Rare breed Pigs

From Humble Beginnings

We started our journey of pig farming as many others probably have; enough pigs to keep the supply of pork coming through the house. Pictured here is our first Boar and a number of his offspring trotting from behind the small pigsty that was one of our very first animal shelters at The Dent-ed Barn. In fact the pigs were a communal affair with friends and family all helping to fence the enclosure, build the pig sty and then offer to eat them once ready for slaughter

2016 Breeding

2016 saw a real focus on pig breeding, brought about by the unexpected multiple pregnancies that we experienced. Unfortunately our timing was a little out and we allowed boars on the rise to remain with sows for just a few weeks too long - the result was 42 piglets in the space of just four days.

Moreover, this was swiftly followed by the worst floods that the valley had seen in 15 years. This didn't help our newly arrived litters when they were found one evening up to their middle in water flowing off the hill.

All of this meant rapid changes on the farm with us working around the clock to ensure that our piglets were able to survive the high waters in their first 48 hours. Despite the weather being against us, the result has been a successful breeding season at The Dent-ed Barn

New Stock

Late 2016 saw the investment in a rare breed pair of Berkshire Pigs. Serengeti and Tusker provided us with 5 piglets in November. Berkshires are known for their marbled pork. The piglets are being trained to eat from the hand and they already enjoy a good scratch behind the ears!