Guinea pigs! Er, hogs, I mean... Guinea HOGS.

[MamaSheepdog]

The Guinea Hogs have landed!!!

On the way back from a rabbit show in Cardiff last night we stopped in Acton to pick up the start of the Victory Garden Ranch Heritage Hog program!

I bought three gilts (young unbred females) and three castrated males. The males are all destined to be bacon, sausage, chops, and hams. I plan on keeping two of the best little sows as breeders.

I am now looking for an uncastrated male to complete the little family.

Colliepup​, who has a very sensitive nose, looked upon this venture with horror, since the piglets were being transported in the back of my Expedition.

Surprisingly, they DID NOT SMELL. At all!!! They were all good little piggies and didn't even potty in the dog crate, even overnight.

Since we arrived home at around 10:30, I didn't want to let them out of the crate and be unable to supervise the interaction of our dogs with them. The last thing we need is pig killin' dogs.

So far, with the exception of our youngest puppy, the dogs are unimpressed.

They are temporarily set up in a welded wire dog kennel until we can get a proper hog pen set up.

I am so excited to be embarking on this new adventure in providing quality humanely raised meat to my family and friends.

Now I just need to tame the little suckers. The term "hog wild" has a whole new meaning!

 

[MaggieJ]

:congratulations:

Very nice looking pigs!

I know that is their temporary quarters, but it appears that there is an inch or two of space under the bottom bar. Watch out that they don't enlarge that and dig their way out.

As to taming them . . . Isn't the way to a hog's heart through its stomach? :lol:

 

[Nika]

I hope you will update this on a regulary basic

 

[Zinnia]

Very nice, MSD! Look how short their noses are right now! They'll grow. I was impressed with the length of our AGH gilt's snout. But, now I have Kune Kunes, so any other pigs look like Cyrano to me. :lol:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I know that is their temporary quarters, but it appears that there is an inch or two of space under the bottom bar. Watch out that they don't enlarge that and dig their way out.

I am going to keep an eye on that, but thankfully they are not big rooters. They tend to graze plants as opposed to rooting them up.

I hope you will update this on a regular basis

I will!

Look how short their noses are right now! They'll grow.

There are two types in the litter. The boar was a taller and leaner hog, while the sow was short and cobby. I know that the nose length is another variable (related to the taller/leaner or short and cobby, maybe?) but some of the piglets have short noses and others have long noses.

 

[wamplercathy]

I will be falling your adventure closely. I have been thinking of adding pigs to our farm. In-laws had full size pigs and that was a huge mess. As is anything they do. :x :lol:

I have the second side of the mower shed to put critters in. Was thing a couple of pot belly pigs(1boar and 1sow) or some other small pig type. I know I can handle an animal up to 150lbs.

Am reading now "Rasing Pigs Successfully" by: Kathy and Bob Kellogg. Just hoping that what holds true for normal farm pigs, will hold true for their smaller cousins. :lol:
Well, with the exception be their size. :lol:

 

[Phacelia]

:wr_love: LOVE!!

These guys are on my "want list," soon after we get moved to our new farm. Keep us posted on their progress!

They are SOOOO CUTE!! :in_love:

 

[grumpy]

:x :x ""Guinea-Hog?"" :x :x

Is that the breed's ?Name?
HECK I Don't know a "flip" about swine.........

Pot-Bellied pigs? OR, is it an actual "Heritage" breed?

 

[wamplercathy]

:x :x ""Guinea-Hog?"" :x :x

Is that the breed's ?Name?
HECK I Don't know a "flip" about swine.........

Pot-Bellied pigs? OR, is it an actual "Heritage" breed?

Well according to "A Field Guide to Pigs" by: John Pukite (pg. 68-71)
The Vietnamese Potbelly and the Guinea Hog fall into the group of miniature pigs.

This book also defines the Razorback and other feral pigs as having a small-medium size. But from my time in Arkansas, these pigs are neither small or medium but huge. Those we hunted were most likely a mix and not a pure Rb. :x :lol: :lol:

Also from some of my research some people who raise pb pigs for meat use the name: Asian Heritage Hog(s). To keep the "pet" people at bay.

 

[FourRingCircus]

I thought this was going to be about fat guinea pigs :lol: . I had no idea there were guinea hogs... we want to do pigs again in the future. Our first adventure was... well... and adventure. We weren't quite as prepared as we thought we were when it came to housing. Can't wait to see how it goes!

 

[3mina]

There's NO way I could've snuck one of those onto the plane ilot: :lol:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The piggies breakfasted on leftover spaghetti (pasta only, no sauce), a little bit of french bread soaked in water, and chopped zucchini.

I got a few of them to take zucchini slices from my hands, but they still think I am a scary monster. They must know that when I look at them I see bacon... wink emoticon

I am boiling some carrots and potato for them for lunch, and am also going to give them the flowering heads of basil. Pre-seasoned pork, lol!

Is that the breed's ?Name?
HECK I Don't know a "flip" about swine.........

Pot-Bellied pigs? OR, is it an actual "Heritage" breed?

They are an actual heritage breed.

From The Livestock Conservancy page:

The Guinea Hog is a small, black breed of swine that is unique to the United States. Also known as the Pineywoods Guinea, Guinea Forest Hog, Acorn Eater, and Yard Pig, the breed was once the most numerous pig breed found on homesteads in the Southeast.

Hogs were imported from West Africa and the Canary Islands to America in conjunction with the slave trade. The imports were documented as early as 1804 by Thomas Jefferson and other Virginia farmers. These large, square animals were called Red Guineas, because they had red or sandy colored hair. Red Guineas were common throughout the mid-Atlantic region during the 1800s. The breed disappeared as a distinct population in the 1880s, when most of the red breeds and types of hogs in the eastern United States were combined to form the new Jersey-Duroc breed. Although extremely rare, occasionally Guinea hog breeders of today find red highlights in the hair of their Guineas and even more rare, is a completely red individual born.

The name Guinea occurs again a few decades later in the southeastern United States, though describing a different animal entirely – a small, black hog common on homesteads across the region. Guinea Hogs were expected to forage for their own food, eat rodents and other small animals, grass, roots, and nuts, and clean out garden beds. The hogs were also kept in the yard where they would eat snakes and thus create a safe zone around the house. These Guineas were hardy and efficient, gaining well on the roughest of forage and producing the hams, bacon, and lard essential for subsistence farming.

Several mysteries confuse the breed’s history. The relationship between the historic Red Guinea and the Guinea Hog may be simply the common use of the term “guinea” to refer to an African origin. “Guinea” may also refer to the small size of the hogs, somewhat akin to the description of miniature Florida Cracker and Pineywoods cattle as “guinea cows.” There is recent evidence that what is now known as the Guinea Hog may be related to the Essex, a small, black English breed which was imported to the United States in about 1820 and used in the development of the Hampshire. Essex hogs were known to exist in the Southeast until about 1900. The Essex hog’s history is obscure and it eventually disappeared some time later that century. “Guinea Essex” pigs were used in research at Texas A & M University and at the Hormel Institute in the 1960s, though there is little information available about those stocks.

Guinea Hogs were widespread, and descriptions of them varied. Generally, the hogs were small, weighing 100-300 pounds, and black or bluish-black in color. They had upright ears, a hairy coat, and a curly tail. Beyond this, conformation varied, as hogs could have short or long noses and be “big boned,” “medium boned,” or “fine boned.” It is likely that many strains of Guinea Hogs existed. Since most of these are extinct, it is now impossible to weave together all the threads of the Guinea Hog story into a single neat piece.

The Guinea Hog became rare as the habitat of the homestead hog disappeared, and it survived only in the most isolated parts of the Southeast. During the 1980s, new herds of Guinea Hogs were established, and the breed has enjoyed a new resurgence on small farms and modern homesteads. They are appropriate for use on pasture or in wooded areas where they thrive on foraging. Their small size, gentle temperament, and efficiency make them suitable for many smaller properties.

Guinea hogs have uniquely desirable flavor characteristics. The fat of the Guinea Hog is abundant and firm, and has found interest with chefs and butchers for making charcuterie (old world style cured meats). Their rendered lard would be of particular interest to pastry chefs for use in crusts and dough. The have an exceptionally tender meat and produce fine hams.

http://www.livestockconservancy.org/ind ... /guineahog

I thought this was going to be about fat guinea pigs :lol: .

Heeheehee! Gotcha! :twisted:

There's NO way I could've snuck one of those onto the plane ilot: :lol:

Hmm... road trip next year?

 

[HowlsOfAngels]

If you change tactics and go with forced socialization (hold them and rub them till they quit struggling) don't forget to wear a good pair of earplugs.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

If you change tactics and go with forced socialization (hold them and rub them till they quit struggling) don't forget to wear a good pair of earplugs.

No thank you! They screamed bloody murder when I put them in the dog crate. It was horrible! And I think the dogs would go berserk.

I shared an apple between them earlier, and they are starting to believe that I am the bringer of good things.

I was just in their pen with them again. They have already picked a potty corner as far from their sleeping place as they could get, the little darlings... :angel: ... so I decided to put some pine pellets there for them. The silly things came right over and started eating it. :shock:

I have never known an animal to do that. Maybe they eat twigs or something? Anyway, I scooped it back up just in case it would be an issue.

They have also been enjoying lambs quarters, so at least that is one weed here that I can give them.

 

[3mina]

Hmm... road trip next year?

If things work out the way I want them to that's a distinct possibility

Hmm...rabbits down to show and hogs on the way back. I'm certain Hubbs will just love me :lol:

 

[wamplercathy]

So, could you feed your rabbit scraps from butchering to the G-hogs or PB-pigs?

 

[jeannie]

WAAAYYYY back when, we used a hoe to scratch their backs... they loved it ... in spite of the fact that a hoe could be used as a weapon :x

 

[MamaSheepdog]

So, could you feed your rabbit scraps from butchering to the G-hogs or PB-pigs?

Funny you should ask- I am discussing that on a Guinea forum right now, and they all say yes. However, some states will not allow pork to be SOLD if they have been fed meat.

WAAAYYYY back when, we used a hoe to scratch their backs... they loved it

One of the gilts let me scratch her cheeks and head today. Progress!

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

So, could you feed your rabbit scraps from butchering to the G-hogs or PB-pigs?

our hogs we always went with 'they can eat all but their own'. fed anything except pork or bones. we had hogs a lot more years than we had chickens and to my memory the hogs got 95% of the table scraps. I don't recall if dad gave the butcher scraps of the chickens etc to the hogs or not. our pork was always the yummiest!

IMO if I had hogs right now I would feed butcher waste to the hogs.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The piggies like me now, and actually approach to see what wondrous food I am bringing to them!

They now like the lamb's quarters and have sampled acorns and juniper berries.

Here are the little hogs today: