Finishing Pigs on Mesquite

Today we show you how we're finishing our pigs on about the only natural resource here in the Sonoran Desert in June.

[@jr1965]

Hello a little suggestion when you guys get your nexts pigs you should start using a wip walk them with a wip for at least 30 minutes it’s so much easier when you want to load them up in the trailer and start petting them more they will trust you guys and will follow you around ....they love when you scratch their stomachs Ps I’m in ffa so if you have any questions please ask 🙂 and one more thing put sand instead of dirt they won’t get as dirty

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

QueenWolf19 1, thanks for those suggestions. Sounds like you have some experience with this! I haven't heard of a wip walk, so definitely will be researching that.

[@jr1965]

Your very welcome and yup we have to use a wip for our pigs to show them but I feel like other people can use a wip even tho they are not showing any pigs it’s just easier on the person and the hog ,also I hope my suggestions help you guys a little better again if you have any questions please ask 😉☺️

[@redsky7238]

It will be interesting to find out if the mesquite will do anything to the flavor of the meat and fat.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Red Sky. We're wondering the same. I know taking them off soy is suppose to help with the fat consistency (more dense), so we're hoping it will make for some wonderful tasting pork. If nothing else, it was an easy, free carbohydrate resource for us and they enjoyed it.

[@horseygurl143]

Suggestion from a vegan: Pigs make EXCELLENT guard pets. No one in their right mind is coming in my house with my tusked alpha laying on the couch watching television. If he's got to get off of the couch, an intruder would suffer. Recommendation: Fence your whole property and turn the pigs loose. Go but a couple of 50 gallon water troughs to serve as pools and fill those daily. That way, you can get rid of that mud. Put a shade tree or large umbrella where they can't get to it, but can benefit from its shade. Get a manure fork and clean manure regularly. Make sure to fly spray your animals. Forget about using them for dinner. Go vegan and you can keep these two, who would love to make sure the grounds are policed of intruders!

[@andymendoza6009]

You have a pig on your couch? That says a lot...

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Horseygurl143. Thank you for those suggestions. We just purchased 6 acres to expand onto and our pig area will be 1 of those 6 acres. Heard of people using feeding troughs for pools and we may try that, but I really love watching them in the mud! My sister, a vegan for going on 5 years now would agree with you whole heartedly. We tried the vegan route and I felt awful. Turns out the seizure medication I take severly depresses B vitamins which was compounded by the lack of substantial B vitamins in my diet (I need 3-4 times the amount most people do). We figured if we were going to continue to eat meat we had to ensure they were raised humanely and this is the only way we can ensure that. Now keeping one of these as a guard pet, I LOVE IT! I could only imagine the look I would get from Lori if she saw a 600lb boar sitting in the front room! :)

[@horseygurl143]

Edge of Nowhere Farm - I have to be honest with you - your pigs are really cute!!! And even though I don't believe in eating them, I do appreciate the care you give them as they wait for doomsday!

[@horseygurl143]

andy mendoza - It turns out that pigs are very clean. I have a six year old half Russian boar/half pot belly pig. I've had him since he was eight days old. He's neutered and has always lived in the house. He's cleaner than most people that I know. He NEVER uses the bathroom in the house, but instead has a place in the yard he always uses. He loves to lay in front of an air conditioning vent (heat in the winter) and watch tv. He likes to watch stuff where there's laughter. He's got the best personality, but if you're coming in my house, you had better have good character because he can tell and if you're shady, his razorback is going up and he's going to be after you!

[@redsky7238]

The mud actually helps deter insects without the need for chemical sprays.

[@JesusFreakJene]

I'm kind of surprised that you are butchering at 300 lbs. I think my one pig I raised was twice the size but I'm guessing they're easier to handle. My pig was a bit scary big right before we made her into bacon. Her name was Oreo for her coloring.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Jen. Yeah, from what we understand the lean meat gain to feed ratio drops substantially once they're over 6 months old. So we try to stay in that timeframe. Would like to give our Chester/Yorkshire mix another couple of weeks, but we don't want to keep them through July and August. And yes, they're a handful even at 300lbs, so I can't imagine a 600 lb giant!

[@Kberrysal]

Are you still doing this

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Not yet. We moved onto new acreage back in 2019, so we have not had the time to forage since this round. Our timing on keeping our feeder pigs has also changed. We only keep them on the farm from October - April which is prior to the mesquite tree harvest. We're kicking around the idea of harvesting in June and storing them until we finish in the pigs in March/April. If we can swing that we'll definitely do this again as the pigs love it.

[@Kberrysal]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ok