G day Guinea Hogs

G day Guinea Hogs

     American Guinea hogs also known as the pineywoods guinea hogs are a heritage breed of pig native to the USA. They are smaller than the industrial type hog. They are an over 200 years old breed and are known as grazing hogs.

     An adult male can range between 17 and 22 inches high. Females may be a few inches shorter. Their length is between 46 to 56 inches long measuring from the middle of the ears to the tail end. Their bodies are of rectangle shape with a straight to slightly curved back. Weight wise they can weigh between 150 to upwards to 300 pounds. They are all black with very coarse hair, length of medium to long hair which can cast a reddish to blue black color and sometimes even curly. They have a single curl to their tail. Their life span is between 10 to 15 years.

     They are very friendly pigs often given the name floppers because if you scratch their backs, they fall over wanting their bellies scratched as well. They are a great breed of pig for a young child to raise as they are calm and tend to want to be with people. Since they are of the smaller breed of pig they are excellent for 4 H projects.

     The females are very good mothers and sometimes will feed another mother’s piglets.  Bearing litters between 1 to 14 but more than usual 6 piglets are born.  The males are also very laid back and do not disturb the piglets if they are in the same pen.

     Care for these hogs are pretty basic, with dry bedding, clean water and a mud hole in a grazing field is about all they need. Very little grain is needed to feed them and discouraged as it will later give problems in mating and add extra fat. They require very little shelter and love to burrow into ground and sleep all together in a pile. They love left overs and scraps.

Our G daughter Grace is our little pig whisperer and if we have escapees, she is good to get them back to the pen. Many days we can find her at the barn hanging out with them. She loves to scratch Shorty’s belly, he is my favorite pig of all.

      Their meat is one of the best in my opinion, they have a wonderful sweet taste with a good measure of marbling in the meat. Many will make prosciutto with it, and Many gourmet cooks welcome it in their kitchens.

    

 

     I love my pigs here at Earthsblessing  farm and we are a registered breeder with the American Guinea Hog Association. We are trying to preserve this wonderful small pig for generations to come. They have been put on the endangered list. So if anyone would like to add these wonderful small heritage pigs to their farm please feel free to contact us at earthsblessingfarm@gmail.com or call us at 706 499-6356 and we will be glad to help out. We are expecting piglets soon.                                      

                                                                          (2020 American Guinea Hog Association, Inc)

     

Expansions to the Farm

     Summer break flew by way too fast. It has been a crazy time of it too. We have 11 new babies on the farm and 4 more mommas  due any day now. We have a boar for sale or trade for a different bloodline other than (American Guinea hogs) Cersi BPR Bloodline.

     We have been working on 101 projects and one of them have not been the roof. my daughter and husband now reside on the farm and have become members of Earthsblessing Farm, along with their two daughters. We have been helping them settle in. They were married on July 27th and we wish them all great success and love in their new adventures.

     School has brought me to a new position and it is one I truly love. I am privileged  and honored for this  spot. I new work with Severe students now.

     I have been working on ponds and patios over the break and my garden is growing like crazy. We have a new kitten named Taz; he was a wild one from  out at the barn. He has become friends with Claire our indoor cat. They are holy terrors when they get running through the house. We have also added a few new chickens to the roost. We have a lot to be thankful for here on the farm. May we continue to grow and thrive as the years go past.

   

Moving into Hot Weather on the Farm

Back in the chicken biz! We got our five Dominique hens and two Road Island Reds last night. They are babies, just a few weeks old. That means our one hen we have that has been laying eggs will have to keep producing for a while longer by herself. I want to stick with the heritage animals.

I have a new Mango tree up now that gives me four and I hope they will be producing fruits one day. Even after all the crazy weather we had at the beginning of the year I can say we are fortunate to have blue berries for the year!  Plums and pears not so much, and peaches well if they get big it will be very little, far and few. I did plant a bunch of organic tangerine seeds a few weeks back they should be up soon too.

Our pigs are all growing like weeds and the baby girls have already seen their first heat. The momma pigs are all fat and sassy once again. Our four registered pigs are doing well too. We are about to take the boys out and pen them up in the field away from the girls for now to give everyone a rest and recovery. Lady Cersei needs to be bred, but we need a registered boar for her.

We have one week left to school including post planning for teachers. Man has this year blown by. Seniors graduate on Wednesday and students last day is there too. I have no idea what next year will have in store or even if I will still be there as they have several cuts to our department. I have enjoyed working with my mildly disabled children this year. They have me wrapped around their fingers and my heart has been swelling with great joy from working with them. Their last day was yesterday and I tried not to cry before I left. I have been named Ms. Jusey by the class as one called me and I loved hearing them laugh as they all got going calling my name. I will truly miss working with them. I hope whoever gets to work with them love them as much as I do. They could take my head aches right away and made me laugh so far as we worked altogether. They loved to dance and sing and just be the innocent lovely children that they are. It will be a long summer without them.

Moving into the hot weather where is that spring? And house renovation will be fun.

It's Offical We have Registered Hogs!

Daffodils from my flower garden

Rain keeps me in a bit today but not too long. So, I thought I would get some catching up made. Time passes fast when you have a full plate. Between studying my Bible, herbal class stuff and working at the school full time I sometimes neglect  my blog. I have also taken on the job at school to sell tickets for my soccer kids. This takes up a few nights a week . All in all I have been under the weather some but seem to keep hopping as best as I can. We are already half way through February, WOW!

Piglets are growing like weeds and they are about to be weaned and ready for new homes for those of you who who would like one. Unfortunately we lost two of the newer litter in the rains that came in January. This left us with with eight babies. You never know when you will deal with the unforeseen circumstances on the farm. On the up side, we are now officially raising registered American Guinea Hogs. We purchased a momma sow and three eight week old males with papers from one of the nearby neighbors wanting to get into cows instead. These four are very tame and love being around folks. I have named them Jamie II Frazer, Hoglas Mackenzie, and Angus Mhog. Their momma's name is Lady Cersei and their daddy was Jamie I. He was sold to someone else.

My 3 Registered boys loving their scratchins

Lady Cersei

I have been trying little by little to tame our new little bacon bits so they are not skiddish like their momma's are. They too have come a long way since we first got them. I spend  time sitting very still  talking to them all. You may find me quiet strange but I truly love my pigs. Two babies- the two I will be keeping from my first ever litters named Minnie and Buttons ( our only male in the bunch) love to be scratched and come sit at my feet waiting. They love scratches so much they both fall over and coo out their little grunts of love for me.

I have been working in the back of the house cutting down all the sumac trees that have come up in my flower bed over the septic tank. What a job  they seem to be never ending, I try to dig up roots  as best as I can too. My view is now overlooking all my dafodils blooming out my back window.

Today I started  the footer dig but the rain came. As soon as it stops it will be time to get back at it and finish it up. i have a four day weekend so I hope to get things on the move.