New to the forums

We're a small farm in Oklahoma growing fruits and vegetables, and we also raise rare breed Large Black and cross bred pigs in a rotation with our gardening. We love to talk about growing stuff and raising pigs outdoors, so we just wanted to give a brief intro. We also have a blog at www.thehaywire.typepad.com that has videos and photos from our farm, so you're welcome to stop by. We look forward to some good discussing!

Welcome ImaTulsaDawg!

Porkpal! A new friend for you!

I can't have hogs....Lodi frowns on hogs....Lodi frowns on just about everything....

Thanks, and sorry to hear about Lodi. By the way, where the heck is Lodi?

Lodi is wherever people get stuck....my particular Lodi is in Northern CA--but there are others.....

Welcome, you're going to love this forum.

Welcome. So glad to have someone else who likes pigs!

Welcome Ima

I don't breed pigs, but I have a collection of rescued pigs. I also rotate them through the vegetable gardens where they help with the cultivation, fertilization, and cleaning up of the spent crop. I think they are wonderful animals.

Welcome ImaTulsaDawg!

WELCOME IMATULSADAWG,YOU WILL LOVE IT HERE!!! JUST LIKE VISITING OLD FRIENDS.

yes I know. We own wreckers & have been down that area many times to haul trucks back. :)

ImaTulsaDawg I love the idyllic picture in your original post. What breed(s) are the sow and her pigs?

Apparently the black coloring is dominant?

Are Large Black pigs mean?I am looking for a good heritage breed for my farm(well almost farm,it's still a work in progress) that is gentle and would make a good pasture pig.Are they expensive?Do they farrow easily?Pigs must be easy to raise because ferral pigs are taking over every forrest and swamp around where I live much to the deer hunters alarm.I raise French Lop rabbits which are very large and gentle and are great for pets or meat.I also have Mini and Holland lops(which are the smallest).

My experience with pigs is that none of them are mean if they are handled early and well. I have also "tamed" feral pigs with consistent, patient handling. The only "mean" pig I ever had was a sow that I bottle raised. She was nice to me but would attack anyone else! Orphan animals are often strangely behaved.

Thanks ImaTulsaDawg!What about Poland Chinas? Are they a heritage breed?My great-grandfather raised them in the 1930's and my grandmother talks about them being good pigs.

Do you have to protect your spotted pigs from sunburn? We've always had solid colored pigs and even then some have gotten sunburned. Consequently they are only pastured in the mornings.

No, sunburn hasn't ever been a problem. We have wallows dug for the pigs,so when it's hot enough to cause sunburn the pigs are coated in a mud layer that protects them.

wow you learn something every day. One of my best friends had pigs when we were kids & I never knew they could get sunburned. Very interesting.

wow. I'll have to tell the kids that! I doubt they new it either.

Black pigs sunburn too. You have to look closely to see the redness, but they let you know by how stiffly they walk.

welcome ImaTulsa
i may have to pick your brain on the black hogs. I have been very interested in them for a few years and am wanting to add them to our farm. They will fit right in with my kids LOLLL
we want more pics of the pigs !! more pics , more pics :) no pressure though. LOL

taynors, here's a photo of a Large Black x Spot female bred to a purebred Spot boar.

Oh! Look at the spotted piglets! They look like dalmations....lol. I've not seen spotted ones like that before.

Here's a photo from when we had a Tamworth boar, thus all the red piglets.

what is the forage you grow in your pastures?

so cute and yes they do look like dalmations LOL hopefully mama pig doesn't get a 101 ! yikes
great pics ImTulsa , thank you so much for sharing your pigs :)

Here's a Spot x Tamworth litter. Talk about spots!

wow !