Adventures in Eco-Living

Why We Raise Our Own Meat

We love our animals here on the farm, and that includes the ones we will be eating. We treat them with respect, honor their sacrifice, and grant them the dignity of a life lived to its fullest (albeit a short life, it is a good one). 

We have countless visitors here, many of them from the city, who criticize this way of life: "How can you eat an animal you raise and love?" My response to that is simply, "How can you eat an animal that suffered a miserable existence in a factory farm, where it couldn't even turn around because conditions were so crowded, where it laid in its own excrement and was pumped full of nasty steroids, hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals?" (As of yet, not one of these remarks have come from a vegetarian. Having spent 15 years myself as a non-meat eater, I would not have much of an answer to someone who has made that ultimate sacrifice in the name of mercy towards animals.)

But I am at a moral crossroads in my life, having reverted back to eating meat: either I face up to where my steaks come from, or I don't eat them at all. If I can't stomach the idea of killing an animal for my dinner, then I shouldn't be eating meat, plain and simple.

As millions of us file into the grocery store each day to buy our meat, it appears we have lost touch with where it comes from. That nicely packaged steak WAS a cow, and those delicious looking pork chops WERE once a pig, and unless you are buying free-range or organic meat, I guarantee you that animal probably had a miserable life in a factory farm (especially if it is cheap meat).

Look at the difference in photos. The one above is our pigs, hanging out in their pasture, with a sprinkler hose running so that they can cool off and wallow in the mud (a pig's absolute favorite thing to do). Here is the typical way a factory farm pig spends its days:

 

No, it will not be easy to butcher our pigs. I love them. I wake up every morning and look forward to their antics. I talk to them, croon them, scratch their backs. And I also give immeasurable thanks for their sacrifice. They will die so that I may live. In return, I will give them fresh air and grass and room to wallow and roll and play, and all the healthy food they can possibly eat, and I won't give them hormones or steroids or chemicals or antibiotics that they don't need. And I won't yell at them, or hit them, or denigrate them in any way. And when the end has come, I won't force them into a truck and drag them to a cold and heartless slaughterhouse- instead, the butcher will come here and let them die in peace, in their home. It may not be much, but it is the least I can do.

I have come to realize our here in the country that part of my mission in life is going to be to help raise awareness of our food culture. I am not saying we should stop eating meat (although, in truth, I think that would be grand), because I realize there are many, many people who will not go that route for their own perfectly justifiable reasons (like me). But I do believe we need to open our eyes to the horrors of factory farming and stand up for our food, insisting that we treat the animals we eat with dignity and respect, if not for the sake of the animals' well-being, then for our own health. Factory farmed meat is not healthy for us or the environment!

Here is a video that is not too gruesome (believe me, there are some horrible videos of factory farms out there that make me sob), but gets to the point:

Crate Confinement Video from the Humane Society

And if you need yet another reason we need to end factory farming, check out this article on the link between factory farming and potentially deadly disease outbreaks among humans:

Huffington Post Article About Swine Flue Outbreak and Factory Farms

The Mud Hole Days of Summer

There is no doubt about it, our pigs' favorite thing to do is wallow in the mud. Roll, slurp, root, dig, and generally make a giant mess of it all. They will snort contentedly as they cool themselves down the way nature intended.

In the wild, pigs would live near rivers and streams. They are not able to sweat, so they must wallow in mud and water to cool themselves down in those dog days of summer.

Our soil is sandy and does not lend itself to getting muddy. A little intervention was required. When they were small, we would fill a cement mixing trough with water and let them play in that. They quickly became too big and you can guess what happened:

Refilling that trough all the time quickly got old, but the pigs loved the water so much... we needed to come up with a new plan.

And so one morning Ron went out to the pig pen and dug a giant mud hole for them (which was not easy, considering the pigs were trying to eat the shovel the whole time).

Depending on the weather, we have to fill up the hole every few days or so, since our soil does drain rather quickly. And our piggies are oh-so-happy, which makes me happy- I want them to have the best life possible, for the short time they are with us.

A local farmer commented to us that his pork tastes so good because they don't let their pigs wallow in the mud. I guess that is some of the local lore, but I don't agree with it at all- I say, let pigs be pigs.

I think that when pigs are allowed to live as close to the way nature intended as possible, they will be the happiest. And when an animal is happy, its meat is healthy and tasty. At least, that's the way I see it. So our pigs will continue to roll in the mud, lazily munching on roots, busily being pigs.

Taking Care of Pig-ness

Our new pigs are sure keeping us on our toes! We are already learning so much about pig behavior, which is good, because we are definitely pig rookies.

We have finally decided on two Japanese names, Natsu ("summer") and Momo ("pink"). A little investigating and we discovered that they are Hampshires (why we didn't ask their pig farmer, I'll never know). Apparently Hampshires are known for being little rascals that like to get into heaps of trouble.

I was a little concerned that our piggies were sleeping too much (at least half the time), but that seems to be somewhat normal, according to what I read. They grunt all the time, much more than I expected. By all the time, I mean pretty much every inhale/exhale, except when they are sleeping. They get kinda crazy when we go into the pen, running around in circles and chasing each other, which the dogs absolutely love- they join in the fun! Momo and Natsu love to bite on our boots, which could turn into a bit of a problem- we might have to train them out of that. But for now, we think it's cute!

Pig poop talk time... so if you aren't up to it, I would stop reading here. Pig poop is the stinkiest poop I've ever encountered! I mean, really, really stinky! We have decided to clean the pig pen daily. Most pigs will poop in the same area, but not so much with our little Hampshires (apparently, this is characteristic). They poop everywhere! They even pooped in their house, which is supposed to be a big no-no with pigs. Maybe they'll learn....

We also are busy keeping their water fresh, because pigs need lots of FRESH water, even more so than they need fresh food. A pig can go longer without food than without water (like humans).

Our pigs have already figured out the electric fence, and only very rarely do they get zapped. (By the way, we tested the electric fence on ourselves- it only seemed fair!)

Pigs will bite and chew on just about anything, including rubber boots. Even when you have powder blue polka dot Wonder Woman boots on....

We are not feeding our pigs table scraps yet. They are still too young. Hampshires tend to have sensitive stomachs, so we were told, especially when they are young. We'll see how it goes.

Eagerly awaiting Day 3 with our new piggies....

Piggies!

Our little piggies have finally arrived! This is a totally new experience for us, from the care and handling required to the moral dilemma involved when raising your own meat.

I have totally written off factory farms- I am simply no longer able to eat animals that are raised in such horrid conditions. And for now, at least, vegetarianism is not something I am ready to go back to. So that leaves one humane and humbling option- to care for and raise our own animals. Humane because we will give these pigs more love than most pigs could ever dream of (aren't they adorable???). Humbling because I have to come to terms with my own mortality, even my own selfishness, before I can take another being's life. But it is a road I am ready to travel, and I'm sure it will bring many intriguing blog posts in the future.

One more thing... we were expecting boys, but received girls.... so Howard T. Lunch and Huey T. Dinner simply won't work. We are currently working on new names, and will let you know when we decide!