Anybody Have Idaho Pasture Pigs?

I have 3 feeder pigs right now, half Berkshire and half Large Black. They will meet the butcher in March. I would really like to raise my own pigs, but don't want the place rooted up, nor do I want a 1,000 army tank on hooves. I researched Kune Kune and I like them, but then I found Idaho pasture pigs. it's like someone was reading my mind in what I want in a pig. Not too big, but bigger than a Kune Kune, short flat snout, so not much rooting, friendly disposition and can forage for something to eat, plus grazing.

Does anybody here have Idaho Pasture pigs or know anything about them?

Dana, those sure sound like nice pigs, sort of hit a deadend looking for recent information.
The October/November issue of Mother Earth News had an interesting article about the American Guinea Hog, a small flat snout pasture variety. Http://guineahogs.org

Thanks for the reply Mike. Guinea Hogs can tear up a pasture even though they are small hogs. My Dad had them at one time, I like them, but I want to find somebody that knows something about Idaho Pasture Pigs. I was hoping somebody here had them or even knew someone who does. There is good sites and info about them, just wanted to see if anybody here had them.

Here's a site that features Idaho Pasture Pigs

http://www.whitebisonfarm.com/idahopasturepigs.htm

Looks like a private breeding operation.

Based on their timeline, it looks like these 'Idaho Pasture Pigs' were bred out over the course of a 5 year program [more likely 4 years after the farmers did their first production run of KuneKune and felt their production and growth-rate was insufficient.]

So as far as I can tell you have two choices.

Choice A: purchase breeding stock directly from them, of a breed that's only been 'named' since 2012 and had half a decade at best to truly stabilize

Choice B: get your hands on some pigs and start experimenting for yourself.

I'm actually thinking of doing some breeding work with Kunekune and AGH myself, aiming for something about mid-size between the two [not that the size gap is all that big to begin with] with a bit lesser rooting tendencies and hopefully [due to greater genetic diversity compared to the horribly small gene pool of the Kunekune] better growth rate/productivity.

Kyrt, I hear you on buying pigs that haven't been around for very long. But at least the preliminary groundwork has been done, I wouldn't be starting from 2 or 3 breeds to make a new breed. The new breed is already there, it might need some careful selection, but it is soooooo easy to eat the culls! LOL!

For a small homestead, we have small pigs, Kune Kune and AGH. There are large breeds, but there seems to be a shortage of mid-size pigs. I am intrigued with the short snout of the Idaho Pasture Pigs because I don't like the moon craters my feeder pigs are rooting up.

If you start a breeding program, be sure to start a thread and keep us updated on your progress.

If you're looking for mid-size, Mulefoot seems like it might fit your size preference pretty well.

Though I question the accuracy of this Livestock Heritage Conservancy Heritage Hog Breeds Chart when it lists adult American Guinea Hogs as weighing in at 200/150 lbs. That's more an adolescent figure based on what I've seen, with full grown males weighing in around 300+ [my breeder's boar was about 400 and pretty fit with a mild potbelly] and full grown females 200+

I'm not sure where you are but near me there is a family breeding them. I'm getting a pair of feeders this spring and will update on how well they fit in. They are raising them exactly the way I'm hoping to but on a larger scale. I tried researching on the "original" Idaho Pastured pig site but it hasn't been updated since 2012. The farm name with piglets is Vestergaard Farm in Ann Arbor, MI

Grace, that sounds great. I wish you the best with your new pigs and hope they do well for you. My feeder pigs have a date with freezer camp next month. I will raise pigs again. Please update on how your Idaho Pasture pigs do for you. I am too far away, I live in Texas.

I have been raising Idaho Pasture Pigs for two years and I love them! They are more like dogs than pigs. I can go into the pen with the 450 lb boars and they rub up against me and use me as a scratching post. I have been in the farrowing pen with my 4 year old granddaughter for every litter and never had an issue. They fit nicely with our little homestead. If you are interested in visiting or would like more information, please go to our website. www.savanaacres.com or give me a call 330-703-7534. We have breeding pairs on the ground ready to go in about a week. We will not be breeding for breeding pairs again until next spring, but will have barrows available in the fall for meat stock. I have been around other breeds of pigs, and I can honestly say none compare to the experience we have had raising these lovely creatures.

Carrie Beegle wrote:I have been raising Idaho Pasture Pigs for two years and I love them! They are more like dogs than pigs. I can go into the pen with the 450 lb boars and they rub up against me and use me as a scratching post. I have been in the farrowing pen with my 4 year old granddaughter for every litter and never had an issue. They fit nicely with our little homestead. If you are interested in visiting or would like more information, please go to our website. www.savanaacres.com or give me a call 330-703-7534. We have breeding pairs on the ground ready to go in about a week. We will not be breeding for breeding pairs again until next spring, but will have barrows available in the fall for meat stock. I have been around other breeds of pigs, and I can honestly say none compare to the experience we have had raising these lovely creatures.

Thanks for your post and website information. I like it that the pigs are not aggressive. The pictures of your pigs are great, I love all the colors!

I picked up a couple American Guinea Hogs (AGH) last year and will slaughter them probably in the next month or so. I have noticed a lot of variation in the AGH lines and when I talked to the breeder I bought mine from she said many lines have been crossed with larger hogs to increase their size. I can typically spot it in the snout, AGH have really short snouts and some of the hogs being marketed as AGH do not. The two hogs I purchased did not root up the soil at all, except in the middle of winter when the pasture was gone. These hogs graze on grass like sheep! I was highly sceptical about the claims which is why I bought two barrows to start with, but sure enough they graze on grass all day. All I have to do to fatten them up is give them some skim or soured goat milk each day and they convert it nearly straight to lard. I have raised market hogs in the past and these guys are like an entirely different species of animal. There temperament is extremely calm and docile.

Also in my opinion those Idaho Pasture Pigs are a cross of Kune Kune and AGH. I can see the colouring of the Kune Kune in almost every example I have seen, but with a lot more black. I saw a few pictured from the front that looked just like an AGH in the face. Crossing two lines of pasture pigs might make a really excellent breed. I am not a purest myself when it comes to genetic lines as they commonly get wore out from excessive inbreeding.

Dana Jones wrote:

Carrie Beegle wrote:I have been raising Idaho Pasture Pigs for two years and I love them! They are more like dogs than pigs. I can go into the pen with the 450 lb boars and they rub up against me and use me as a scratching post. I have been in the farrowing pen with my 4 year old granddaughter for every litter and never had an issue. They fit nicely with our little homestead. If you are interested in visiting or would like more information, please go to our website. www.savanaacres.com or give me a call 330-703-7534. We have breeding pairs on the ground ready to go in about a week. We will not be breeding for breeding pairs again until next spring, but will have barrows available in the fall for meat stock. I have been around other breeds of pigs, and I can honestly say none compare to the experience we have had raising these lovely creatures.

Thanks for your post and website information. I like it that the pigs are not aggressive. The pictures of your pigs are great, I love all the colors!

Oh, so you must have gone to our website! They are beautiful. It's fun watching their personalities and colors develop as they get older. I saw from another posting that you have decided to raise IPP's. That's great news! But, your nearest breeder is 3 states away? What state do you live in? I know of a couple other breeders. Maybe we can get someone closer to where you live. Of course, I would love to be able to help answer any questions you have. My email is Idahopasturepigs@savanaacres.com if you would like to email me there. There is also an IPP facebook page that helps as well.

We picked up two IPP piglets yesterday. Did a fair amount of research before choosing. Really seem to like pasture. Will eat wild lettuce too, which we have tons of.

We have a breeding pair of IPPs. We have had Duroc which is an awesome meat hog and Pink mixed barn hogs and they were super sweet. Duroc are way too aggressive and very hard on land. That's fine if you have the space but for a small pasture rotated with other animals (horses, sheep, chicken..) this is not ideal. The pink pigs were rough on the land too. The IPP's are awesome. They will root a little but in our case I honestly think it is due to heat. We are in south Louisiana and they were born in Missouri. They are genital and very easy to keep in electric fencing. They don't plow through it and don't test it at all.
I do say don't keep them on feed too long as piglets because they are like people in that they will get spoiled to the fatty feed and you will have a period of slow growth as they get use to pasture grasses. I see this as going from rice and gravy to salads.  

I think... I'm doing similar to what they already did.  I was trying to breed my AGH/KK to large breed mamas.    I just love them.... I like my little guys better for the feed bill so far.  But people give me a lot of grief over the little guys...a lot of people here send off to butcher and I get that.  So I was assuming for a little more size. I love their temperment.  But really, my large breed mama I bought from a 4-H family is so incredibly mellow about her babies, so maybe it's in the raising, too?  

Anyways, I made video, blog, pics... About my cross breed endeavors and if that helps any then great.

beggsnachin.webstarts.com

I have IPPS and I love them! Two Sows and one boar. They are all big teddy bears, even during farrowing! I haven't had any other breed to compare before but I've heard KK and AGH are very similar. I was about to get AGHs but the IPPS were just a really good deal and I was comfortable with their previous owner and knew they came from a good place. I'm curious though, what is a typical litter size for an AGH?