break them down , that's always the end of a boar . Getting too big
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay that's what I was afraid of I bought a younger boar but he is still about 4 weeks haven't even picked him up yet and I've had bad luck buying grown boars from people so far
I actually found some duroc Hamp cross gilts I think they be a good cross with my spotted boar
The pigs should look like these multi color ones
Looks great!
Thank you
I notice your pens aren't ate up with Wallows and big holes where they've been rooting. Do you do anything to dissuade them from rooting or??.... cuz I've got 3 pigs in a 60 foot by 60 foot pen and the ground is just tore up with rooting holes
The right size and type of hog ring will stop the rooting. If there's something in the ground they want they can make a mess fast tree roots an old brick anything really that catches their attention
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I've got 2 berkshire gilts and supposedly an ipp pig. They definitely do the rooting!!
Thanks for the videos. They got me to move from just raising meat hogs for my family to getting into breeding. I live in Kansas and am located 500ft from a feed mill, so my location helps a lot. Have you tried selling processed meat rather than just whole hogs? Thanks.
We sell our tops processed ( dressed and packaged) I just don't sell by the cut
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I guess that’s the way I’m going to try. Also thought about selling feeder hogs with the feed needed to grow them to a good weight. (600lbs?) I can maybe add a 20% markup and still give them quality feed for less than they’ll get at tractor supply or wherever.
@@kssooner3495 be careful selling feed without a license is one of the laws they enforce. Same reason we don't sell by the cut
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay boy do I love government regulations.
@@kssooner3495 me too . They try to make it hard on little guys , every time I find something that would make a little money you have to have a hard to get license. I have enough equipment I could make feed for the neighborhood on shares and cut our cost to almost nothing. Nope not allowed
I'll be the first to admit I don't know a lot about hogs, but sure looks like a bunch of good ham, bacon, and sausage
They are delicious lol
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay appreciate the videos
Love your videos, but I'd still like to know what Is in the Red Cup
LoL depends on the day
Love your show Sir, much respect!@@HomesteadingtheHardWay
I just bought a bore and a sow,he’s supposed to be heirford and she supposed to be Duroc but I’m new with pigs and I have doubts about her more than him, any ways I could tell?
@@jimmycrum2529 I can usually tell if they're mixed , there's a lot of difference between types of the same breed . Makes it tough to describe what to look for
Tip of the mitt MI
Nice looking hogs
Thank you
Ever raise any yorks or landrace into your breeding I'm thinking of adding some for litter size maternal values
Durocs and hamps have as big of litters as York's . I like Yorkshires we had them for thirty years in the breeding program when blue butts were the main commercial pig it's hard to find the old type now though. Landraces never impressed me much
I’m in the northeast I’m considering feeder meat pig for us to raise for our family …what is a good gentle to start out. ? We are learning a lot from your videos 👍😊. Thanks so much for sharing
Glad to help , just a couple for meat is easy enough and not much input cost excluding feed
Wow huge
The biggest sows are close to 800lbs
Where are you located,you have some nice looking pigs I am interested in a few pigs
We're in eastern NC. Email homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
I am in Northampton,N.C. let me know when it’s possible for me to get a few pigs from your stock
@@dannybond5205 anytime is fine , email me I can't put the phone number up here
I’ve had a sow that seems to eat her pigs. Do u think she crushes them and then eats them Or do u think she eats them alive.
I don't know why but my comments aren't posting
homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
What would you say is the best recipe to break even? What would you say would be some breeds to think about purchasing. I am in new hampshire. Not too far away is some. Registered old spot. I have not seen any other registered heritage breeds Too breed For sale. I am interested in the durok the Hampshire the tamworth the old spot hereford. We have ten acres of Freshly broken ground as of four years ago. It has between 4 and 6 polled herefords on it now. I'd say 7 of the 10 acers are cut stumped and cleaned up should be the first year of grass taking hold this year. There is about 2-3 acers I could put hogs on
I am open to traveling to buy stock
Our best market is for good cross bred meat pigs in the 85.00 to 100.00 range at weaning to customers that feed them out and sell cuts . Next is breeding stock third are finished hogs you'll have to do all three . Old spots and Herefords aren't that popular except with the homestead crowd neither are solid white or solid black pigs . Hamp ,Duroc crosses do very well so do SPCs and our farm cross does very well . Be careful you can spend a lot of money on registered stock that you can't get back. Start small maybe two sows and add on as you build a market keep input cost as low as possible and try to find some good pigs of the right type that will hit 3.5 or better on feed conversion and finish to 280 lbs in 4 to 5 months after weaning . Types the hard part you need a pig with an inch of backfat and a little marbling in the chops but not too much . Avoid big pastures use lots and rotate a little saves land and expense also makes it easier on you
Have you ever seen a pink Duroc
Chester whites are kinda sorta a white Duroc so are some of the commercial crosses . I reckon it could be possible for a white pig to pop up in a litter especially if the parents weren't quite full blooded
Thank you so much. I'm just starting out and learning as much as possible. And a gentleman was telling me he has pure breed Duroc's that are white and I was just wondering cause all I've seen were red or brown.
@@annnichols8592 they're definitely not purebred Durocs . They only come in red and preferably dark red no white or black spots or markings. If they look like durocs just white they are probably chester whites
Probably a stupid question but would these be considered read meat hogs? Not sure If I even ask that right so ignore my ignorance. :)
Not a stupid question but one I'm not sure I can answer. The pork off these is a much darker shade of red than confinement pigs so some people might use that term . When I think of pork as red meat there's a couple of Asian breeds that are supposed to have pork that is actual red meat like beef and taste similar. A neighboring farm raised some and it was not received well by customers that bought it at all it was tough,stringy, greasy and didn't taste like beef .
Hey Chris what’s your opinion on Tamworth pigs?
I raised them for a few years , they're a good hardy hog and dress out good about the right amount of fat . Grow a little slow but not terrible. They're scarce most of what people call Tamworths are Hamp Duroc or Yorkshire Duroc crosses any red prick eared pig really gets misidentified as Tamworth
I found some that are registered I’m thinking of buying. Thanks for the info.
@@Mountainsidehomestead I think you'll like them
How do I get in touch with you to buy a hog
Send me an email homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
6 months is correctly right or after
Where are you located at Cris?
In eastern NC
Great, I'm in Inman SC on vacation. I live in Asheville ny
@@rickayers3150 you can email us homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
How can i get in touch with you
homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
Chris I wished you ain’t live so far away an i know how you fill about your durocs an my cousin down here in Alabama is about to have a fine litter of old line durocs that’s about all we fool with down here
I wish I could ship some in
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay Chris that can be astapblished Henry fudge or Albert haraway will deliver
I just got some duroc mix pigs and I watched your feed making video, he'll I watched all your video's. I feed them homemade laying mash and was wondering what you think. It's 18% protein. I have a little TH-cam channel if you want to see them and tell me what you think. Thankyou
I'll check y'all out , anything over 16% is usually not necessary and the mineral and vitamins are way different for poultry
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay thank you
Looks like what I’ve been raising
What's a guilt?
A gilt is a female that hasn't had a litter of pigs yet
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay thank you sir
Harnett County n.c
We're in Lenoir co.
I got the Yorkshire and Hampshire
Meishan pigs can reach puberty at 90 days.
U got any female left
There might be a couple in the multi color litter not spoken for . homesteadingthehardway@gmail.com
That's what I'm looking for is the fat I do a lot with the fat
We have some lard type sows for that reason some of my customers want a hog with two inches of back fat . I make a lot of cracklings/ lard and fat back and use some making deer sausage but have a lot left over off of the old bacon type hogs