Grazing Greener Pastures

Good weather means it is time for some spring spruce up and planning.  As the pastures turn green, we prepare for some rotational grazing!  We are getting ready to turn some tillable fields back into pasture at Matt’s parents’ house and on our farm the fields we planted last fall are filling out nice and should be ready for a first cut by June which will help them establish and thicken up.

Newly planted field behind the garden

The herd is at a count of 18 with the breeders, juniors and peewees.  Another litter is due in June.  Needless to say, more piggies means we will need more fence.  The UPS guy was busy this week delivering step in posts and new electric rope that makes it easy for us to move fence.  Everyone is outside the barn now, but the peewees can still go in if they want to.  The juniors were moved to a new section in the pasture and we learned about how smart they are.  We forgot to connect up one section of the electric fence and of course they found it.  Pigs were out roaming free. These guys don’t seem to be as fearful of the fence as the ones that were at our house last fall.

Juniors grazing in their new area

Last weekend Matt taped the juniors and peewees to estimate how much they weigh. (Taping means using a measuring tape around their belly and measuring their length.  With a little math you can then estimate their weight.)  It looks like the juniors are around 130 lbs. and the peewees are about 65 lbs.  We estimate the juniors (not so junior in size any more) may be at market weight by the end of June.  The peewees should be ready some time in August.

Juniors wanting some attention