Living on One Acre or Less

by Sally Morgan

  The Berkshire is one of the smaller prick-eared breeds.

  Oxford Sandy and Black.

  Common pig breeds

  Berkshire Small black pig with prick ears, white feet and flash on face. Good for early finishing at under 50kg (100lb), runs to fat if left longer. Good flavour to meat, better for pork than bacon.

  Duroc An American breed with auburn colour, tough skin and prick ears. A very hardy animal, moults in summer leaving bare skin, can cope with hot summers. Has a heavy body and good-quality meat. Often crossed with other breeds.

  Gloucestershire Old Spots The traditional orchard pig, ideal for free-range systems. Tough, hardy and docile. White with a few black spots and lop ears.

  Kune Kune A New Zealand breed. Small, docile and very friendly, popular as pets because of their small size. They don’t root as much as other breeds. Their growth rate is slow and they are prone to putting on fat, but they can be slaughtered at 10 months. Great for sausages.

  Large Black Large, all-black pig with lop ears. Docile and hardy, good for free-ranging and easy to keep behind electric fencing. Succulent meat.

  Middle White Small white pig with quirky, dished face with short snout. Quick to mature and easy to manage, usually raised for high-quality fresh meat rather than bacon.

  Oxford Sandy and Black A sandy-coloured pig with black spots and lop ears, hardy with good temperament. A good growth rate, finishing in 22 weeks. Good for pork and bacon.

  Saddleback Large black pig with a white band across the shoulders and forelegs. Hardy. Can be used for fresh meat and bacon.

  Tamworth Large pig with characteristic ginger coat, long snout and prick ears. An inquisitive animal which can be boisterous. Hardy and resistant to sunburn. Has long sides and big hams, good for pork and bacon.

  Welsh White pig with lop ears, long body with deep hams. A hardy pig with fast growth and good feed conversion.

  Kune Kune.

  Kune Kune piglets at 6 weeks.

  Large Black.

  Gilt or boar?

  The final choice is gilt (female) or boar (male). Often you have no choice, as the breeder may only have one sex left and the decision is made for you. If you are buying birth-notified stock, it is more likely that the breeder will have boars for sale, keeping the gilts back as breeding stock. Boars will grow more quickly and may reach slaughter weight before the gilts. Traditionally, it is the gilts that are kept a bit longer to be used for bacon and hams, and to avoid any problem of the meat having boar taint. Having kept pigs for many years I can say that I have never eaten pork with taint, despite all my boars being uncastrated and some run on until they were almost a year old. However, it is said that only one in every twelve people can actually taste it. Some research suggests that a taint may be linked to diet and husbandry rather than age.

  Generally, it is better to have single-sex groups, as more problems arise with mixed-sex groups, especially when they get to 6 months and towards sexual maturity. If you have a mixed-sex group with uncastrated boars and want to run some on to bacon weight, you would be wise to slaughter the boars early to avoid any risk of the gilts getting pregnant.

  How much land?

  A pair of weaners doesn’t need a huge amount of space: a pen of about 20m x 17m (66' x 56') is fine, although you may need more room if you are keeping them through autumn and winter. You also need to rotate the pens, using different ground each year, to prevent parasites building up in the soil. A rotation over 3 years should be sufficient. We have three pens that we use for pigs, one each year; the rest of the time the pens are either under crops or used for poultry.

  Once cleared by the pigs, the land is ideal for use for growing vegetables, as the pigs will have fertilized it with their urine and dung. Ideally, cover the soil after the pigs have been moved so the weeds don’t regrow. This land is particularly good for hungry crops such as potatoes, brassicas and squash. The following year you can use the ground for legumes or roots, or re-seed it to keep poultry, before returning it to pigs.

  This pen had been used for pigs and is now under squash.

  Housing and fencing

  Outdoor pigs need a shelter. The standard size of arc is 2.4m x 1.8m (8' x 6'), which will accommodate four to six weaners to pork weight. Traditionally, arcs are made from corrugated iron supported on a heavy wood frame, which means they can be difficult to move without the help of a tractor. If you are only keeping a couple of pigs, you could choose something a bit smaller and more manageable, as the arc only needs to be about 1.8m x 1.2m (6' x 4').

  Young Berkshires with their housing on one of our pens . . .

  . . . and the cleared plot 5 months later.

  The easiest option is to buy a purpose-made pig arc, and there is plenty of choice, although they are not cheap. When the pigs get towards slaughter weight, they are quite strong and can damage poor-quality houses, so look for strong supports for the roof and exterior-quality ply wood. Check that none of the timber is treated with a preservative that could harm the pigs if they chew the wood.

  Alternatively, you could adapt a shed, but again bear in mind that pigs are strong and that they rub against their shelter. If you are only keeping the pigs during the warmer months, you could get away with a small straw-bale arc to provide shelter from the sun and rain, or build a temporary shelter from pallets and sheets of corrugated iron.

  These Berkshires are housed in a wood and corrugated iron arc.

  Some arcs come with a floor and others don’t. If there is no floor, you need to provide a thick layer of straw to insulate the pigs from the ground. If there is a floor, make sure it’s not too slippery and add a few battens to give the pigs some grip. Pigs are surprisingly clean animals, so they will not urinate or defecate inside the arc, but it will still have to be cleaned out regularly, as it can get muddy.

  Think about where you are going to place the arc. The main opening should be positioned away from the prevailing wind, ideally in a sheltered position so it gets some shade in summer. Don’t forget that an arc with a corrugated iron roof can get very hot in the sun.

  Another critical aspect is fencing, and there are two main options: livestock fencing or electric fencing (see Chapter 1, pages 22-5). For small plots where permanent fencing is required, you can erect a livestock fence and run a line of barbed wire or electric wire along the bottom to stop them rooting under it.

  Electric fencing is good for large areas, and it is relatively cheap and easy to move. However, young pigs need to get used to the wires, and often they will rush at the fence and push through, despite being given a shock. Then they stand on the other side of the fence and refuse to come back! So expect some escapees at first. Wires are more effective than tape, but they are not as visible, and the pigs do not see them easily. We have used a single strand of tape along with two wires, so the pigs are able to see a visible marker.

  A young Berkshire pig sniffs an electric line around its pen.

  Food and water

  There are plenty of commercial pig foods available, with different formulas for weaners, growers and sows, which vary in the protein levels. The usual recommendation for feeding weaners is to give ad-lib (unlimited) weaner pellets until they are about 10 weeks old. However, we have found that with the slower-growing traditional breeds this is best avoided. Our young pigs seem to do better on a lower protein level of about 15 per cent, so they do not grow too fast. Our preferred food is an organic sow roll, the largest size of pelleted food, as there is less waste.

  The amount of food the young pigs get is increased gradually, based on 0.5kg (1lb) per month of age, up to a maximum of 2-2.5kg (4lb 6oz to 5lb 8oz) per day. Check that the pigs have eaten their food in about 20 minutes or so – if they haven’t, you are giving them too much. Ideally, pigs are fed twice a day, so you can split the daily food ration.

  On average, expect to use about 250-300kg (551-661lb) of food to get a weaner to slaughter weight, depending on the breed. Their food can be supplemented by roots and fodder fro
m their pen, plus any windfalls, acorns and fruit from the hedgerows, etc. They will happily eat roots and leaves and other vegetables from the plot, but you must not feed them any catering waste, from your own or a commercial kitchen or anywhere that sells meat (see Appendix). Food is usually given in troughs, but during dry weather it can be scattered on the ground. This helps to prevent bullying. Sow rolls are particularly good for scattering, and the search for food keeps the pigs occupied.

  Each pen needs a supply of clean water. The trough should be made from a sturdy material such as galvanized iron, recycled rubber or heavy plastic. Pigs are expert at making their water muddy, so the trough needs to be tipped out and refilled daily. In summer they will need a wallow where they can lie in the mud, which will help to protect their skin from sunburn (see opposite).

  This recycled plastic container has served us for many years, proving to be resilient to the pigs.

  Health and welfare

  Pigs are generally very healthy, and by observing your animals you will soon pick up any signs that something is not right. For example, they may have runny eyes, a discharge from the nose, or they may have diarrhoea or be lame.

  Medication

  REMEMBER that if you do have to use medicines or call a vet to treat your animals, you must keep good records, recording what was used and how much, the date, batch number, the animals treated and the withdrawal period (see Appendix).

  Parasites

  As with poultry, one of the most common problems with pigs is parasites, either ecto- or endoparasites. For example, they can get lice or suffer from a range of intestinal worms. Pig lice are large, so you can spot them moving around the head and ears, and they can be treated with a louse powder. Mange is caused by mites: it is an irritant which causes them to rub and scratch, and needs to be treated with ivermec-tin or a similar product, which you get from your vet.

  Many people worm their pigs routinely, either with fenbendazole mixed into their food over a number of days, or with injectable ivermectin or its derivatives, such as doramectin and paramectin, usually starting at 8 weeks and then at 6-monthly intervals. When you buy your weaners, ask if they have been wormed. If they have and if you intend to slaughter at 6 to 7 months, you may not need to do it again, especially if you are housing them on fresh ground. Don’t forget that there is a withdrawal period for these treatments, during which time the animal may not enter the food chain.

  Being organic, we do not routinely worm our pigs, as we only keep them for a short time and we rotate the pens to reduce any worm burden. Rather than simply give the pigs a wormer, it’s much better to do a faecal test first to see if there is any need. This is true for all livestock, not just pigs. The overuse of wormers is leading to resistance, so it’s important to use the treatments only when necessary. It is far better to manage the land appropriately to reduce the incidence of worms.

  Lameness

  Lameness in young pigs is not uncommon. It can be temporary, as a result of an injury sustained during rough play or from running on hard ground in dry weather, in which case the problem resolves itself in a few days. Sometimes, the lameness is due to arthritis caused by bacterial infection, in which case you need to speak to your vet to determine the best course of treatment.

  Sunburn and heat stroke

  If you have a white-coated pig, sunburn is a consideration in summer. Believe it or not, you can use sun cream on your pigs, especially on the ears and snout. Watch out for heat stroke during periods of hot weather, and make sure there is plenty of water and a wallow. But even then, pigs can overheat easily. The symptoms of heat stroke include shallow, rapid breaths and trembling, with the pig generally looking very poorly. Don’t tip cold water over it, as this can cause the blood vessels near the surface of the skin to constrict and cause even more problems. Get the pig into the wallow or under shade and if in doubt call your vet.

  Make sure your pigs have access to a wallow in summer.

  How much does your pig weigh?

  It can be difficult to judge the weight of a pig, and often you may think it’s not large enough to slaughter, while in reality it’s plenty heavy. You can work out the weight of a pig using a piece of string! (A string is softer and easier to wrap around the middle of the pig than a tape measure.) Take your measurements while your pigs are eating and standing still! Then use this formula to calculate the weight, which is usually accurate to within a few kilos or pounds:

  Weight (in kilos) = (G2 x L [metres]) ÷ 69.3

  Weight (in pounds) = (G2 x L [inches]) ÷ 400

  Where G = girth (the circumference behind the forelegs), and

  L = length of pig from base of ears to base of tail, in either metres or inches.

  Make a note of the girth reading. The abattoir will tell you how much your pigs actually weighed, so next time you can simply measure the girth and know if they are ready to go, or if you have to leave it a few weeks.

  Slaughtering your pigs

  A commercial pig raised in a barn may be ready to go to slaughter by 16 weeks, but traditional breeds raised outdoors take much longer. Middle Whites or Berkshires run to fat quite quickly, so are taken at about 60kg (132lb) at around 6 months; a pig of this size is referred to as a porker. A Gloucestershire Old Spots, Large Black, Tamworth or Saddleback will be ready by about 7 to 8 months. Those pigs destined for bacon and gammon can be run on for 8 to 10 months, when they can reach as much as 120kg (264lb), to give larger hams; these are commonly called baconers.

  When the time comes to slaughter the pigs, make sure you have booked into your local abattoir well in advance. It pays to visit the abattoir beforehand to find out when and where you have to take your pigs and unload them, and to talk to them about the butchery services they offer. Also make sure that all your pigs are suitably identified with either a metal tag or a slapmark (tattoo). If you are using metal tags, you may have to put in your order for tags well in advance. Also, all your paperwork needs to be in order (see Appendix for details of these rules).

  You will also have to arrange transport to the abattoir, so if you don’t have a trailer you may need to borrow one from a friend or neighbour. It’s important to get your pigs used to the trailer, so that they are not stressed by being loaded on to it. You can do this by backing the trailer into their pen and feeding them it in for a few days. Do not feed your pigs the night before you intend to move them, as it’s easier getting hungry pigs into the trailer! Once they are in the trailer, you can tag them and make sure they are clean enough, as abattoirs can refuse muddy pigs. If they are dirty, clean them off with a bucket of water and sponge. Once the pigs are delivered, the trailer must be washed down and disinfected. This can be done at the abattoir or when you get home.

  Most abattoirs have a cutting room where they can butcher your pigs. If not, you can arrange for the carcasses to be taken to a local butcher. In addition to joints, chops and mince, you can order some sausages and arrange for some meat to be cured for bacon and gammon. You could opt to butcher your own pigs at home, but if you do so there are restrictions on selling the meat.

  Pork is an exceptionally versatile meat. You can use it to make an array of products, from sausages to pies and terrines.

  Chapter NINE

  Including sheep or goats

  If you’d like to keep sheep or goats on a plot of around an acre, you will need a decent area of permanent grass. Then you could raise a few lambs for meat over the summer. Goats need more shelter but less space than sheep, so are an option for keeping year-round.

  Keeping sheep and goats on a small plot is a challenge, and more so if you decide to keep them throughout the year. Sheep are grazing animals, so the demand on the grass will be high, especially in winter, and you may need to rely on imported fodder or sheep nuts to ensure they have enough food. Goats are browsers, and they nibble trees and shrubs as well as grass. They may need imported fodder in winter as well.

  On a plot approaching an acre in size you have a few options. The bigger the area
of grass you have, the better – so aim for at least half the plot. Anything smaller will not be enough for sheep or even goats. One approach is to raise some lambs over the summer months, when the grass is at its most productive, and let the grass rest for the remainder of the year. Alternatively, you could run a few animals under an orchard so you can make dual use of the land, but remember that shading from the trees and competition for nutrients will reduce the quality of the sward, and the trees will need protection.

  Understanding grass

  If you plan to have sheep, keeping a quality sward will be critical, so it pays to invest in your grass, as it is your cheapest source of feed. Your permanent pasture probably consists of several different grasses, of which the most common is perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne), which is a hard-wearing species. Grass growth is at its fastest in late spring, when the rye grass is producing a new leaf every 4 or 5 days, but in the middle of winter this can take 30 days.

  Perennial rye grass has three leaves, and as the fourth leaf starts to grow, the oldest one dies. It produces tillers (side shoots), which create a clump.