Most people visit their local pumpkin patch a few days before Halloween to pick out a jack-o-lantern or two. We wait until the week after Halloween and collect truck loads of the pumpkins that are left lying in the fields. Why? Because the hogs love them! The pumpkins in the picture will likely last the pigs well into December. I feed them by throwing a few to the pigs each day. They hit the ground breaking them open exposing the mouthwatering flesh and delectable seeds. The pigs come running and eat the seeds out first. Then they eagerly devour the rest of the giant orange orb's flesh. This morning, however, they were a little more difficult to break open.Temps were in the mid-20's last night. They were froze up solid. No worry. The pigs can chew them open if they really want them. And believe me, they want them. It's just more fun for me to break them!
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Where to put them all. This year's growing pumpkin pile.
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Like most people, pigs like variety in their diet. They like it when we mix things up. You'd get tired of eating the same thing day after day, and they do too. The basis of their diet is a blend of locally grown grains that we have made up for us at the local feed mill. This provides them with the right mix of vitamins and protein they need to grow big and strong. They could easily survive on just this feed, but what fun would that be? During the summer months they get a little piggy salad bar with their main course (grain mix) by grazing the pasture. But with winter nearly hear, the grasses, field peas, rape, clovers and forbs (a mix of other plants most people call weeds) that make up our pasture are no longer growing so we supplement with hay. Yes, pigs will eat hay! In our never ending effort to product the best tasting pork at an affordable price, we are always on the lookout for feed stuff that not only will the pigs enjoy eating but will also make for great tasting pork! I strongly believe that a varied diet not only makes for a healthier animal, but also makes better tasting pork.
