Berkshire pigs love to root out and eat blackberry roots so I’m helping them out and it’s win-win teamwork.

What’s new and what’s changed for the December 2022 butcher date.

What happened to spring this year? As I write this in the latter half of June, it’s another day with rain in the forecast. I definitely prefer it to hot and dry, as much of the rest of the country is getting. The last of my yearling pigs went to the butcher on April 18,…

My butcher dates for this year are done, so it’s my chance to reflect on my growing year. Berkshire pigs are renowned for the fat marbling in the meat, and the results of my first year of raising Berkshire pigs did not disappoint. The meat is bright pink, juicy, and tender. I worked hard to…

This is a small farm and there are four pastures for pigs so they can be rotationally grazed, ranging in size from 0.5-3 acres. The newest pasture was a downhill thicket of blackberry, scotch broom, poison oak, and sedge grass, half of it in tree cover. We started to work on taming this pasture a…

Western Oregon. Rain. Cold. Mud. MUD. Some days it doesn’t stop raining and feeding the pigs becomes a real challenge. It’s not that I’m the Wicked Witch of the West, it’s that I don’t want the pigs standing out in winter weather getting soaked while they eat. So normally I watch the radar all day,…

Boy it’s been a busy year but now we have proof of how fast our Berkshire piglets are growing. The photo on the left from our last post was taken when they were two months old, and the photo on the right shows them at almost 9 months. Piglets need TWO food bowls At 9…

Until now, Pigs Can Fly Ranch has raised small heritage pigs, of the American Guinea Hog and Kune Kune variety. These little pigs took a year and a half to reach market weight, which was only 75-95 lbs. hanging weight. Faster growth with more feed meant more lard for these breeds. Like many fine things,…

Pigs are not prey animals, so if you’re used to skittish horses, this ain’t that. Park trailer in pasture. Leave truck attached. Open trailer doors, put down feed at far end from door. They may or may not be hesitant but the smell of feed quickly wins out. Next feeding, shut the door for a…