American Mulefoot Hogs

 A few weeks ago we went and picked up a trio of  Registered American Mulefoot Hogs for the farm. We are hoping to breed the new ones come June which will set us up for October farrowings. 

Both of the gilts are checking out the bucket. 

Our young boar is a sweet boy who loves to get treats. 

4 days of winter rain has made a muddy mess

Back at the feeders

We have had hogs in the past. We have raise American Guinea hogs and Mangalitsa hogs. AGH just did not provide enough meat for us. Mangs had no registry in the US when we had them.

Our mulefoots are registered. We know by getting registered stock that they are what we say they are. We are hoping for our first litters to be born in the Winter of 2022.

New Year

 

The new poultry coop and hoop run are being finished.  The chickens and turkeys are loving the new space. The geese and ducks will be getting a new space in a few more weeks. 

Our Pedigreed American Rabbits are in new digs as well. Hanging cages under a roofed hut. We have tarps hanging behind and on the sides to cut out the wind. Hopefully have several litters of babies shortly. 

We managed to get a new isolation pen built. The trio of  registered Mulefoot Hogs that just arrived last weekend will remain in there until we get a few other building projects done. 

Swine

We currently have two breeds of hogs that we raise. Mangalitsa Hogs and American Guinea Hogs. Both are lard hog breeds and are usually gentle and easy going hogs.

Mangalitsa, Mangalica, or Mangalitza are different spellings for the same breed of pig.It all depends on where you are located in the world as to how the breed name is spelled. The Mangalitsa Hogs are a rare Hungarian breed of hog.

The breed was developed by crossbreeding Hungarian pigs with European wild boar. The breed grows a thick coat similar to what sheep grow. The only other breed to have a coat similar to this was now extinct English breed Lincolnshire Curly Coated Pig.

There are three types of Mangalitsa. Swallow-Belly, Reds, and Blonde. We raise Blondes at this time which were the original color of the breed. The majority of Mangalitsa being raised and bred worldwide are Blondes.
At about a year this breed can weight 400 - 440 lbs. After a bit of fattening, they can weigh 440 - 660 lbs. The maximum weight is around  1100 lbs. (These numbers came from this site)

Our hogs do not weigh as much as the above numbers. Our boar weighs about 350 lbs and the Sows weigh about 225 to 250 lbs. Our weights could be off since we do not actually weight them but use a weight tape to calculate their weights.

The American Guinea Hogs are another lard breed we raise. They are an American heritage breed and are listed as threatened by The Livestock Conservancy.  Other names for this breed are Pineywoods Guinea, Guinea Forest Hog, Acorn Eater, and Yard Pig. 

Our boar is about 185 lb now, the one sow we have is expected to farrow in a few weeks and is about 160 lbs, the other sow who is due t farrow any day now is about 175 lbs. Sows usually weigh about 150 lbs. We have four gilts we are raising up to and plan to breed come December. We are hoping to have more A.G.H. piglets available in the next year.

A bonus to having a smaller breed is they are a bit easier to catch and handle. A.G.H. also tend to eat snakes, so they make the farm a bit safer for the kids to play.

Mangalitsa Piglets

Joy made a wonderful next up in the wooded area of her pen. She had six healthy and feisty piglets last Wednesday.






They were only hours old when these pictures were taken.  They were all alert and sticking close to Joy.
Joy is a good other refused to leave them to even eat. I made sure to bring her food and water up by where her next was located.







We have tried farrowing huts or pens but have found the piglets and sows do better if they are left alone for the first week or so.

Pigs, Chickens, Ducks and Sheep

Our Mangalitsa Hogs

We have Blonde Mangalitsa Hogs.

These are not a commercial fast growing breed.

These are an old fashion lard breed.

They do not reach butchering weight until 18 to 36 months of age.

Here is the breed standard I have found helpful to keep in mind with these hogs.

Mangalitza International Breed Standard

Our Hogs are very spoiled. They get treats and belly scratches daily.

American Guinea Hogs

We have a litter available
Born 8/30/2017
Ready to go 10/25/2017

Sow - Mama Pig
Sire Boar - Bubby

Barrows $80
Boars $100
Gilts $150
50% deposit to hold

Belly Scratches and Rubs

Our pigs are slightly spoiled.  When we enter the pens they will flop over and demand belly rubs. They even line up waiting for their turns for the belly scratches and rubs. At the end, we have a pen full of flopped pigs.

Piglets and Ducks

We have another litter of AGH piglets. 8 piglets were born August 30th, 2017 to Mama Pig and Bubby. They should be weaned by October 25th. The piglets are already eating feed with mama.  As you can see in the pictures I took after tonight's feeding.

Some of the piglets take advantage of mama being distracted with eating to get a bit extra time nursing.

We also have a pair of Blue Swedish and a trio of Muscovies that we are