Title: Comment: <p>since taking on the 12 weaners, the weather has deteriorated  rapidly.</p><p>they quickly grew out of their first home with a very little outdoor space. Now have them fenced in our garden , where they have done a fantastic job of ploughing my new vegetable patch.they are digging far deeper than my 2 big pigs , going down about 18 inches to get to roots.  They have also eaten 2 temporary straw houses built for them. The 2nd was built putting fencing wire around the straw thinking they couldnt get to it, but I under-estimated them again.</p><p>I am now waiting for some fencing to be finished so i can move them up the croft. We have had loads of rain again in last few days, so every where is thick mud & it is impossible to fit the strainer posts in, 2 of the pigs have learnt how to jump the fence, so each feeding time is very interesting trying to put food in the pigs area before they jump over to steal as much food out of the containers before I can fight them off.  what is quite comical is that once the food is over the pigs jump back into their pen.</p><p>My son came up to look after them last week whilst we were away, he wasnt looking forward to it & was moaning about us taking the pigs on, 5 days later he is just as besotted with them as we are.</p><p>The chickens are coming back in to lay now, I need to find some new customers for the eggs, we had 9 yesterday.</p><p>last night I ordered seed potatoes  , strawberries & onion sets, need to get planting as we are off to work in Australia for 5 weeks march to late april which is my usual planting time. just hope we get a couple of weeks dry weather so i can get out in the garden</p> Submit > < Back

Title: Comment: <p>the weaners are doing fine , one boar seems particularly bright & has worked out if he stands on top of the other pigs he can climb over the fence. then 2 other boars worked it out & i had mayhem at feed time as I was fighting getting the food into the pens before the escaping pigs had wrestled it off me . then the first pig decided that life on the out side was better & escaped & started tearing up my vegetable patch luckily very little for him to destroy.</p><p>luckily my husband came up with a solution to keep them in , green netting we use for wind proofing the garden put around the top of the fence posts this seems to be containing them well . they had reduced their patch to thick mud already but they are amazing rooters digging huge holes, the soil looks very good so have decided it will be my potato patch  & other root veg later in the year   & because its fenced I may be able to keep the rabbits out.</p><p>the temporary straw house is still standing although a few gaps are appearing as they seem to be eating the straw. </p><p> </p><p>it must be a week for escaping pigs as my 2 sows escaped as well , managing to unbolt   a gate and ending up in the garden, one of them was in season & quite boisterous nipping my bum  several times though luckily quite gently as I enticed them back up the croft with a few pig nuts.</p><p>All the ice has melted , we have had several gales in the last week & every where is wet & muddy again ,Just found a hole in my wellington , so socks covered in mud , the joys of crofting!!</p><p> </p><p> </p> Submit > < Back

Title: Comment: <p>we have taken on 11 weaners, they are GOS , berkshire + what ever else was around at the time , probably a bit of tamworth.</p><p>They are what we call lewis pigs, & the weaners look remarkably like Kune kunes in colouring though at 10 weeks old they are not much smaller than my 9 month old Kune Kunes. With them is a 6 week old berkshire cross who is half their size but they are very tolerant with her & I feed her seperately.</p><p>8 of them are males & they all look as though their hocks are made for ham.</p><p>one big problem we have on the island is that the abertoir is not open all year round and wont open until august & closes in december.this worked well for the lamb trade but now there are a growing number of pig owners this is quite a problem trying to time litters with the opening of the abertoir.</p><p>These weaners will be near 10 months before they can go to slaughter but they will be slow growing on the croft so hopefully not too fatty. </p><p> </p> Submit > < Back

Comment: what is the going price for a half /whole free range pig Submit > < Back

Title: Comment: <p>Hi </p><p>I live on the isle of Lewis in Ness , this is our local beach.We have been here for almost 2 years and been keeping pigs for about 18 months, we now have 2 freerange mixed breed sows, 3 kune kunes & have just adopted 11 weaners help!.</p><p>i also keep chickens and grow my own veg as well as run a mental health business with my husband.  </p><p>Our long term plan is to create along with other crofters  Hebridian pork products.</p><p> </p> Submit > < Back