Pig Keeping

Featured in Lifestyle block Nz

Words by Mieke and Simon Couling

read time : 5 min

part one

Pigs are incredibly intelligent, social, clean (yes, very clean!) and useful animals  that can really enhance the pleasure of living on a block.

We started keeping pigs the moment we had access to a lifestyle block six  years ago.

To this day, we still adore and admire our pigs. We  are very passionate about anything and  everything to do with pigs, even the end of  their lives.  

Pigs have been domesticated since  ancient times. Archaeological evidence  suggests that pigs have been managed for  as long as 13,000 years. The domestic pig  (Sus scrofa domesticus) was domesticated  somewhere between 5000-7000 years  ago. Although they were not the highest  valued of domestic animals, they were predominantly kept for their meat and they  have been part of the small farm for a long  time. Nowadays schools tend to put scraps  

into worm farms or compost heaps, but it  wasn’t unusual in the old days for them to  have a pig bucket.  

We moved from the Hawkes Bay to  the Coromandel with two vehicles, three  children, two dogs, a cat, two pigs and a  rooster. We must have made quite a sight  

travelling with our menagerie. The pigs we  had were just the standard breed (or more  accurately non-breed) of white pigs. As  our knowledge about pig-keeping grew so  did our awareness of rare breeds, and the  importance of ensuring these breeds will  still be around for future generations.  

John Earney from the Rare Breeds  Conservation Society and Avonstour  Heritage Farm once said “the best way  to save a rare breed is to eat it”. We took  this advice to heart and happily became  Berkshire breeders. We mostly sell young,  weaned Berkshires to keen lifestyle  blockers wanting to grow their own meat,  as well as to other Berkshire breeders.  

History 

The Berkshire is an amazing pig. It is  an historically significant breed and  listed a high priority by the Rare Breed  Conservation Society. 

Berkshires are a black pig with six white  points (nose, tail and legs). The origins of  the Berkshire are a bit vague but legend  suggests that around 1640 the pig was  discovered by Oliver Cromwell’s army in  the county seat of the shire of Berks in  England. Supposedly, it soon became a  favorite with the English royal family (for  its divine taste no doubt) and all current  Berkshires are said to be descendants of  the herd maintained by the monarchy.  

The Berkshire was first introduced to  New Zealand during the early days of  European settlement.  

Attributes

The Berkshire is a hardy pig, and the sows  have a docile and lovely disposition. The  boars have superior semen quality and a  respectable libido. They are easy to handle and friendly chaps. The litter sizes (usually  7-14) are sometimes criticised for being  small, but when one takes into account  the quality of the meat and the excellent  mothering skills shown by most Berkshire  sows this argument loses merit.  

The Berkshire can require slightly more  food than commercial crossbred pigs as  they are, on average, about 5-10% poorer  in food efficiency then their commercial  cousins.  

One of the biggest drawbacks of  growing Berkshires for meat is their black  hair, but this can be dealt with using a  good de-hairing process. Overall the  quality of the meat, the hardiness and the  wonderful nature of the Berkshire pigs outweighs the slight disadvantages.  

Care

Maintaining the health of pigs is not very  difficult if you approach the whole process  with the pig’s best interests at heart. The  first two or three weeks of a piglet’s life are  known to be critical, but our experience  would suggest that if they make it past the  first three days they stand a good chance  for a long and healthy life.  Healthy pigs are alert and active, with  a tight curly tail and sleek hair coats. Pigs  love food and will do anything for food  so a poor appetite is always a sign of an  unhealthy pig.  

Stress is one of the biggest problems for  pigs. Being the intelligent creatures that  they are, stress impacts on them badly. A  new environment, vaccinations, isolation,  boredom, strange surrounding or new  pigs can all serve to stress or scare a pig,  and care must be taken in any of these  situations. A stressed pig is more prone to  sickness and disease.  

What can you do to keep a pig healthy  and happy? Feed and shelter would be the  two easiest steps in ensuring your pigs are  well cared for. Pigs are extremely sensitive  to heat and can suffer from sunburn and  heatstroke, or from the cold. Pigs love to  wallow in a mud bath in the hot summer  months to help keep them cool, and it’s  also a method they use to control parasites.  In the winter months a pig hut (preferably  with a raised floor) lined with straw should  keep them cosy and warm. Pigs will not  urinate or defecate in their sleeping huts,  so any straw provided will last some time.  

Mieke and Simon Couling with their beloved Berkshires. Their pigs live happily in a free-range paddock, and are very much part of the family, even though

some are killed and processed each year for their delicious  and beautifully marbled meat.

How to add even more value

You can put additives into your silage when packaging it. Molasses will increase the sugar content, kick starting the whole fermentation process, or you can purchase inoculants which are the lactic acid bacteria itself. You can also add acids like formic and sulphuric acid (be careful with these - they can also cause harm) to immediately lower the pH. Next year, whenever my dry matter is over 30% (which it was on some of our hot, dry days) I will experiment with spraying on diluted molasses or cider vinegar.

Mieke’s perfect hairless pig tip

We use the hot-bath method. A critical component of success with this is that the water temperature is exactly 63^oC. After bathing the pig’s carcase, swift work  with a good scraper gets  the hair off easily and cleanly. It is not unheard of  that any left-over hairs are  simply shaved off with a razor! 

Feed 

Pig are non-ruminant animals (they have  a single stomach) who adore food. We  would go as far as to say that they will do  anything, and sacrifice anything, for food!  

Farm grains are the best source of  energy for pigs. Corn is an excellent  contribution to pig feed as it is high  in digestible carbohydrates. On its  own it is not enough and needs to  be supplemented with protein. Milk  products are great and popular with the  pigs. Aside from free ranging our pigs, we  also feed sugar beet and pig nuggets as  supplements. Clean, fresh water is also important.  One half to two-thirds of a pig’s body is  made of water and unlimited access to  clean drinking water is an absolute must. When checking the water troughs ask if you would be happy to drink from it. If  not, it is time for a clean out.  

Playing 

Pigs are playful creatures. Observe some  young piglets and you will notice a lot of  the time is spent in play, running circles  around each other, grunting and barking  

with delight. Pigs enjoy toys such as plastic  buckets, cardboard boxes or a feed sack but  their interest doesn’t last long and they will  

tire of a toy that is left with them too long.  Next to food, our pigs love a good  scratch. We have a very large boar who will  happily lie down for our children as long  as it means a tummy scratch! The children  have also taught him to sit for treats.  Pigs will rub up against fences  

and posts for a good scratch, so it is  worthwhile making sure you have a very  sturdy scratching post or two.  

Rooting 

Many people ring their pigs for fear of  having their entire property rooted up. Pigs  do love to root, but the amount of damage  done is manageable. Pigs will root lightly  as part of their daily scavenging around for  food, but given enough space and freedom  the effect of any of such light rooting, or  scuffing, is minimal. The rooting becomes  a problem if pigs are confined to a small  space, are hungry or bored.  

You can use this knowledge to your  advantage too. It is very satisfying to get  your pigs to plough the land in preparation  for planting crops. They root up the soil,  composting as they go along. Fence an area  using hot wires and spread kibbled maize  across the area you want ploughed. It is  all about input, output and respecting the pig’s natural ways of being - it’s a win-win  situation.  

We adore our pigs and they seem  to accept us as part of their herd. It is  interesting to note their reaction to  strangers on the property (let’s just say  we wouldn’t recommend going into  the paddock with them). They trust us  implicitly, even though at times we cull one  or two from the herd, and they guard the  property well. They are intelligent, clean  and delightful creatures, akin to primates,  dolphins and whales in intelligence.  

They are also the best escape artists we  have ever known (much to the dismay of  our farming neighbours). They provide us  with pleasure, entertainment, and meat for  the table.  

Pigs are really chatty too. It is delightful  to hear the snorts and grunts as they  communicate with each other. The  mums have specific sounds for gathering  the troops if they get too spread out.  The pigs also have distinctive ways of  communicating with us.  

We could not imagine a lifestyle block  without pigs.

The best way to save a rare breed is to eat it, they provide us with pleasure, entertainment as well as meat for the table

Next month: when pigs  are ready to eat