A New Endeavor

As you know, we have had pigs in our backyard for exactly a year now!  Jacob loves "messing" with them: feeding, water, petting, watching.  He is very dedicated-- I mean, at least twice a day he is out there with the pigs.

Not too long ago, Jacob dediced that he wanted to try and start his own pig business!  So, we both applied for and got our meat handlers license just in case we ever wanted to sell meat.  Well, here we are-- tons of pork in the freezer, 3 new hogs in the back yard, and certified meat handlers. 

So, I now introduce to your our latest endeavor- Morgan Meats!  We have created a logo and blog and are open for business!  Well, actually-- Jacob has already been selling meat for about a month or so.  And his sells are booming :-)  He has almost sold $1,000 worth of pork.  Unfortunately, that's not all profit! 


Go check out our blog (www.morganmeats.blogspot.com), grab our button and put it on your blog, and buy some pork.  You won't regret it!  We have also created a Facebook page- Like Us!  Also, make sure you check back to the blog and Facebook because we will be doing FREE giveaways :-) 

The Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs...

No....not those pigs!  These pigs...

 

These are our newest backyard friends!  We went and picked them up last night and got them settled into their new home.  These guys (and girl) weigh about 50 pounds each and we think it will take between 4 and 5 months to finish them out.  They are very skiddish and do not liked to be petted (?)......yet :-)  They haven't lived with the Morgans long enough to know how great they're going to have it!

Last night they wouldn't let you get near them with a 10 foot pole.  But today, they had already gotten a little better as evidenced here:

   I know you like that farm girl style ;)

And after a little coaxing with some hamburger buns, I finally got the little fella right where I wanted him.

 And so, for now these little porkers are "wee, wee, weeing" in their new backyard home!

Now Offering: FREE Piggy Back Rides!

Literally!!! And GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER! Ethel wasn't being crude, she was just chillin' out like this :-) BFFs for life <3

As Happy as a Pig in a Mud Puddle

It was a GORGEOUS day outside today, so Jacob and I decided to spend most of the day outdoors. To start off the day, we visited with our piggie girls. I made a blueberry cobbler last night and saved the leftover blueberry juice (equal parts water and sugar + cooked down blueberry pulp) for the girls. June used to love it- so I figured Lucy and Ethel would too.

In fact, they loved the juice so much that they ended up getting in a "squeal" over it :-)

Just in case you didn't know....pigs are a lot like dogs! They love human interaction, they enjoy getting a belly rub/petted, and can even be trained like a dog. Jacob used to make June sit before she got her food! Here are Lucy and Ethel getting a little attention from their Momma ;)

When we left the large ladies to go weed our flower beds, they were chillaxin' in their mud puddle....just as happy as could be!

So, until next time- I hope that YOU are as happy as a pig in a mud puddle!!

A Temporary Stay

This past Tuesday, Jacob and I went to a small hog operation in Lenoir County to offer two little pigs a home! Although I did not want to go on a weeknight because of the drive, we didn't really have any other choice. The farmer was planning on taking all of his piglets that were under show size to a feeder pig sale for slaughter.

After our first hog growing experience (with June), we knew that we wanted to give it another go. The day we took June to be slaughtered I was a MESS. No, really. I cried off and on all day and said we were never doing that again. Well, like they say...time heals all pain. I would also like to add that, in this case, so did the taste of some seriously delicious pork! This was our last family picture with June on the day that she was taken to the slaughter house.

From start to finish, it cost us about $430 to raise June and we got back over 150 pounds of meat. It averaged out to be about $2.92/lb. Not only is that a great deal, but we also knew exactly what she ate and got back some very high quality meat. So with those things in mind, we set out on our journey to get our TWO new piggies.

The place we found in Lenoir County was SO COOL! There were TONS of pigs at every stage of the game from a few weeks old all the way up to sows and one ginormous boar. They were kept in open-air hog houses (of a sort) that were indoor/outdoor. The facilities were really nice and well kept. The pigs also looked very happy and healthy.

We picked the two pigs we liked the best, paid up, and headed for home with the little ladies in the dog box :-) After a brief stop by Bojangles for dinner, in which the pigs were rocking the truck back and forth, we arrived at home with our new guests. We built their pig pen the weekend before out of hog panels and T-posts so it was all ready to go for them.

So now, I am pleased to introduce you to the newest members of the Morgan family: Lucille and Ethel!

The pink pig is Lucy and the black and white pig is Ethel. They are BFF's-- they eat together, run around together, and snuggle up with each other at night.

Here are some pictures of their setup---

They have an automatic feeder and waterer. We also have a solar powered electric fence run around the bottom of the pen so the little girls won't escape. For the time being, we plan on giving Lucy and Ethel a fabulous home with lots of FLC (food, love and care)! Then, come June (the month, not the pig) their stay will end and they will join their sister that came before them......at freezer camp :)