The COST of raising our TWO pigs | Australian Offgrid Homestead

The real cost of raising two pigs for meat on our Aussie offgrid homestead. Our set up, the costs, how much we got, what we though of the experience and what we would do different if we did it again.
#pigs #rockpilehomestead #offgridliving

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

You folks had me at breaded loin chops fried in lard! Now there is a delicacy! My oh my YUM Yes, pigs are smart animals. They do toilet in the same location. Usually a corner of the enclosure that's far away from their hut, water and feed. The paddock will be empty for a while, so spread some pooh around in the paddock and toss a bag of wild bird seed around (unless you have a favorite forage blend) Pick up the rest of the pooh and lightly spread it in a circle just outside the drip line of your trees. That's how you tame fresh pooh. Make the roots reach for it. I really like the idea of interconnected paddocks. The quickie next step is make another round one and where they touch, install a gate, the waterer with nipples on both sides and the IBC with 2 lockable doors. Or you could go for it and build four or six. You would have to move them once a week unless they were huge paddocks. I think the fence construction you used for your milk cow would be fine. Just add the low electric wire (or maybe 2) One for a little snout and one for the BIG snouts. =D You can also plant a living fence outside of the wire fence so branches and leaves will grow through. That keeps them occupied. It's not a lot of forage, but it is lots of little nibbles. A pig tractor is a great idea for when they are little, but based on how quickly they grew - I feel certain you could not build it big enough and solid enough to contain two full grown hogs. I know you are going to take that as a challenge Cory - but be kind to your foot :) Maybe a compromise is a tractor you move daily/every other day for the first 8-16 weeks while you build paddocks or until the pasture grass in the paddocks has a chance to recover?

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

All great ideas, appreciate your thoughts mate. Been talking about diff options a lot the past few days👍

[@H.Brett1]

Just put an offer in for 100 acres not far from Perth also and never farmed before so learning a lot from you guys cheers

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

@@H.Brett1 awesome, congratulations 🙌

[@chrisdoe8632]

Thanks for the break down. Think about growing a sow and have it inseminated. We produced 2x9 piglets, sold most on , early, grew 4 and surplus paid for husbandry and processing. Not much more work, we both worked full time and had two kids under 8. Food for thought, pun intended! Love your approach and your content.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Cheers for that! Will definitely be discussed 👍

[@Bush_Edge_Homesteading_Aus]

The Summer antics 😂😅😂 Great overview of your learnings raising the 🐷

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

She’s such a character!

[@Megs_farmlife]

Hello from the other side of Australia! We’ve been growing out pigs for meat for a few years now and it’s definitely worth doing. We mostly get large whites but this time round we got Berkshire and they are 6 months old and ready for the freezer. Pigs are the “cleanest” animals, they have a separate area for the toilet anyway from their water and feed.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Hi!!! I’m surprised at how often ppl will warn you off pigs because of mess and smell when they are, frankly, delightful!

[@Megs_farmlife]

They are such a fun animal to watch! I love watching them play and run around with each others. I definitely agree with having electric fence around the base of their pen and I have free ranged them in just electric fence and had success in both methods.

[@threeriversforge1997]

Good talk. I thought about gettting some kind of livestock here, but life keeps throwing me curveballs. Pigs would certainly be fun, though, especially if they'll root up all the bamboo I have around here! As for the butchering, I'd advise that you keep using the mobile guy. I know it sounds like you're saving money by doing it yourself, but you're really not. It's a serious bit of work, with a lot of specialized knowledge needed so you don't have much waste. Too often, folks want to look at the dollar sign and think they can do it cheaper, but they forget that they're not including paying themselves a wage. That mobile butcher gets a wage for his labor, but it's "well earned"!! If you'd like to get your hands dirty in that area, consider taking a class or three first. Learn how to make the cuts and prep the meat under the guidance of someone who does it for a living, and you'll quickly see the benefit of having a pro do it for you! I remember processing deer when I was little. It was a family affair and there were good times had, but.... it was still one heck of a slog! I like knowing how to do it, but I also learned that I really like buying my meats pre-packaged from a proper butcher. Plus, it helps to keep that trade going. If everyone's DIY'ing, the people who specialize in that stuff are run out of business exactly when we need more small craftsmen.

[@eddieandjulieklysz458]

You can try and get food waste from the cafe to feed your pigs but you will need to tell the cafe that you will be using waste for compost only. Plus try to grow comfrey as you can eat it yourself plus feed the animals and chop and drop in gardens and fruit trees.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Great idea! We do get veg waste from our local cafe fur a number of things as well as old coffee grinds for the compost 👍👍 Thankyou!

[@honeybacres]

Pigs is not something we have ever wanted to get but it was interesting to hear your experiences.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Glad you found it interesting! Thanks for watching 👍

[@gabbyb7342]

Thank you Amanda, Corey and Summer for sharing, it's good to hear that it all went well. Excited to see the future pig tractor :) Did you feed the pigs any other food eg. kitchen scraps apart from the bulk feed / finisher / hay?

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Yes veggie scraps too… that little snippet must’ve been edited out sorry! But from the kitchen, the garden and our local IGA has bags of veg scraps available too 👍

[@honey-bee-farmstead]

That was a very informative and fun video. I love how much Summer likes being with you guys ❤

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

She’s so funny. Just likes us hanging out with her. When we were fencing in there she was investigating everything in the back of the ute, checking out which parts of the car were best for scratching and sticking her head in the windows just to see and lick stuff 😂

[@normmcleanmclean5632]

Really enjoyed your video a pig Tractor used on not so good land As in a bit clay with a few things added like organic matter ect. Your pigs will turn the area’s into market garden quality. Good luck with your pig’s I would love to your. Tractor when it’s in action

[@toddshook1765]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am looking at getting couple pig this fall/winter for our homestead. Pigs do use one area of pen for bathroom. One thing I heard is time to time lay some wood chip or straw over where they go. Helps keep Oder down and have great compost when done.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

I think that would work great. Reminds me of the deep bedding method some people use.

[@judithmaurer7622]

Thanks for sharing!!! I really appreciate your honesty and giving of information to help others.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

You’re most welcome! Thanks for watching 🙌🙌

[@lesboucher542]

Very informative and interesting. If I were in your shoes, I would think about using the pigs to turn over an area that you may have another purpose for such as clearing for a vegetable garden, etc. It becomes a win-win situation...

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Thanks Les mate, good idea 👍

[@GunnaonedayHomestead]

That was a really informative video.. cheers

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Cheers you two! Glad it helps 😁

[@insAneTunA]

Informative, and I am glad that it worked out for you, and that the meat tastes good. If I ever visit Australia I know where to go. I love pork 😁👍

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Thankyou 😁 We’re so glad it worked out well!

[@TheJacksonFour]

Great video guys, very informative 👍🏼

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Thankyou!

[@eddieandjulieklysz458]

You can ferment the feed for the animals it's really good for them.

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Yes! We didn’t go into it in this video but we did ferment the bulk oat/barley mix for them. It worked great and I think that’s what made the bulk feed go so far.

[@AnitaLusty]

Thanks for that. So you grew them out for 10 months? And you didn't use the finisher grains? Very informative thanks.Summer was the star of the show though. Was that her cameo appearance? Second video I've watched so I am a new subscriber. ❤

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

Hey welcome! Thanks for watching 😁 so we grew them out for 12 months and it took 10 month to get through the 600kg of feed. The last two months was on the finisher feed. Thanks for the question 👍👍

[@coevicman3685]

How about building a container into a hydroponic fodder farm to feed your live stock with high nutrient fodder summer + winter. Very cost effective and have control over erratic climate.

[@berniebee1]

Hi guys! Bernie from Pea Pod. Thanks for all the info. Curious, were they male or female pigs? How do pigs go with low temps in winter? We get down to negatives at times but not snow. Cheers

[@BiancaH1120]

What butcher did you use? Shortys? Id love to know if theres more, Shorty and Fi are the only ones we know of

[@ROCKPILEOffgridHomestead]

The wandering butcher, based out of York area

[@khalenebaron4713]

Hi guys. Just wondering if you had to give your pigs any vaccines etc. We live not far from you and really interested in everything you are doing/have done . Cheers. Khalene