My pork-babies are doing well, I just haven't had time to write lately. And thinking about them made me think of the two most common questions I get about them - 1) What kind of pigs are they? and 2) Can you eat pot-bellied pigs?
First, Rosie is around 2 years old now and she is either 1/2 or all pot-bellied pig. We aren't real sure since Danielle bought her for $25. That's cheap i...f she is full-blooded pot-belly but no papers so it's highly unlikely. Now Bean is 100% Yorkshire. We bought her from a pig farm. She has blue eyes. And she was Emmy's birthday present. Bean will be one year
old in June.
Second, Duh. Of course you "can" eat pot-bellied pigs. After all, they are just pigs. They just have more fat on them than other pigs. The real question is "Do you WANT to eat your pot-bellied pig???"
A little bit of other "I bet you didn't know this about pigs" trivia. Pigs generally reach their full maturity around 2 years of age - but can breed after turning one. Pot-bellied pigs have been known to get as large as 350-400 if they eat a lot of fatty, high protein foods. And to keep pot-bellies "pet-sized" (as in "in the house"), you actually need to measure their food and limit it to a certain portion of Pig Chow daily. Yeah, Rosie is so not "in the house" sized. Girlfriend is somewhere in the 180-190 lb. range and moving on up. Yorkshires (like Bean) generally top out as mature pigs around 200 lbs. And Bean wouldn't be considered
"desirable" for showing like at a county fair since she is white with black spots. Show Yorkshires should be solid white. But for a farm pig or breeder, she's a keeper. There is an old wives' tale that says that "blue eyed York gilts make good momma pigs". Oh yeah, haven't told you that yet, have I? A sow is a female pig AFTER she has her 2nd litter of babies but BEFORE then, she's called a "gilt". Males are boars, barrows, hogs and stags...all depending on age and if/when they have been castrated. It's very confusing so I'll leave them alone.
And there ya have it. More useless trivia than you ever wanted to know about pigs. Until next time, love your pets!
No comments:
Post a Comment