Thank you for your realistic videos. I am a single female, have one acre, 10 chickens, and thought about raising a couple feeder pigs. After watching you I know there is NO WAY I want to do it by myself. You also make me appreciate the people who do raise them. Thank you!
please keep the good, honest truethfull videos coming pls, we live up in canada we just got our first feeder pigs, two berkshire pigs and you've helped more than you will ever know, thank you
LMAO!! OMG Chris is awesome! LOVED the remark about agriculture and ignorant people, and how his first comment was a death threat. HAHAHA!! I watched this twice. It's just too good! Thanks, Chris, for what you do!
First off your channel has helped me tremendously so Thank you very much for taking time out of your lives to make these videos I’ve learned so much from you. We got a piglet the day ahead was born due to her mother passing away giving birth to her litter all passed away except the gilt we have, my wife bottle fed her and we have raised her since when she got to about 5 months old we bought a boar and decided we are going to be hog farmers it has been a very tough but rewarding process and I am happy to say that on 5/6/24 we delivered 6 healthy piglets and lost 4 bit from what I’ve father for a gilt that can be expected. Anyways to shorten the story we are slowly expanding our hog farm and a lot of what we’ve done and learned has been from you so again thank you so much and god bless
I really love your frank information. These romantic homesteading videos made me think "hey maybe we could have a pig" uhh, no. I will just buy a half hog from the local butcher. Thank you for sharing. I was lost at milkteeth-I don't have the stomach for it.
If you just buy a couple of feeder pigs all that should already be done . Honestly it depends on pork prices if you can raise it cheaper than you can buy it and then raising it there might be a lot of cuts you just won't use depending on what your used to eating .
Great Video guys. I like your rant and you are 100% right 99% of the people do not know where food comes from. It is hard to kill what you raise but you get over it & used to it. Farmers care and most do not understand this. Keep telling the truth Chris as they old ways are disappearing. I wonder where this good world will end up when guys like us are gone.
Our pigs will "decorate" their nest the way they want it. Ive tried to help and they destroy whatever suggestions I had. Amazing their nest building skills. The boar too. They carry sticks, logs, pack hay down and build the sides up. Love your videos. Truth parts need to be told. No apologies needed. Ground Yorkshire here in Ga. I might be part crazy too. Just love raising these things. Great to hear from experience. I jumped into this without help or any experience 2 years ago and not turning back now. Never stop learning from farmers like you. I recognize the fairy tale RU-vid channels. Thankful for your truth channel. This aint no fairy tale stuff! Blessings to your family and farm.
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I believe it! Those are the ppl who dont have a clue and no business even commenting. Just let them roll off your shoulder! Cant help those ppl
@@wendyjennings1502 the ones I get a kick out of are the ones that have no clue what they're talking about . Had someone tell me they had 250 pure bred registered blue butt sows the other day . People have to much free time I reckon
Thanks for being frank and honest. I totally agree, most people have NO IDEA where their food comes from or how its farmed, raised, processed or grown. 🙄 keep being straight and honest!
Unfortunately to lose touch with the land is to lose touch with reality . We have a saying here " you have to deal with what IS not what OUGHT to be " . If these people ever find themselves having to feed themselves they'll wake up fast !
Thank you sir I can see your hearts is coming from a place of love. Great information, I'm down in Florida. I grew up having over the hill wild hogs couldn't tell you the breed, but I remember having to feed them every day before middle school. And we'd process one and have a big cook out with family and friends. Now that I'm older have land with chicken, ducks, and rabbits I'm thinking about getting some hogs. This was the first video into my look into if I really want to get into it or not. Thanks again for the information.
Glad to help ! Just growing a few feeder pigs isn't very stressful and doesn't take a lot of pen or shelter . Feel free to email us if you have specific questions
Looking into getting some breeding stock . Herefords , Berkshire's, or Hampshire, still ain't quite made our mind up. Me and the wife got 3 kids and one on the way. I grew up in Caldwell NC living the good life in the stix , I'm 31 now and raising the next generation to appreciate the homestead experience of agriculture and food production. Its nice to hear some facts that aint sugar coated from my kinda folks. Thank you. Keep up the good work . I just found your channel and we'll be tuning back in.
I just ran across your videos and I did this with my Dad when I was younger but the farm house caught on fire and lost everything 20 years ago. In the past year I've tried bringing the farm back but I'm struggling on remembering everything with pigs from breeding them to raising them for meat any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you for the honesty of how things are really done stay humble and God bless.
Chris thanks for your honesty...it is hard sometimes to kill farm animals...I’m getting ready to dispatch Thanksgiving dinner this weekend & I really like that cool turkey...she will be delicious!
Awesome video!!! You nailed it on a lot of things. I raise dirt pigs just as my daddy did and enjoy it. There’s people out there that just don’t understand what it takes to do this. Good to see there’s still old school out there
Chris you rock and your ranting is what most Americans don't know if they did know this would be a better place keep up the great informative videos to a small percentage of us Americans we appreciate it God bless y'all up there in NC you got some fan's down hear in the south lake county FL
Thank you for the encouragement it means a lot . I try to be as professional as possible in videos but people have a fairly tale outlook on life and a lot of them get mad when they hear the truth
Just an add on I am just raising for my family, and for my son to gain knowledgeable info. Peace of mind knowing where my food comes from. Goes for chicken / feeder pigs / and future cattle
They just grow to slow , bad feed conversion .I tried some ONCE didn't work out for me same with kune kunes and AG hogs . Hope it did help ! Thanks for watching
Thank you, Chris. My neighbor across the bayou once told me "I'm a cattleman; fair weather or not." I feel the same about my pigs. Somebody has to care for pigs raised on a farm where they are loved. Why not me?
Great info, thank you for your expertise and proper husbandry that's the part of farming that's not always feel good but necessary management and proper care being left out from the youtube community
I love the regional differences up here herford berkshire spots and durocs reign supreme for ground operations can't hardly sell a York or hamp here there are some landrace fellas around to add some length its just fun to see and hear the differences from other parts of the country
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay same here people sure seem to like them colorful pigs. I worked in a commercial barn when I was a teen for a couple summers that was all York landrace cross pigs. Out of our first batch ever we actually had folks come all the way from Montana 7 hours away for our pigs solely because they couldn't find anything other than Yorks moral I guess is your right can't hardly get rid of them white ones
Appreciate you telling it how it is! Love the truth and it is true the majority of the world does not know where food comes from!. Good videos keep em comin!
I'm starting to raise some pig's now do to the fact of our country might be shut down so I'm worried about the food shortage in the future.. I've been studying you're videos since I've started to help me out on things I need to know.. thanks bubba, take care.
Pork is definitely going to be in short supply and expensive . A lot of the big companies destroyed their stock and shut down due to the packing plants closing
Many thanks I really try my best to inform and cover the important things that get overlooked . A little small arms fire In the distance ain't no big deal lol
It can be a little hard and some variables that can make a big difference but if you want to try i'm sure you could do it .If have any questions I'm glad to help
I'd love to raise a few hogs if I ever can get land for a small farm Chris. Maybe one day I will have my small farm and would love to talk to you about raising animals.
Just to clarify for others about the teeth. He said, “clip them out”. You aren’t pulling the teeth or clipping them to the gum, just clipping the sharpest part of the teeth off. Clip off as much as you can. They pop right off and is not painful.
Just scares them a little . Another thing they're baby teeth and will be replaced in a few weeks , it's not going to prevent a grown hog from having tusk you only do it so mama will let them nurse
Unpopular but real and necessary info. Thank you sir. I'm planning to raise enough to feed my family and pay for good fencing. Do you think it would be best to start with some pregnant sows or just start with a little of feeders big enough to make it without the momma?
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay thank you for this info. I was planning to get pigs soon and this video convinced me that I should probably buy feeders until I'm familiar and comfortable with the tooth pulling and castration skills that I'll have to aquire. Plus I need to fill a freezer ASAP. After the freezer is full I'll look for registered pigs for more options at the sale.
Thank you for the great information We are trying to raise breeders and fatten some here in the Philippines pork here is $2 a pound live weight and $3.50 butchered
You've got some good looking pigs , I think tops are 1.60 live weight this week . I've got to haul six off tomorrow to butcher . I'll get 5.00 a lb hanging weight for them but I pay processing. Most of my profit comes from selling breeding stock
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay that's more along the lines i was wanting to do the Durok I got has a really nice structure im definitely gonna use her for breeding
Could you speak to the process of starting and maintaining a breeding pair? The pen and how long you leave them together, breeding cycles, pens, soup to nuts?
Hello how are you this is a very great video I live here in South Carolina migrate grandfather used to raise hogs and like you said no one does it anymore and I am about to start to Raise hogs I have some more questions and wondering if you could help me out is there another way to get in contact with you
What is the negative with a Hereford hog? I have an opportunity to buy one that’s old spot/Hereford cross. Been trying to research but seems like every breed is the best thing going in these articles and I’m pretty convinced on some breeds I definitely don’t want. I’m investing in old spot/Hampshire cross gilt but was curious on your opinion of the Hereford
You can buy a complete supplement that has protein as well as vitamins, minerals , salt that's what I use or you can get a mineral/ vitamin mix and add soy or animal protein . Bartlett milling Statesville NC 40% hog supplement
It won't matter some people clip tails some don't , the teeth are just so the sow will let them nurse they are baby teeth that get replaced pretty quick anyway
You absolutely do NOT have to clip needle teeth or doc tails. We raise hundreds and haven't clipped teeth or tails for years! There are 700ish farmers that raise for the same company as us and they don't clip either.
You sir are wrong absolutely wrong . Depends on the bloodline of pigs you have . I know you're just a troll but this information might help someone. Old line and the small breeds will probably have to have the teeth clipped or the sow can stop nursing them . Tails have to be clipped it you sell at a graded sale it's a confinement thing but only for that to prevent chewing. Next 700 growers is to big for most co-ops ( on the ground growers) and would be in the top four of confinement company's ( hog houses ) which the vast majority of went under during the pandemic. Then this comment was made at 1 am . Question who does he grow for would have to be Smithfield if he's ever even seen a hog . A real farmer would say we don't have to cut ours but would know like he said haven't done it in years that it has to be done on older blood lines
Buying feeder pigs is the best option if all you want is pork in the freezer ! Like I said I'm a little crazy for keeping sows but those feeder pigs have to come from somewhere
Homesteading the Hard Way yes they do! And thank you for doing that! By the way we very much enjoy watching you, and the “I’m going to tell you the truth” mentality. It’s awesome!
So these homesteader videos are selling us a line? Can you raise hogs in the brutal cold of Colorado? How do you know a reputable grower? Can I get round worm from raising pigs? Is it bad to have your chickens follow your pigs if you do the pasture thing? I have lots to learn!
Unfortunately a lot of the time yes ,.we have a live on Friday nights with people from everywhere you can get some cold climate advice , most of the time you can tell after a few minutes of talking to them if you know just a little of what to look for , tape worms for Sure and the flue and stomach virus , I didn't get parasite clear here until I got rid of the free ranging chickens they spread the eggs and larvae around . Different breeds of pigs don't really taste different ( difference is in what you feed them and for how long ) and there's no such thing as an easy organic dewormer
Hey y'all. I've been wondering and worried since I watched this video a couple of days ago, if showing the tooth clipping and castrating is a good idea. I don't want RU-vid to shut you down because of a video some people will find offensive. Their complaints (whether you warn them of the contents or not) can force youtube to take action. I found your info and the descriptions to be enough info for anyone who needs to know that they need to do this and why. If they need more visuals I'm sure they could find it on a webpage somewhere. The info you are passing on is more valuable than the visuals that will be offensive to the sensitive. We all know someone who has to do this and doesn't like doing it will find it hard to watch. Children have access to youtube and this may be the single reason for not doing a video on clipping and castrating. If I'm wrong or out of line please forgive me. I imagine you were raised like me where you were taught to suck it up and do it because it had to be done - didn't matter how you felt about it. But that way hasn't been passed on; when it comes to animal husbandry. Today animals are pets not food.
We are worried about that too ! I've been expecting our channel to get pulled anyway I'm to honest . IF we do a video I would age restrict it, but your absolutely right I'm already getting trolled pretty hard
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I really don't want you to get closed down so proceed with caution. The "if it's out of sight, it didn't happen" is the reality of today no matter how many times someone tells them the meat in the grocery store was once one of those defenceless animals. I'm all for unnecessary killing but at the same time I am against raising animals in a factory. That is no life for an animal. If they are going to die for the dinner plate then living in an open field is the humane way for them to live. Every town used to have a butcher in my day. Now it's stock yards and machine killing. Our butcher did it your way; as described in another video. Back on topic about a video on c&c, without saying too much I'd like to add that psychopaths don't need the encouragement either; for that I am grateful to RU-vid.
@@sheilam4964 You're right I understand the WHY of factory farms but I don't like the HOW ! And I don't like the fact that just like Wal-Mart put the country store out of business corporate farms put small farms like mine out of business !
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay Yeh, I know. Factory crops and factory livestock killed the farmer. But maybe it was bound to happen eventually with the population growing as it is. A farmer can only raise so many livestock per acre or grow so many bushels of grain per acre. A factory ups those numbers many times over per acre. Lets keep the knowledge alive as best we can.
At a USDA graded auction their tails have to be docked . If they go into confinement they chew on each other's tails . Finished hogs it doesn't matter only feeders
There is a lot of death on a farm. After a few years I stopped hunting cause I lost my stomach for recreational killing. Nothing wrong with shooting Bambi and Bugs, the farm just takes all my killing capacity.
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay we used ta raise pigs from birth ta freezer but it was the uncles and granpa that did that work, i just took care of them from weaning to butchering thats all i know bout pigs
