Coyote Ridge FarmsWelcome To Our Rural Blog

The newest hogs on the place, our American Guinea Hogs, seem to be settled in and doing well.  We still have them in a pen, under the hay loft, so that they can get used to all the farm smells and sounds.  It’s always a good idea to do this for any new animals that are brought onto an unfamiliar farmstead.  Most farm critters will feel more secure in smaller spaces or in pens rather than larger, more spacious areas… at least until they get used to their new environment.

Our three yearlings - the boar in the middle

Carol and I bought these pigs from a gal in north-central Minnesota, when Madison was at the MN State Fair.  My hope was to have the pigs [somewhat] tame, by the time Madison got home.  These hogs were wild.  Contrary to what  most folks say about this breed, they were not friendly.  When Madison got home, the pigs were still quite “frisky”.  The day after Madison got home, she set out to tame the pigs.  In less than 2 days, the pigs were tame enough to pet, itch and pat.  A couple of the them will flop over on their side as soon as their head is scratched.  They are no longer shy.

Here they are resting

The white tube in the above photos is one of our homemade waterers.  Since we got the pigs home, we have been trying to train them to it.  On my own, I couldn’t get these dummies to even sniff the water nipple.  A few days ago, Carol suggested putting peanut butter on the nipple.  As soon as I did, they were interested in it.  Although the pigs still do not drink from the waterer, per se.  They do know that if they want water, it comes from the waterer nipple.  I put a pan under the unit, so when thirsty, the pigs will bite on the nipple, causing water to run into the pan.  Then they drink the water from there… with an exception.  The tiny little runt drinks from the nipple.  Oh yeah, the runt also falls asleep when Madison picks her up.  We call the runt Baby.

Meet Baby, our American Guinea runt

American Guinea Hogs are considered an American, heritage, lard pig breed.  They do extremely well on good pasture or, during the winter, they do wonderfully eating only hay and oats.  Corn can/will make them overly fat. Currently, while the pigs are adjusting to our farm, they are eating left-over bread/bakery items, oats and hay.

You can see how small they are – in the 2nd photo (above), the cages in the background house our meat rabbits.

This blog entry was to be posted several days ago, but was delayed, due to our internet issues.

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