# I have piglets! with pictures! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993 "2006-05-01T19:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/1 "2006-05-01T19:51:55Z")
First a bit of background, my wife and I bought a hobby farm last summer, and I have been slowly beating it back into shape since then. Everything outside of the house had been fairly neglected so there has been a lot of pruning and fixing and mending. The pasture fencing was in pretty good shape and so was the lower level of the barn so I thought maybe we would get some kind of livestock this summer. After running new electric fence and some new barbed wire we started asking around. Turns out one of my wife’s old friends raises organic pigs. So we went and visited them a few weeks ago and picked out a couple of gilts, a gilt is a young female pig, and they delivered them to us on saturday. Here’s a picture of them getting used to the pasture: [![](http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j227/Ardwyn_Farm/Pigs/3e420f1f.jpg) ](http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j227/Ardwyn_Farm/Pigs/3e420f1f.jpg) The question everyone wants to know is : “Are they pets?” Sorry, but no. Buying certified organic piglets and feeding them all summer and into the fall is an expensive pet. These pigs are destined for the table. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/2 "2006-05-01T20:12:29Z")
Then in the spirit of carnivores everywhere: They look yummy, when is dinner served? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/3 "2006-05-01T20:14:57Z")
These little piggies are going to market, huh? But they’re so cute! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/4 "2006-05-01T20:15:31Z")
Bacon and hams and pork chops and pork loin and pig’s feet and scrapple and… \ ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/5 "2006-05-01T20:18:24Z")
So cute and tasty! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/6 "2006-05-01T20:21:42Z")
> [@August West](#): > > The question everyone wants to know is : “Are they pets?” > > Sorry, but no. Buying certified organic piglets and feeding them all summer and into the fall is an expensive pet. These pigs are destined for the table. They’re smiling. That’s a sure sign of a pet. Have fun taking 'em to slaughter you heartless bastid! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/7 "2006-05-01T20:23:24Z")
Those piggies is cute! But, pigs is pigs, and that’s where we get other things I love like pork meat. mmmmmmmm! But I can’t meet it before I eat it. It has to come to me cooked or under plastic wrap, or it makes me sad. I’m a pussy like that. Yaay for piggies! (In all forms) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/8 "2006-05-01T20:26:53Z")
They should be ready for slaughter sometime around October/November. I’m sure it wil be tough, but they won’t be nearly so cute at that point. Right now I’m trying to convince my wife that I need to build my own smokehouse but, with all of the other projects that need doing, it’s a tough sell. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/9 "2006-05-01T20:27:30Z")
:: Makes apple sauce :: Very cute. And they’ll be verrrry tasty, I’m sure, being able to run around to their heart’s content and eat what they should eat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/10 "2006-05-01T20:29:55Z")
How big are they gonna get? How much meat will that render? Any idea/estimate on your costs involved? How large a place ya got? BTW - cute pigs. Look tasty! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/11 "2006-05-01T20:30:08Z")
One day they’re running around all cute and innocent, the next you’re removing 'em from between your teeth with a toothpick. They sho is cuties though! ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/12 "2006-05-01T21:21:15Z")
I have this strange desire to chase those pigs for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/13 "2006-05-01T21:48:13Z")
::: Puts down knife and fork, leans back, rubs distended belly and says, ::: “That’ll do, pig.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/14 "2006-05-01T23:10:50Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > One day they’re running around all cute and innocent, the next you’re removing 'em from between your teeth with a toothpick. If I had a dime for everytime I’ve heard _that_. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/15 "2006-05-01T23:32:17Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > How big are they gonna get? > How much meat will that render? > Any idea/estimate on your costs involved? > How large a place ya got? > > BTW - cute pigs. Look tasty! So many questions! They should get to somewhere between 200-250lbs by the fall. We should get about 65% of that in meat if I remember rightly, so let’s say around 150lbs per pig. We are only going to keep half of one for ourselves, the rest is being sold to friends and family. I am getting a premium price because they will be hormone and antibiotic-free and pasture raised but we won’t make money on them this year. If I raise 2 or 3 next year then we could see a profit. Costs so far were $240 in fencing/ gate materials and $75 each for the piglets. That is higher than normal because they are Certified Organic. A normal “feeder” pig is about $40-50, I believe. I estimate the cost of feeding them at $7/week, cheap for me because I work at a craft brewery and can take home all the spent brewer’s grain I want, which will be about 30% of their feed. Our farm is just over 5 acres, the pig’s pasture is about 3/4 acre to an acre. I haven’t paced it off. I’ve been haggling with a local farmer over the 8 acres right behind our property, we’ll see how that goes. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/16 "2006-05-01T23:46:55Z")
Pat a piglet!!! Pat a piglet on the side, on his hip above one of his back legs, a good pat, but not a slap. Piglet will turn in a circle for however long you hold your palm on him. Turn turn turn turn turn!!! Pat a piglet today!!! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/17 "2006-05-01T23:56:36Z")
You’re going to need a smokehouse. If not this year, then the next. Make it big enough to hold several hams, strings of sausage, and slabs of bacon all at once. Start looking around for a source of apple wood for the smoker. Then read[_A Day No Pigs Would Die_,](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679853065/sr=8-1/qid=1146527514/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4773479-0735016?%5Fencoding=UTF8) and [The Smoked-Foods Cookbook](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811701166/sr=1-3/qid=1146527595/ref=sr_1_3/103-4773479-0735016?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books). And maybe [Diggin’ In and Piggin’ Out](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060929057/sr=1-2/qid=1146527712/ref=sr_1_2/103-4773479-0735016?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books). I cannot recommend the last book highly enough to any male worth his salt. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/18 "2006-05-02T00:55:01Z")
A craft brewer with piglets! Will you be my new best friend? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/19 "2006-05-02T12:21:46Z")
I agree **silenus** , and if I build one I will build it big. I don’t have to look too hard for apple wood since I have 9 very overgrown apple trees on the farm, I only got 2 of them pruned this spring, but I have plenty of apple wood just from those. Thanks for the book suggestions, I’ll check them out. **bubastis** , I’ll try that tonight! This morning was the first time they let me get near them, I guess they have figured out that I’m the new food guy. And hey **brownie** , no problem! Come on over this weekend for some beer and chicken on the grill! I also have a couple dozen pheasant eggs that are incubating and should hatch in about 6-8 days, another new experience for me and especially for my wife, who is trying to overcome her urban upbringing. I spent 5 summers working at my great-uncle’s dairy farm as a teen, so I at least have a bit of experience with livestock, this is all very new for her and she is being a trooper. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993/20 "2006-05-02T12:43:34Z")
Are they kosher? ;j 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-piglets-with-pictures/354993.md?page=2)