In the 2000’s, when our children were on the smaller side, we had an afternoon tradition called the ‘pig run’. This was always accompanied by squeals from prepubescent kids from the back seat or truck back. Firstly, on the approach to the given paddock, black and white or sometimes muddy shapes would be running wobbling out of the hills through the long grass to the flats where the troughs were located. The vehicle would follow the fence line and the large pendulous ears of the Saddlebacks would flap as they bounded. The sight of this was often captured in slow motion video and shared back from visiting camera enthusiasts. Meeting us at the troughs, with a cacophony of piggy song: low grunts to high pitched squeals, the next part of the game was initiated. Kids would pile out of the vehicle and run to side gate of the paddock, or bound through the cattle fence, dodging the electric outrigger wire, as we kept the pigs focused on the food bucket. While the hordes were distracted, the kids would dash across the paddock from the gate. As one pig saw this the rest would follow the kids like a liquid flow. Whilst this happened, the official keeper of the pig grain would get through the gates and fill the troughs, exercising haste to get all the buckets emptied before being seen. Again, one pig would notice, and the tide would turn. The distant sounds of the kids sounding happy and puffed out would be juxtaposed against the near silence of the pigs eating.

I am still greeted by local “kids” in their twenties and thirties saying they remember our place and the pig run. Such a stark contrast to the indoor pig keeping where this could never happen, let alone allow any physical connection to the animals. This is actually very sensible, considering the problems that can occur when animals are housed and managed without the interaction of natural cycles. Apart from obvious animal welfare issues regarding mental health of the animal, the cost of building housing, manure management, diseases, smell, water use…etc etc. there is a deliberate disconnection to the animal, it’s needs and the natural world it lives in. If you are farming only for the money, dictated to by the oracle of the spreadsheet, the natural environment is usually of secondary consequence.  This is sensible. If you are managing a family farm with an established business, there is too much at stake for change: again sensible. We were lucky we didn’t have to be this type of sensible.

We set out to farm pigs almost by accident. We had an early, very brief interaction with a few wild piglets whom we fed surplus milk from our house cows. They had a small range with these cows, grazing during the day and returning with them late afternoon for food.  The piglets would get impatient with the cows if not returned by around 4:30 and would chivvy them up to the yards to lock calves away and themselves for the night. From the husbandry of Dickey and Docky (named by the 3 year old Kenelm) and eating offspring of Carmen we learned we wanted a few better quality pigs.  When we heard of a local couple with a menagerie of old breed farm stock, we purchased a Tamworth sow and subsequently a few Saddleback sows. With Treacle the Tamworth and Sarah and Sabrina the Saddlebacks we started growing the pigs on mostly home-grown grain (cooked millet, corn and sometimes wheat) and vegetable seconds from our garden including Queensland arrowroot, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins. We were advised by the local couple to make a secure fence and double it: wire netting and electric outriggers to hold a line of wire around 30cms from the fence and 20 cm off the ground. On a tight budget, we punched insulators out of poly pipe pieces, by hand in front of TV in the evenings.

We had only farmed cattle prior to this and were very careful on rotations to manage ticks and buffalo flies so we kept “double” fencing and rotating. It worked and before long like any successful farmer we had more piggies than we could handle. At this point it was either start selling or scale back to one pig. We were in love with them. They would sit and talk to us in the paddock and on several occasions would follow us on walks around the farm. The more I learned about rare breed pigs the more we realised we needed to preserve them. The Tamworth, a popular breed in Australia post war was discredited with the move to indoor intensive piggeries around the mid-sixties. This was one of those trends in farming following the US in the large grain growing belts where massive pigs could be churned out to deliver breakfasts to the masses on seconds of wheat, barley, and corn. The Tamworth is a long nosed long legged pig with exceptional foraging ability and easy birthing. Their downfall was they take a long time to fatten, become too fat in intensive situations and have erratic litters sizes. Inside hardiness doesn’t need to count as an attribute and the large white hybrids were starting to produce around 15 to 18 piglets in a litter. No competition in a world where you never hear from your end user families about the decline in flavour of their cheap bacon.

Saddlebacks were in a similar situation and only kept by a small number of traditional farms. By the time we were trying to access more stock in the mid 2000’s we were told they were almost extinct across the globe. Fernleigh Farms were one of the more prominent farms in Australia that saw the value of the Saddleback and imported many lines from dedicated breeders in the UK. We quickly saw the benefits of the sows we had that had been sourced from pure bred stock. They were very quiet and easy to manage, had moderate litters of up to 14, amazing foragers relishing every veggie and new food and above all were outstanding mothers. We were warned that if allowed to exhibit natural behaviours such as nest building in the paddocks sows would lie on and squash their piglets and free roaming pigs would not put on any weight if not confined: myths that had discouraged decades of farmers. The nesting action is one to behold and admire with grass dome nests up to 2 metres high and 3 wide gathered from the surrounding paddock. Rarely are any piglets harmed in these nests. Nothing more defensive than a mother pig, as the saying goes. Babies are very safe when a mother retains her innate instincts. Pigs foraging outdoors in good pasture with a quality grain mix give about equal growth rates to indoor animals and as an extra bonus provide the addition of more Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in their meat. They live so much longer. Most of our sows have lived to over 15 years and produced for 12 to 14. Indoor hybrids are usually culled before 5. Out in sunshine they are generally disease free (no diseases in 25 years of pig keeping) and if rotated and looked after have no worms nor parasites. This equals no pesticides or vermicides needed.

Then, of course, there is the taste. I had never eaten pork as a child as it was too expensive for our family. Leaving home, I had it, but never liked it and after realising the life most pigs had, didn’t approve. Not long after I came to the district, we were at a farm auction with a piggery. I sat on a low wall and looked over to see a few dead and half eaten piglets. The mother was confined in a farrowing crate with a very large sore on her neck from accessing the food in a feeder in front of her, unable to turn around or easily lie down. After this neither of us could eat ‘conventional’ pork, with the bursting awareness that good meat comes from happy and healthy animals. Thankfully the internet made available early pasture grass forums from the US, confirming we weren’t mad in our defence of the outdoor pig. Although Australian conditions have different challenges with climate and required environmental sensitivity due to brittle environments, we were very successful in the pursuit of the tasty Saddleback. We now sell many of our piglets to small farmers spreading the breed and the appreciation. Sourcing new boars and keeping sows selected with attention to temperament, shape and hardiness gave us a line resilient in the outdoors. They have shelters and water, shady trees and grassy beds.  They know to go to a wallow on a 30 degree plus day. A very brief interlude with pink hybrids taught us: they get sunburn, they get silly when overheated and they have random mothering ability: a recipe for disaster for their piglets and themselves.  We never ventured into registering our stock for sale but give people the chance to view papers from the boars and sows and have a traceable line to Pilot, Beatrice and Prince lines in an attempt to keep the fine breed alive and well; to secure a happy pig future for small farms to provide nutrient packed meat that can survive and flourish in Australian conditions.

See our other blogs and historical news stories about our adventures:

https://sunshinecoastregionalfood.com.au/2009/10/25/saving-babe-bottle-tree-hill-organics-story/