Amidst all the classes, transplanting and preparations for our tomato plant sale, we’re also working with the newest members of our farm: 6 Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, or simply Old Spots. We wanted to do our part in preserving a rare, heritage breed, and these pigs were a great place to start our meat animal program.
As you can see, these pigs are white with clearly defined black spots. Their calm disposition and foraging ability allowed us to incorporate them without too much discomfort to them (or us!).
The flatter land on our newly leased property would be the perfect place for these pigs, so we set to work prepping their new home. Below you’ll see one of our apprentices cleaning out the shed that provides them with shelter from the wind and rain. They get plenty of straw bedding as well.
Using a solar-powered electric fence system, we graze them outdoors and provide plenty of quality, meat-free food scraps along with organic, non-GMO feed from Modesto Milling. They seem to like it.
We’ll keep a couple gilts (females who have not yet reproduced) for breeding purposes and select the one with the best offspring for registration. The others we’ll finish on acorns before sending them off to their ultimate purpose of nourishing some happy and very grateful customers at Manresa restaurant.
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