Paddock Shifting Our American Guinea Hog Pigs

In our first video in the series, we set up Premier 1 Quick Pig Fence to train our American Guinea Hogs to electric fencing. The next video showed us moving our pigs onto pasture from their corral and now we will be doing paddock shift. That is, moving our pigs to a fresh paddock. I also overseed the paddock where the pigs where to speed up the regeneration.
I was originally planning on using our Meadow Creature broadfork to decompact the corral and overseed in there also but the pig corral has a new occupant...dear Penelope.
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[@gardenlady1293]

the pigs want a wallow with water..LOL... You have a great system for luring the animals to new paddocks! A natural herdsman! Luv ur videos! Very instructive.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you :)

[@danhamakua9757]

Penelope is a clever girl.

[@LambchopAcres]

Great video. I love to see people who were not raised on a farm take a interest in homesteading/farmsteading. I was raised on a dairy/beef farm. So my hat is off to you.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you! I love your screen name!

[@LambchopAcres]

Thank you! That is also the name of our farmstead.

[@TheBeeperman]

Oh man, that was the best chicken intermission yet! Made my day.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

I was hoping you'd see it! You're my biggest chicken intermission fan! ;)

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

It was great -- gave me time to run to the snack bar for some popcorn. ;)

[@sonyagregory5711]

I have to say that you are one of the best learning experiences that I have ever encountered. You know so much and it is so easy to listen to you. I completely get everything that you are doing. You are a wonderful teacher. Your little Buddy is going to be just as smart and knowledgeable as you and your beautiful wife are. If you don't sell your place there and move here to good old North Carolina... Hint! Hint! Just kidding! I imagine your place in 10 years from now being this amazing food forest and permaculture phenomenon ! Love Your Vids! Journey On!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you Sonya! I really appreciate that feedback :) If we ever HAD to move back east, we'd likely go to NC.

[@PrattFamilyHomestead]

Things are looking good Dan! Your pigs are not rooting all that bad at all. Looks like they just wanted to lay in a little hole :) I also think your last comment was very true!

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

You are the Pea'd Piper of Northern Idaho!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

:)

[@carolinebaines8735]

Great job. Lots of hard work done today!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you!

[@bubba99999ful]

i love your intermission

[@joansmith3492]

I've had good luck with getting hairy vetch to germinate and grow, not so much with rye (only tried it once on twice). This year I tried Groundhog daikon radish and it came up in 3-4 days in a community garden.Woohoo! Good luck with your cover crop! Everything I'm reading says it's the right thing to do.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thanks Joan!

[@mhkoo1]

video editing is an art: the chicken intermission with its sound was great!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

thank you!

[@davidb9708]

great to join you. as i tell Justin "Keep on truckin!"

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Indeed! Thanks David

[@fearourskills1270]

Loving this channel lately!!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you!

[@BrimwoodFarm]

Great channel - found you via Justin Rhodes too. Your paddock system is making me rethink my entire process to flock management in the future (I have the land, not the sheep yet). Looking forward to watching more.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Awesome! I hope it is a positive influence more than a "what not to do" : ) Thanks for watching!

[@santryl]

Just wait for spring, pick a small workable sized patch, and cover & smother. Might take a while, but you will be able to make a path to the pond for irrigating

[@samerbako2358]

I'm sorry to hear that

[@flowerpixie76]

Absolutely loving your videos! 🌼

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you Misty!

[@LambchopAcres]

We put rings in our pigs nose, it doesn't stop them from rooting but it does slow them down.

[@madginger3634]

I cant stand roosters but those are some beautiful birds. I could watch animals all day

[@Dbigpinoy]

Always looking forward to your vids.

[@carolinebaines8735]

Dbigpinoy me too!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

:)

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

: )

[@sueleigh1018]

The Grass-fed Homestead I am hysterical!!!! And I love your videos!!♡♡♡ Sue

[@brianphilbrook5262]

That move went pretty slick. Guess what I recently harvested some locally grown 100% free range 100% organically fed black bear lol. Took all day yesterday but he's nice and snug in the freezer lol.

[@kyfarm]

Brian Philbrook, was bear a typo or is someone raising bear to eat? :D

[@brianphilbrook5262]

kyfarm2016 no no it wasn't a typo. No no one is raising them. I bear hunt during September and Saturday I got one. I said all that about locally raised because I shot it ten minutes from my house lol. The ultimate organic meat lol

[@alezajohnson1908]

Think about the fields in your area, are they all organic? The bear was probably eating grains in the fields and or berries along the edge of them.... most wild life is not organic.

[@brianphilbrook5262]

Aleza Johnson there is no farming or cultivation of any kind in this township. There is logging or guiding yes I'm positive he's 100% organic

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

That's awesome Brian! I've heard bear is greasy but I've never tried it. Let me know

[@thehomeschoolhive2109]

Good job figuring out the culprit! LOL Too funny, but animals can sometimes sure cause our plans to have a hiccup for the day. I did also want to ask another question. The other day after reading your answers to my questions I checked on field pea prices. They had three different kinds. Does it matter or are field peas all pretty much the same? Thanks for all your help.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

What are the three kinds? I thought field peas were just field peas.

[@thehomeschoolhive2109]

I don't remember. I was too shocked at the price. Besides I'm like you I thought field peas were field peas. LOL Think I'll find a cheaper source of field peas.

[@tweetcrafts6077]

Rhodes video gave you good exposure. Glad I came across your channel 👍 Keep up the good work

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

I'm glad you did, too! :) Thank you

[@thecynic807]

I think with your soil and climate that creating these small paddocks is too much and you should use the T-post and permanent electric fence for the sheep and pigs and open it up to your whole property creating two paddocks one for the spring and the other for the fall. And the only thing you'd have to move once a week is the water barrel and food so the pigs don't create those craters. And then plant a fall crop in one and a spring in the other. Just my thoughts.

[@santryl]

I don't know if you are interested the book I referred to might be available at your local library. It is, Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

I have it. I read it years ago but I should give it another read. I'm currently reading Salatin's newest book. Good stuff

[@samerbako2358]

Another advice try the dexter cattle association in America

[@samerbako2358]

Or the cattle show

[@samerbako2358]

When is the cow coming

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

she's not : (

[@santryl]

Hello, if you do not want to use the pigs to eliminate the ferns, Sepp Holzer has a possible solution. He suggests covering and mulching the area with cardboard, jute sacks or other biodegradable materials and piling soil and mulch on top. Sow the mulch with seeds (he mentions turnips) page 66 - 67 Sepp Holzer's Permaculture. You don't have to do the entire area, just start with small areas and work out.

[@santryl]

I do not live on a mountain side, so, when reading his book, whenever he mentions terrace, I think wind break or swale. Not sure if this is helpful or not. Best wishes!!

[@zaneymay]

we are getting g hogs put we are planting the pasture first.

[@HiddenMeadowFarm]

I'm hearing all kinds of sounds in the background that I've never heard before. Horses? Trains? Do y'all own a horse? Thinking about getting us some pigs.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We don't own a horse but our neighbors do. You should defiantly get some pigs!

[@paulahoffman8230]

Hey Dan!!! :) Sure looking good. Silly Penelope - what's good for her is tuff for us. Still loving your easy to watch & understand vids. What size is your pig paddock? I'm very curious. We are looking at doing some g hogs (smaller, more docile) or start w/ a couple of mixes and introduce a guinea or two. Have thorny thickets in our wooded area(s) that we need cleaned out and some trees/stumps dug around, too. Understand that Guinea's are some of the best for that. Our scrub oaks do produce acorns and want to find/create some open areas to plant almonds, walnuts & chestnuts as well as some native Paw Paw trees. I was talked to by not 1 but 2 different folks locally that have hogs - fencing is an issue with some of theirs (BIG hogs - 600#), so that, to me, is very scary. I want smaller but still able to help us out and be meat, too. One of John Suscovich's vids shows his pasture piglets rooting/digging really quick/deep right after they were moved to a new paddock. I don't remember if he said what breed they were - they were red. We have 5 dogs - 3-4 of whom go in our chain linked "back yard" (various dog pens linked together to form a yard) because they go right out the front gate of our 21 acres and go on up the highway if turned loose. That creates lots of issues. BUT they dig faster and deeper than those guinea hogs do!! They can dig a single hole large enough to get their (up to #80) bodies out under the fence and still go up the road... :( Dogs aren't goin' anywhere - we had pets & ponies LONG before we had property and considered homesteading. Not ready to go LGD yet, tho. Working on getting both a larger yard w/ an auto, doggie door installed (one already in door is too small for most of them and is kept locked right now) and hot, stretchable strand wire at the gate to train them to stay in... Been a continual work, in progress, LOL. backyard dogs - 8/2015 - photos.app.goo.gl/DZvphZBiAYpIMB183 Monkey now deceased, Goblin & Lady both pittX rescues.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Hi Paula! The pig paddock are 25'x25'. The fence is 100' linear and I make a perfect square with it. And I understand regarding the dogs digging. My Akbash digs massive holes in nearly every paddock he's in. I will plant trees in the holes

[@tpfarm3535]

I thought Guinea Hogs weren't massive rooters! Maybe you should give them an owner's manual on how they should behave!! :D Are Guinea Hogs a lard pig? Why did you chose to raise Guineas?

[@ronsmith1364]

The Livestock Conservancy

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Yes, they didn't read the write-up on them so they didn't get the memo. They are a lard pig. I went with them because they are small, docile, and not supposed to root. :(

[@thecynic807]

Terri Poulin oh no those pigs are great for not needing to feed them much grain because they are great rooters. They survive best in the woods.

[@thecynic807]

You could have soaked the seed for a day or two to give them a jump start.

[@thecynic807]

I have a question I hope you can answer. Why does my organic grower chicken feed smell like dog food.

[@welshharlequin7722]

@7:14 the music makes the video!

[@samerbako2358]

Or dexters

[@imogenethomas1138]

Didn't you previously have some Dexter cattle? What made you decide against them?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We haven't gotten any yet. We put a deposit on a cow/calf

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

If I ever get cattle, they will probably be Dexters. Lucky for me, my neighbor raises them!

[@samerbako2358]

There is a breed of cow called mini jerseys

[@sethjones5078]

Love the chicken intermission how do you like the Swedish flower hens ? Keep it up

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

They are nice so far but the real test will be when they start laying. We'll see

[@daniellesduckheadhomestead3127]

Are their irrigation systems in your area? Or do you just hope you get enough rain. Just curious. Here in Southern Idaho we have canals that carry irrigation water. On our acreage we have water rights which is really nice. Otherwise we would have no pasture. I think our yearly rainfall is 10 inches. Anyhow. Thanks for sharing. Looks like the animals keep you busy. Did you return Penny the llama back to her owners? Haven't seen her in awhile.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We don't have the irrigation canals up here. Our rainfall is around 30" but this has been a bad summer. I don't irrigate because we don't have a well. It is costly on our community water system and against the rules. Penny is still here :)

[@daniellesduckheadhomestead3127]

The Grass-fed Homestead Thanks for the reply I appreciate it. We are considering moving up to the Sand Point area. I need to do some more research of the area to get a better feel for what it's like. It sure is beautiful. Hopefully next spring we can make a trip up that way.

[@jeanettewaverly2590]

My aunt used to live in near Sand Point. It is beautiful but boy can it snow in the winter sometimes!

[@jemmastorm2307]

The Grass-fed Homestead sounds like those swales you have envisioned are going to come in very handy when they are able to be implemented

[@Cvan732000]

Please don't butcher Clara... Just sayin...

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

no way!