Are Pigs Better in Pasture or Wooded Lots
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ย. 2024
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Depending on the acreage, you might consider harvesting or thinning your loblolly pine. Heavy hog rooting will disturb their roots and can lead to insect infestations, as those are fairly old for what appears to be an upland site that would have been shortleaf or mixed hardwoods, and you can encourage either more mast trees, or just improve the health of the canopy. The stand is already very dense and stagnant.
Interesting you say that. The few thousand square feet in the video is mostly pine, but for the most part it’s giving way to hardwoods mostly oaks and maple, though gum is everywhere with a few bay magnolias.
We looked at having the pines harvested at one point, but they were under populated I believe and not worth harvesting.
You hit the nail on the head though, the stand is dense and stagnant. In other areas we have thinned out some of the trees to favor the masting trees and keeping a few others for diversity (maples and black gum are good for pollinators and other beneficial insects). Definitely have some work to do in the forestry department.
Both pasture and wood lots are essential. In fact, wood lots can be converted to Silvopasture. If managed well, pigs would do well in both.
They do well in both systems in our farm!
Rome wasnt built in a day my friend, and you seem to be very logical in your experimenting, you'll eventually get just the way you like it. Keep up the good work. God bless!
thank you. @@tommcguire6472
My dad used to plant Sudan grass, peas, lintels, buckwheat, and lettuce for our pigs to graze on. Our pasture surrounded a heavy copse of nut trees in the middle, with a stream running through it.
Nice. Where did yall live for lintels? I dont think they do well here in MS.
Texas!
Horse pastures often have trees planted in them. That’s done to provide some shade but not so much shade that there’s little to graze.
Interesting.
@DowdleFamilyFarms love all your videos and you've been super helpful to my operation.
One small point for future discussion: A pigs digestive system is less like humans and more like a HORSE. (instead of an appendix there is a large cecum where fermentation occurs).
NO ANIMAL, ruminant or otherwise, can digest cellulose and other non-starch polysaccharides on its own. They all rely on microbes. And the microbes in a pigs hind gut are actually similar to herbivores.
So we hear all the time, PIGS ARE MONOGASTRIC so they can't digest grass. Well how about horses, donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs etc? Of course they will grow faster with supplemental amino acids but many people grow pigs on pasture only and they do just fine. But a pink pig from a CAFO will not thrive. It has to have the right genetics + epigenetics (mother pig on pasture) and be on pasture from birth on to establish the right microbiome.
First, thanks for the feed back. I appreciate it. Second. For the most part I agree with your argument with one exception. Pigs don’t thrive on grass. They can thrive and grow on good pasture - though not to their genetic potential and it may take longer - but they don’t process grasses nearly as well as ruminants. Forbs, legumes, etc are much more effective for them.
I suspect the reason people emphasize that about pigs is that I have seen too many pigs - and chickens too - raised in just pasture that was very poor quality for some ruminants much less pigs. It’s probably an over correction against that neglect.
@@DowdleFamilyFarms Yes I agree with you. I'm not saying raise pigs like horses (to be lean and fit) otherwise you'd be one skinny farmer! The key is the right forage mix as you have pointed out in many videos. My pigs have been grazing winter cover crop until yesterday's snowstorm (upstate NY), now are happily munching on haylage + supplemented with dairy.
Great insight! You are a precious mentor❤
I appreciate that!
Great video to clear up basic doubts
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.
Nice setup and good looking hogs
Thank you!
I've learned a lot from watching TH-cam videos this is very interesting!
Glad you think so!
Hello this videos are very valuable, please keep them up! Cheers from Uruguay!
Wow. Uruguay. That’s cool. Thanks for watching.
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what type of shade do u use on the pasture ? the same one as used for cows ?
We try to use trees as much as possible. Working on shade trailers for pigs. Cows don’t get artificial shade.