Eucharisteo Patrick

Hello All!
I've lurked around the forum off and on for years but I'm finally hoping to get some guidance on a RMH project I'd like to make happen in the next couple weeks.

Background:
I live in a 30'x60' south facing, passive solar, externally insulated walkout basement with a roof in zone 6b (in KY). It was my bank financeable/wife approved attempt at an earthship. I have radiant tubing in my concrete floor, however, I did not insulate below my slab so it is nowhere near as efficient as it should be. Up until now, heating water with a tankless hot water heater and sending it through the floor has been the only source of heat I've had.

Hope:
My hope is that I can build a batch style RMH with a pebble based mass (for ease/speed of building) that could also be used to heat the water for my radiant floor as well as have a cooktop for a simple stove backup if needed.

Questions:
1. My first question is, does this complete configuration sound feasible? I've looked around a bunch and have seen these elements separately but can't say I've seen them together.

2. If so, since I'm wanting to use a pebble style mass, does that mean the burn chamber/manifold area needs to be cast?

I bought the better wood heat and rocket mass heater 8DVD package when it came out and was skimming through it the other day but I want to make sure I'm taking advantage of the most updated designs. Any help or direction is MUCH appreciated. Thanks in advanced!

Thanks for the info Walter! I especially like the Large White Sow article. She looks like the sister of our main sow. I am currently in the process of dividing roughly 30 acres into about 55 paddocks.  

Thanks for the responses!

Andre- In your opinion is the ability to raise pigs strictly on pasture a matter of having the right stocking density and knowing that it will take longer for the pigs to reach a market weight?

I was initially inspired to attempt exclusively pasture feed hogs after seeing how the Spanish raise their Iberian pigs. In the segment that I saw it mentioned that they use a stocking density of roughly 5 acres per pig and it took roughly 14-16 months to reach weight. It did not seem that they were utilizing managed intensive grazing so I hoped it would be possible to bring that land requirement per pig down considerably by greatly increasing the number of paddocks and frequency of moves. I am considering trying a 2.4 acre setup consisting of 28 paddocks where a group of 20 pigs would be rotated through a new paddock roughly every two days. The forage is well established and quite dense. My hope was to have the pigs in that area until the fall when I would move them into another multi paddock system in our woods for the pigs to graze on hickory nuts.

Here is a link to the video I mentioned:  

Hello Permies,
I have lurked for a while but it is time to make my first post. I am in need of everyone's help to figure out how to put together a managed intensive grazing pig program that relies strictly on pasture/hay from my farm.

A little back story:
My wife and daughter and I live on 120 acres (consisting of five hills/ridges, 30 acres of fields and 90 acres of woods) in Northern Kentucky. We purchased the farm in 2013 and have built a house in which we live. Before moving to the property we did not have any farming experience. At the beginning of this year we dove right into getting any and all animals that interested us. We tried our hands at chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, and goats. As those of you with experience can imagine, we bit off way more than we could chew and given our lack of experience we were not successful with the chickens and ducks; predators took their toll. As for the pig portion, we purchased a pregnant sow (Yorkshire mix bred to a large black) this February. She gave birth to 14 piglets in the spring on the farm. We lost two of the smallest runts but have raised the remaining ones with her, rotating through paddocks in our fields and wooded areas. We mainly utilized 2 acres divided into 4 paddocks that I have been rotating them through 1 paddock each week. We raised them on a combination of forage, earlier in the year before the paddocks became too abused, and a Non-GMO commercial feed mix. This has resulted in pigs that are now 175-200 pounds and are of better quality than an industry animal but I would like to do even better next year. My ultimate goal is to have any animals that we bring onto the farm be supported solely by foraging from the farm. Our land is in ok shape. I have found a seed company in my state that has a good selection of native grasses that I would like to over seed our fields with to increase our forage quality and diversity.

My question is:
What breed of pig and what amount of land do I need to plan on using for next year (and beyond) in order to have a program that in supported strictly by the pigs foraging or being fed hay during the winter? I have heard good things about American Guinea Hogs and Kune Kune breeds. Are these the only two breeds that are suited for strictly pastured systems or are there others? Down the road (5-10 years) we will have a better area of hickory, walnut, and some oaks that will provide forage possibiliteis for finishing but as of right now the overwhelming bulk will be grasses.

Thanks!
Patrick