Happy 2014!
We have three more meat pigs available, the last three for a long while. They are about 200 pounds each now and ready to go at any time. We can transport to Kulana in Hilo if you like, or you can come get them from our farm. Same price and info as in the post below.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Friday, November 22, 2013
Natural Farmed Pigs For Sale
We
have six meat pigs, now weighing in around 170 pounds, so they are just
about ready to become some of the most delicious pork you have ever
tasted! In two weeks they should reach between 180-200 pounds.
Cost will be $5/pound, live weight. Kulana, in Hilo, charges .56/pound slaughter fee, with an $84 minimum; the break-even point is 180 pounds which is why we aim for that weight. However, if you like your pig a little on the smaller side, they are ready go at any time now.
We will transport the pigs to Kulana and you will pick up
from there. You can do the butchering yourself or arrange with Kulana
to do that for you - but let us know which way you want to go with that
so we can fill out the proper forms when we drop off the pigs. If a
whole pig is too much for you, it's okay to order a half. Of course, if
you prefer to pick up your pig live from our farm in Pahoa, that works, too.
These piggies have been raised expressly using Korean Natural
Farming methods. They will be succulent prime pork through and through.
Fed exclusively on organic non-gmo feed from Scratch & Peck Feeds
and organic greens, sugarcane, and other goodies from our farm, they
have a good and happy life with lots of love, pets, and attention. They
will be humanely dispatched.
If
you are local on the Big Island and have an interest in purchasing some
of the wonderful pork from our farm, get in touch with us. We only have six pigs to sell at this time, so get your order in now! Email
mike@myhawaiianrental Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Crunching Numbers
To keep us occupied while waiting for Spot's litter to arrive, we've been going over some of the basic costs of raising the previous batch of pigs to butchering size. Here's what we've come up with.
In the last 2-1/2 months, we've saved 42 pounds of feed by utilizing the feedcrops we're growing: sugarcane & the protein plants (mulberry, moringa, and cassava leaves). In two more weeks, these pigs will be six months old and weigh between 180-200 pounds, and they will sell for $5 per pound, live-weight.
When you consider the total amount of organic non-gmo feed we've given them over their 4-1/2 months since weaning, it comes to $3.00/pound, which will leave us with $2.00/pound profit to offset other costs of raising them, such as tools & equipment, gas to pick up the feed from the docks, and such like.
So basically, we're making about $12 a day on this little venture, or $2 a day per pig.
It'll take many, many years to pay off the costs of infrastructure this way. And of course, all our labor is free because, face it, farming is pretty much a labor of love. You must love what you're doing to make this lifestyle worthwhile - and we do.
In the last 2-1/2 months, we've saved 42 pounds of feed by utilizing the feedcrops we're growing: sugarcane & the protein plants (mulberry, moringa, and cassava leaves). In two more weeks, these pigs will be six months old and weigh between 180-200 pounds, and they will sell for $5 per pound, live-weight.
When you consider the total amount of organic non-gmo feed we've given them over their 4-1/2 months since weaning, it comes to $3.00/pound, which will leave us with $2.00/pound profit to offset other costs of raising them, such as tools & equipment, gas to pick up the feed from the docks, and such like.
So basically, we're making about $12 a day on this little venture, or $2 a day per pig.
It'll take many, many years to pay off the costs of infrastructure this way. And of course, all our labor is free because, face it, farming is pretty much a labor of love. You must love what you're doing to make this lifestyle worthwhile - and we do.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Big Mama's Small Litter
Big Mama had an easy delivery on Halloween night, the last night of October. But there were only four piglets in this litter, all females.
In trying to figure out why the litter was so small, a few things have come to mind. One, Big Mama got sick and was off her feed at weaning time for the previous litter. Since sows come into heat only 3-5 days after weaning, right when she was feeling poorly and not eating, her body probably went into starvation mode and didn't produce very many eggs at breeding time.
Another possibility is that we didn't catch her at the exact right time. A sow's heat lasts only 36 hours, and we have to get her bred twice (12 hours apart) during that time to ensure a good "take". The signs of heat can be subtle as a sow gets older, so it can be hard to catch her early enough for the second round to do any good.
We'll give Big Mama one more chance to provide a good-sized litter. And hopefully Spot will come through with another big batch like her last one, to help off-set the costs of her sister's small litter.
All four piglets are healthy and growing fast, as one would expect with such an abundant milk supply! They are such cute little things and very friendly.
PS: The farm book is now available in .pdf form, as well as paperback. This should make it easier for our international readers to obtain a copy. See the links at the left to order your copy today.
In trying to figure out why the litter was so small, a few things have come to mind. One, Big Mama got sick and was off her feed at weaning time for the previous litter. Since sows come into heat only 3-5 days after weaning, right when she was feeling poorly and not eating, her body probably went into starvation mode and didn't produce very many eggs at breeding time.
 |
| Big Mama in foreground, very pregnant and feeling just fine. |
Another possibility is that we didn't catch her at the exact right time. A sow's heat lasts only 36 hours, and we have to get her bred twice (12 hours apart) during that time to ensure a good "take". The signs of heat can be subtle as a sow gets older, so it can be hard to catch her early enough for the second round to do any good.
We'll give Big Mama one more chance to provide a good-sized litter. And hopefully Spot will come through with another big batch like her last one, to help off-set the costs of her sister's small litter.
All four piglets are healthy and growing fast, as one would expect with such an abundant milk supply! They are such cute little things and very friendly.
 |
| Only one day old, already curious. |
PS: The farm book is now available in .pdf form, as well as paperback. This should make it easier for our international readers to obtain a copy. See the links at the left to order your copy today.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Feed Crops & What we Feed Our Pigs
Not much to report for September. I was injured in a car crash so not a lot extra got done around the farm besides the daily animal chores. But everything kept growing during all that time, of course!
Now things are beginning to happen again. Lots more clearing out the jungle that had regrown out back, to make room for extending the rows in our "protein field" : moringa, mulberry, and cassava. The leaves of each of these plants are very high in balanced amino acids, thus making them excellent feed crops. We have more sugarcane ready to plant, too.
Big Mama & Spot are both pregnant and due soon. Big Mama's next litter is due at the end of this month, just in time for Halloween. Spot is due mid-November.
The six young ones from Spot's previous litter weigh between 120-125 pounds each. They now occupy two of the pens, as seen in the second photo below, with three pigs in each pen. These will be butchered sometime in December when they reach 180 pounds.
We are in the process of putting up bird netting over all the open spaces of the piggery. Those greedy wild doves and pigeons are eating far more than we can afford to lose!
There have been several farm tours coming through these past months. In the photo above, Mike is telling a group of college students about the sugarcane, cassava, and mulberries we use for part of the pigs' diet. The pigs are also currently getting moringa leaves (dried; they don't seem to like it fresh - too spicy, maybe) mixed with their organic non-gmo feed, fermented together with IMO4, and small amounts of OHN (Oriental Herbal Nutrient), LAB (Lactic Acid Bacteria), FAA (Fish Amino Acid), & FPJ (Fermented Plant Juice). These last are added along with a bit of water to nicely moisten the whole mixture. It gets covered loosely with a paper feed sack, and then ferments for 12 hours. Sometimes the piggies get eggs, kabocha, or guava as an extra treat since we have a lot of these right now. And of course, they get lots of scratches, pets, and attention.
(PS: We can hardly wait until the 'ulu and papaya (seen in the first photos of this entry) begin to produce in abundance. Should be soon! And when that happens, the pigs will be getting a share of those crops as well.)
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Book Review!
Word is starting to spread about the farm book. Yay! We took a boxful to the local Natural Farm meeting last month, and online orders have been trickling in. And of course, folks who come to our farm for the tour have been snapping them up!
Sonia Martinez, Big Island food writer and blogger, wrote a great review of my book for Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network.
Go ahead and take a moment to read the book review here!
Monday, July 15, 2013
It's Here!
August 8, 2013: I added an ordering link to the bottom of this post for those of you on mobile devices. Thanks for letting me know, and huge thanks to those who have ordered my book already!
The farm book, Hubbell's Hog Heaven & Liz's Happy Hens: A Farm Tour, is finally here, all printed and bound and ready to go!
The back cover:
And the Table of Contents:
A link to the first review.
And here's what others have said about the book:
"It's all about their farm, the tours and how they chose to farm the Korean Natural Way...no flies, no odor!... The book is not just for farmers and it should be interesting even to people who don't farm!" ~ Sonia
"Healthy bacon!" ~ Noel
"Super informative yet easy to read, and translatable to wherever you live and whatever you want to grow/raise." ~ Lori
"Speaking as a former pig farmer, the system in the book is so practical and worthwhile to do. You can retro fit or use it as a starting point either way...it works." ~ Galyn
There's a link to order on the sidebar of this page. You have options: You can order from Amazon OR directly from me. If you order your copy directly from me, I will split the shipping costs with you (for only $2.50) AND you will get it autographed. How can you resist?
EDITED TO ADD: Many have mentioned that they cannot see the sidebar from their mobile devices, so I'm adding a link here in the text for you.
You can order the book directly from me, here.
Thank you so much!
The farm book, Hubbell's Hog Heaven & Liz's Happy Hens: A Farm Tour, is finally here, all printed and bound and ready to go!
The back cover:
And the Table of Contents:
A link to the first review.
And here's what others have said about the book:
"It's all about their farm, the tours and how they chose to farm the Korean Natural Way...no flies, no odor!... The book is not just for farmers and it should be interesting even to people who don't farm!" ~ Sonia
"Healthy bacon!" ~ Noel
"Super informative yet easy to read, and translatable to wherever you live and whatever you want to grow/raise." ~ Lori
"Speaking as a former pig farmer, the system in the book is so practical and worthwhile to do. You can retro fit or use it as a starting point either way...it works." ~ Galyn
There's a link to order on the sidebar of this page. You have options: You can order from Amazon OR directly from me. If you order your copy directly from me, I will split the shipping costs with you (for only $2.50) AND you will get it autographed. How can you resist?
EDITED TO ADD: Many have mentioned that they cannot see the sidebar from their mobile devices, so I'm adding a link here in the text for you.
You can order the book directly from me, here.
Thank you so much!
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