Summer Stock

Summer seems to have finally arrived and so has our summer livestock.
Two weeks ago the Freedom Rangers arrived. Freedom Rangers are not a military rescue unit. They are the heritage breed broiler chickens that we free range on pasture and offer a sustainable and humane alternative to factory farmed chickens. They have been in the brooder for the last two weeks but they are feathering out nicely now and were introduced to pasture today.

Freedom Rangers

The new batch of pigs arrived a week later. That was a case of deja vu all over again as the first pig slipped under the hot wire and led us on a two and half hour chase. We finally gave Jessie, our German Shepherd a chance to help and she did a fine job of chasing the little porker right into my arms. The only problem was that when I grabbed him he started squealing like a stuck pig. Now this set Jessie off who kept trying to bite the pig while I'm trying to carry him over to the pig pen. I'll give Jessie the benefit of the doubt that she thought the pig was trying to hurt me and this was her attempt to protect me. After his second escape five minutes later I was seriously considering roast suckling pig for dinner. We finally got him settled with his siblings and now that he knows where his food and water is he seems content.

Escapes and chases notwithstanding, the pigs continue to be our favorite critter to raise. Probably the biggest challenge is keeping them cool on a hot day as they
have no sweat glands. Nothing like a little mud to keep a pig cool.



And sometimes those with sweat glands like to play in the mud.


The Freedom Rangers will be available by late August, the pigs will be ready by mid October and Crippen Creek Spa Mud is available year round. Call or email to place your order.

When Pigs Fly

Kitty and I can now attest first hand that pigs can fly. Recently we purchased four weaner pigs to raise and sell. Weaner pigs are so called because they have been weaned from the sow, not because they are going to become wieners, which they are, but that's another story. We took great care to prepare their new home, a hutch to house them, complete with automatic feeder and waterer. Then we surrounded it all with electric netting to contain them and protect them from predators.

We unloaded the first pig and she checked out her surroundings, touched her wet snout to the electric fence and got appropriately shocked. She went to another side of the fence and did it again. "Great," I'm thinking, "she's going to learn this quickly." And in the blink of an eye we saw all four feet leave the ground as she flew through the electric netting. We just stood there with mouths agape not believing our eyes. I don't think a sitcom has been produced that could match the comedy of two 59 year old farmer wannabes trying to catch a pig on the run. Why anybody would ever grease a pig is beyond me. They are incredibly fast and agile. Some neighbors came to help and at one point four of us were on this pig and she still managed to elude us. Two hours later, Kitty made the decisive tackle that ended this merry romp. No animals were hurt in this escapade but some humans were a little bruised and battered. We got her safely back to the truck while we worked on plan B for containing them, which turned out to be a second layer of netting with smaller holes, which has been working quite well to date. They seem to have learned a healthy respect for the netting.

Porchetta, Salumi, Prosciutto and Ham Hock

Unloading the first pig
Checking things out

Pig on the run

So do you call a crafty pig like this, CunningHam?

pigs drink 5-7 gallons of water per day

They love to wallow in the mud since they do not have sweat glands.

using the self feeder

They love to root

We all know what their ultimate fate is, but until then these pigs will have the healthiest, happiest life they can frolicking, rooting, wallowing and of course eating.

You can purchase pork by the half or the whole. A half pig yields about 80 lbs. of meat and takes up almost 4 cu. ft. of freezer space. If that sounds like too much for your family consider sharing half with another small family. Once you've had pasture raised pork you won't want factory farmed pork again. Call or email us for details. (360)795-0585 theinn@crippencreek.com