Dave Fast

Oh to be a younger man... well, I hope you find a good man and build a sweet little life. I'll be praying you find him.

You have to get a bacon pig, not a lard pig. Bacon pigs are long, lean, active pigs, where as lard pigs are short (in length), lazy, and fat. If you can find Tamworth they will plow 2 feet deep with ease but they are an extreme bacon pig, the picture of your pig: you have a lard pig which will basically only root down to the grass roots.

I make all my own soap, I've made boxes full or soap, but one of my favorites that leathers the best is: 50/50 pig lard and hemp oil, with bee pollen pebbles in it, also instead of using water in the soap I make a stinging nettle tea. Mixing oils helps soap lather, as well as adding sugar and or salt but it doesnt take much and can have too much if you're not careful.

Mary you sound perfect, which makes me think Im dreaming, could a perfect woman exist? Im too old, 39, but Im not exactly looking for a romantic partner, not that I would mind romance, but Im content the way things are. A lyfe partner is more what Im looking for, meaning someone who lives in the same home and do everyday lyfe with eachother in a low key, low stress, natural, seasonal kinda lyfe, to settle down and develop a rich friendship romantic or not. Im not a hippy but I look like one shoulder length dreads and beard, kinda live like one I love to forage, I have guns but theyre nothing more than a tool to me, not a city boy at all, Im eclectic, I drive a classic Cadillac or an old Ford farm truck, I work in a cemetery... Theres 27 acres here in the far pacific northwest, 2 pigs right now, 29 turkeys, a dozen chickens, 2 wild sheep, lots of wild forage, and room to grow. Ive been looking at building a sod/haybale house all off grid and very basic, the kind with a 5 gallon bucket toilet. Im as simple as they come, I work as much as I have to to earn money and spend the rest of my time living lyfe. With the ocean and Mt Baker both in my backyard theres a lot of outdoor living to do, lots of stunning sunrises over Baker and sunsets over the san juans to watch. Thats a lot of writing for me, tyme to get online with my lyfe instead of offline here. If yould be interested in an interesting lyfe instead of normal life give me a jingle. Many blessings Mary,
Dave

I use garlic powder, rosemary, DE, pumpkin seeds, and rely on forages known to help with worms and paracites such as chickory, radish, other seeded in herbs, and wild medicinals. Of course paddock management too. My plan is to seed in more specific herbs so the pigs can self regulate their health a little better and easier, and with less involvement from me.

Pigs will naturally eat what they like best first, then they will eat the next best thing, and so on. They are smart animals but only to what, a 4 or 5 year old humans understanding.? Think how a kid eats. If you have clover in the mix they will go for clover way above dandelions. Alfalfa, thistles, ferns, radish, oats... Are all going to be eaten before dandelions. Taste what you pigs eat, literally; taste the alfalfa, clover, dandelion... They have a list of favorites like we do. Also pigs can self regulate medicate to an extent. If you are like me you eat enough dandelion every year to know what it does to your system, the same goes for pigs. They know far better than most people, it's in their grocery store. They will eat it when: that's the next best thing, it's all that's left, or they need what it provides. My advice: sit back and watch them, see what your breed, your pigs, like, what's next, what's left, and what they need in the way of health. Oh, and the dandelions will be eaten, don't worry about that. 😀

I just butchered today and had 1 with a handful of spots, the others were perfect. Kinda disappointing, but then again I haven't raised pigs in 20+ years so... I chose to use DE, garlic, and rosemary for parasites, about 2 tbsps per pig per day. Think I should up the dose a fuzz for next time or count this one as a fluke, or is there something better than the items I used that I don't know about and is natural? They all had the same everything from day 1.