Flying Pigs Farm: The Animals

This is the final post about our visit to Flying Pigs Farm. See:

• Our Visit to Flying Pigs Farm
• Our Feasts at Flying Pigs Farm
• Reasons to Support Flying Pigs Farm (including their use of biodiesel)

We’ll also be posting the full recipe for the braised pork belly shortly. Yum!

The Pigs

The pigs at Flying Pigs Farm are very happy pigs. They have green grass to shred up, mud to dig in, a forest to forage in, and pens to keep then dry and warm. The setting is beautiful. There are fences but around a very large territory (actually, three separate territories, by pig size).

The pigs are rare heritage breeds (Large Blacks, Gloucestershire Old Spots, and Tamworths), see their site for more information. While it’s true that these pigs are being raised to be food, the process is also saving their breeds from extinction.

We visited them right after a heavy rain, so the ground was very muddy, but they loved sticking their heads in it, up to their ears!

The pigs are raised 100% naturally and slaughtered carefully and humanely. The pigs’ foraging diet is supplemented with conventional feed.

The Piglets

The piglets and younger pigs are in a separate area with their mothers. They are adorable. One young black pig is adept at getting out of the pen, but goes right back in after running around for a while!

The Chickens

The chickens were the most interesting part. The hoop tent is left open and they are free to roam. When we went to see them they followed us out in mass when we walked out of the hoop tent. It’s kinds of weird being followed by an army of chickens, And their coloring was beautiful, as were the roosters’.

They wander and meander slowly, until they get to the edge of the road. When they decide to cross (why?) they move much faster! They wander in the grass and pick at bugs, etc. They wander back to where the piglets are and jump into their pens, grab some of their feed; it’s all family. And their eggs are spectacular!