We are committed to raising premium quality 100% grass-fed buffalo meat in an ethical and environmentally sustainable way.

I have always noticed that as our hogs approach butcher weight they tend to get lazy and lay around their shelter instead of grazing the lush pastures that surround them.  Our sows, on the other hand, seem to graze more and sleep less.  It may be that the sows intestines are more developed to better utilize forages.  Anyhow, I wanted these feeder hogs to eat as much clover and grass as possible before we harvest them.  I already have cut their grain ration down to 1.5 lbs per day. 

Feeder hogs grazing

I decided to try something new.  Last week I put one of our Blackworth sows in with a group of Large Black feeder hogs (see photo).  The hogs took the large older sow as their “fearless leader” and followed her around all day.  She continuously grazed and the feeder hogs followed suit.

I am interested to hear any other motivational techniques for lazy hogs, so send me yours and I’ll post it.

Until next time!  Happy swineherding,

Tobias Hatfield

Welcome to the first Heritage Pastured Hog Blog!

This blog is all about raising Heritage Breed Pigs on pasture, acorns, and other low cost feeds.  Although raising pigs on pasture is not new, the extremely high price of grains is forcing pig farmers everywhere to re-evaluate just how much of a hogs diet can come from pastures, acorns, pumpkins, and other non-grain based diets.  At Full Circle Ranch, we feed costly certified organic grain to our pigs.  So, for us, the issue was very important even before the recent spike in feed costs.

The other focus of this blog is to discuss what Heritage Breeds or combination thereof perform best on pastures and low cost feeds.

The Blackworth Heritage cross (our favorite pig for organic pastured pork)
At Full Circle Ranch, we raise both the Tamworth and the Large Black pig, providing certified organic heritage stock to farmers who want to propagate them and insure their survival as distinct breeds.

For our organic pork production we cross the Large Black and the Tamworth, creating a “Blackworth Pig”. This combines the best qualities of both breeds, resulting in a long, well-muscled, handsome black pig (with tinges of red), that is suited to grazing pastures, finishing on acorns and most importantly, producing fantastic pork.  The hybrid vigor, the result of crossing two pure unrelated breeds, is very strong in these pigs causing the piglets to be exceptionally hardy and to grow faster than those of either pure breed.

As far as the pork is concerned, the Large Black side is dominant, the pork being well marbled, juicy and tender.  The Tamworth compliments this by adding depth to the sides of bacon and muscle to the shoulders and hams, while mitigating the Large Blacks tendency to over-fatten.  The Blackworth boars have proven to be eager and potent breeders with a friendly disposition.  The maternal abilities of the Blackworth sows are very good as a result of the strength in this trait coming from both sides of the cross.

Thank you for reading our first blog.  We are interested in what you have discovered in regards to raising Heritage breeds on pastures and the like.  We have a comment box below. We would love to hear from you.

Fellow Heritage Hog Farmer, Tobias Hatfield