So, all the experimenting and testing that we got to do with all our other projects, we now get to do with the pigs! Only a few days into having these critters around, and I'm already in love.
This morning I stayed and talked to my friend in the parking lot after work, so I was a tad later than usual getting home. The boys were up. I call the pigs the boys right now because they don't have names yet. I love sitting with them, and they're getting comfortable with me now. Either that or they want to eat me...
One likes to play around. He likes pats and rubs, and horses around a bit. The other, when I reach out, trips over himself to not get patted. He actually ran into a little hackberry tree running away, it was pretty funny to see. Poor little clumsy fella, he'll get friendlier.
This little piggy played games!
The playful one keeps trying to taste test my boots. I guess the factory smell just smells so tasty? Who knows? I won't be going in there barefoot, just in case it's my toes that smell tasty...
They still haven't touched their pig feed, and they look like they've lost a bit of weight. Being weaners, I kind of expected a bit of weight loss, but for some reason I was more concerned this morning. They weren't lethargic or anything, they're plenty active, vocal, and playful, but I wanted to try something. The feed they'd been on at the farm was a soy free, non-gmo, peanut based feed, and the only feed they had at the feed store I went to was soy based. It makes me happy that they rejected the soy crap as "not food-worthy," but it was bought in a pinch until I could get some of the stuff they're used to. Y'all know me, I hate the idea of feeding my critters soy. Speaking of which, it doesn't outright say soy on the lable, it just says "plant protein." Sneaky move, big ag, I see you.
The farmer said in a community chat we're in how, in a pinch on the farm, he would use chicken feed for the pigs or pig feed for the chickens, and that gave me the idea to see if it'd work. Chicken feed isn't nutritionally balanced for pigs and vice versa, but if it'll buy me a few days, I'll take it. I'll be going in a week to pick up half a ton of the good stuff that they're used to eating, it's only $210 for half a ton, and the manufacturer says it's good for six months in a barrel out of the heat and sun. I'll store it in the apartment to keep it safe from the elements, and it shouldn't get near the six month point, being half of what we'll need before harvest in December or January, eight months away. I don't want the whole ton though. A half ton is pretty affordable considering what it is. $210 for half the feed to raise out what'll be a very good amount of pork is a heck of a deal.
Pigs seeing if they like comfrey... The don't like comfrey.
Our comfrey is booming, and I'm about to start harvesting it regularly for rabbit feed, along with fresh green mulberry growth. I figured since it's a fodder plant that I'd offer some to the pigs, and they rummaged through it and went back to digging worms. Fair enough boys, message received. I guess it's just as well, since pigs digest similarly to humans, and too much comfrey can be toxic to humans. It's not an issue with rabbits since they're rodent herbivores that digest much differently than pigs and humans.
They like chicken feed more than soy based pig feed or comfrey.
The rabbits are kicking right along with all the plants on the wagon too. I need to find a way to store all this yard hay in a way that it won't compost. Anyone know how to make hay with a bagging mower? It's good in the pile for a day or two, but the rest is pretty well composted soon after that, and I doubt it has a ton of nutritional value for the rabbits... Or does it? I'm new to Urban hay farming, so I don't know how any of this goes lol
I've heard pigs like to eat beans. Glad I planted so many bean trees this year, I think I'll look for a way to plant even more. Perhaps I'll go harvest some bamboo poles again and trellis them like @bobydimitrov does... Maybe work that next half ton of feed down even less...
Well, I'm gonna call that a post in the name of actually getting it out on schedule for once this week. It's been a heck of a week with my morale being pretty damn low. Yesterday I had a panic attack for three hours thinking about some issues I may share about later. It was really great, definitely will be partaking in the anxiety again 🤣
Anyways, love from Texas
Nate 💚