Rotationally Grazing Pigs

You've probably noticed that we're big fans of rotational grazing. The goats, the cows, and now the pigs are all rotated around our property inside their own electric fences. While gaining in popularity, this method of livestock management is very uncommon. Yet it makes a lot of sense, if you have the time and resources to make it happen. 

Rotational grazing ensures that the animals are not living and eating amongst their own excrement. It also ensures they have fresh grass to eat everyday. In addition, the land benefits by getting some rest in between grazing periods. The farm (and the farmer) benefits by having healthier and happier animals. It's an all around winner, but it takes the time and motivation to make it happen.

Rotationally Grazing Pigs on Pasture

Rotationally grazing the pigs makes a lot of sense. Those little rooters will get their snouts running and completely destroy perfectly good pasture in no time flat. They have to be moved frequently and the land needs a long time to rest and recover.

Currently, our two gilts are rotating through new pasture every 2-3 days. They are allocated a small parcel of pasture that is dense with unwanted forages (i.e. broomesedge and other less-nutritious 'weeds'). As you can see in the pictures, they literally eat everything in sight. People seem to be surprised that a pig would clean it up that well.

First, the pigs start with the roots. They slowly unearth the entire plant and then proceed to munch down the roots. Next come the stems and leaves. After a couple days the paddock will turn into a mud puddle, especially if we get a little (or a lot) of rain.

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What is "Farmstead" Milk Soap?

Farmstead soap set, ready to ship

After a busy month filling holiday orders we've finally had a day or two to catch up on other things. Throughout the rush to get everyone their presents a bunch of questions came up about our soaps and what makes them special. A common question was in regard to the term "farmstead" soap.

What Does "Farmstead" Mean?

In the cheese world the term farmstead refers to the fact that the milk used for cheesemaking comes from the cheesemaker's own herd of dairy animals. Only if the cheesemaker ALSO milks the goats can he/she label their cheese as farmstead cheese. If the cheesemaker is buying milk from another dairy the cheese can't be labeled as farmstead cheese. Simple as that.

Since the milk we use to make our soaps comes from our own dairy herd we decided to transfer the term "farmstead" over to the soap world.

Why Does "Farmstead" Soap Matter?

With our farmstead soap you know exactly where the milk comes from. That can't be said for most other soaps. The majority of goat's milk soap uses powdered milk or milk from the store. Generally, the milk is coming from very large dairies where the goats are kept in confinement. At a minimum, you can be pretty certain that those goats don't have access to fresh pasture everyday. There's also no way to know the conditions in which they live. With our soap you know that the goat's milk comes from happy and healthy goats that are free to live their lives expressing their full goat-ness.

It might sound silly to some, but I like that peace of mind. 

Happy goats, happy soap!

Pastured Pigs - Act One - At Last

The girls enjoying the broomsedge. They love broomsedge roots, a new benefit to that "noxious weed"!

We've long detailed the onboarding experience of the Ossabaw pigs at Little Seed Farm. What was once envisioned as pigs rooting through the pasture quickly turned into a pallet-pen welcome package that was to last for many months. The escape (and general rowdiness) of the piglets made me question whether Ossabaws could ever work on pasture. If not, they weren't going to fit in the system we envisioned for our pork operation and they'd all be eaten, sold, or cross-bred.

So as the pigs grew fatter and gained experience in their wise old age I tested and monitored them. I already knew that as young pigs they were scared and excitable. Being Ossabaws (a still feral breed), that's to be expected. Each day I would get in the pen with the pigs to feed them and pet them. Luckily, they still ranged in the 25-100# weight-class and weren't yet big enough to really mess with me if they felt like it.

By the time November rolled around I was feeling very comfortable that the pigs knew and respected the electric fencing and that they knew (and not quite respected) me. They were ready for the ultimate "electric-fence-only" test. I am planning to breed the pigs in January, so I figured I might as well wait until then to set them loose inside an electric-fence-only paddock and risk the chance of them escaping. 

But as usual things didn't quite go according to plan. Also as usual, things turned out alright in the end.

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