Recent content by Tjcib

  1. Tjcib

    Pigs in the yard...

    Our American Guinea Hogs go to the butcher in 6 days. But they now have decided they don't care about the electric fence anymore. 8K volts and they run right through it, after 7 months of it working perfectly. So, instead of chasing them 5 times a day, we decided that our backyard is their...
  2. Tjcib

    AGHs not eating grass

    We have two registered sows for potential breeding in the future. We would just need a boar from another line. The two barrows are for the freezer. Fortunately with AGHs, if we decide not to breed, the meat doesn't change flavor much as they age.
  3. Tjcib

    Welded or woven wire for fencing Guinea Hogs?

    Adding my 2 cents since I just found my four AGHs grazing in my front yard... Once they figure out that they are stronger than the welded wire fence, they will push right through. AGHs don't root as much, so we didn't have issues with them digging under. They are just too smart... We use P1...
  4. Tjcib

    Fencing ideas for sheep?

    And here we are 2 years later and that roll of woven wire is now $300. Sad days... But great thread. I am learning a lot and we have a guy coming to look at helping me set up perimeter fencing this week.
  5. Tjcib

    AGHs not eating grass

    This is where I'm having a bit of disappointment with the American Guinea Hogs. Ours are super picky... We threw pounds of snap pea hulls to them and they turned their nose up at them! They don't even eat all of our compost. They really do prefer grass and grassy weeds. It's a little "unpiggy"...
  6. Tjcib

    Recuperating Old Pasture (new project)

    That's where we can't decide. We have three teenage boys, so the meat is always welcome. But milk also serves its purpose in feeding those savages. My wife has dabbled in soap-making and I'm sure she would welcome goat's milk...but she would also love tallow (she's only used our lard thus far)...
  7. Tjcib

    AGHs not eating grass

    Being in the transition zone is terrible. Nothing wants to grow well here!!! Bermuda and Crabgrass in the summer (my wife's garden says: PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!! LOL) Fescue and K31 does pretty well in the spring/fall Clover does great in the spring/fall and in shade in summer I'm still...
  8. Tjcib

    Recuperating Old Pasture (new project)

    Well here's the "Master Plan" right now. We are still up in the air with what to do with our 1 acre of pasture. I guess it could be a single steer or a couple of sheep. We've gone back and forth on dairy goat or dairy sheep (we've eliminated dairy cow). We can run 2 batches of meat chickens in...
  9. Tjcib

    Recuperating Old Pasture (new project)

    If only we had the space for cattle =(
  10. Tjcib

    Recuperating Old Pasture (new project)

    They definitely wouldn't share the pasture and I would let it rest and recuperate before putting a new species on it. The only thing I run behind any other animal is letting the egg layers do their work behind...well...everything and every one... They clean it all up...
  11. Tjcib

    Recuperating Old Pasture (new project)

    Great point! We only have 4 AGHs right now, so I think that sacrifice area would suffice for keeping them medium term. Our barn is actually adjacent to this pasture on the bottom side, I just didn't include it for simplicity's sake. So we could easily adjust if conditions required it. The plan...
  12. Tjcib

    Recuperating Old Pasture (new project)

    Here is my brainstorm for my paddock system in this new field. I guess this could be for any grazing animal, but right now we are doing American Guinea Hogs, so we'll keep that as the test group... Field is 185' x 165' 20' x 20' "sacrifice" area in the center with permanent hog panel fencing...
  13. Tjcib

    Central Virginia Newbie. Planning for turkeys, pigs, and sheep.

    A little late to the party, but welcome. Where are you in Central VA? I'm in Chesterfield County
  14. Tjcib

    AGHs not eating grass

    So the Hogs have all but made clover extinct on our pasture. They are starting to take to Bermuda a little more, but certainly have their stages of growth when they like it more. Still figuring out that timing. Bermuda is great, though, because it recovers like crazy and fills in holes and bare...
  15. Tjcib

    Name that poo

    You're probably right, just my hogs getting out and having weird stuff in their stomachs... Too bad, I was ready to do some bear hunting...
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