On the pig menu today, 7 layer dip. It's got cheese, and sour cream, and guacamole and beans and salsa. The packaging (it's packed into 2lb portions) says that it contains 50 calories per tablespoon. I'd say that there's 128 tablespoons per package, so thats 6,400 calories per package.
There are 4 packages per case, and 119 cases per pallet. I have 9 pallets.
I'll probably give one container or so per pig per day for the next month or so, or as long as they last. Been a good month for free food. I forgot -- I need to add hay for this to be a forage diet!
Bit annoying to have it all packaged. I'll compost the boxes - smear a little dip on them and toss them into the pig pen, and the pigs will chew them up and mix them into the wood chips and manure -- but the plastic I have to carefully seperate and take to the dump. I tried to find a place to recycle it, but since it's all smeared with food they won't take it unless I wash the plastic, and I'm not going to wash thousands of plastic containers. I'm green, but I do have limits. I'm already recycling this batch!
Won't it spoil before you get through the whole batch? Or is it cold enough to just leave it sitting out?
ReplyDeleteWill the pigs eat the plastic? Maybe they can clean all the plastic containers so you can recycle them.
ReplyDeleteBruce
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful blog. I would like to raise more pigs. I sent you an email the other day with some questions. I have not gotten a response. Maybe you will repond to this?
I have been reading your blog and it is very informative. The wife and I bought a just shy of 5 acres over a year ago and are trying our hand at raising livestock. Here is our blog of adventures so far. Smeltzerville. I am interested in raising pigs. We bought three Berkshires in September. They seem to be doing well. I have a couple questions about raising livestock that I believe you can answer. I am sure the answers are on your blog somewhere, but where?
1. Do you run cows and pigs together in the same pasture?
2. Do you have chicken or turkey tractors?
3. How many animals can I have on 3 acres of pasture and 1 acre of wooded area? I get all the organic cereal I want for feed.
4. How much does pork go for in Western Washington?
5. Do you sell value added products? Like special cuts of meat, sausage, or smoked meats? How much does that go for?
6. Who processes your chickens?
7. Can my family come and visit your farm?
mathass
ReplyDeleteBruce, when you make your comment about being forage fed, I think you need to remind people that you are referring to the Walter Jeffries of Sugar Mountain Farm, who raises pigs "on forage" in the mountain.
First time readers of your blog won't get what you are saying and will think you are nuts.
In the regular universe, "forage" means plants growing out of the ground that the animals go and eat - but in the mountains of Vermont, "forage" includes hay delivered in - and dairy waste. Lots and lots of dairy waste.