Piglets

Sow, Piglets, Sheep & Chickens Grazing
Would you like to raise your own pigs? In addition to cuts of pastured pork, roasters, whole pigs and half pigs we also offer live weaner pigs you can raise yourself. Pigs are hardy and easy to raise, especially over the summer months. With experience you can even do winter pigs starting in the fall.

We have about fourty sows farrowing year round so piglets are generally always running around. Spring piglets are in very high demand and typically sell out into summer so it is important to get your deposit in early. Historically, by January reserves typically extend to April and by April the list extends into June or July.

Reserves currently extend though late June as of May 26th, 2011 – this changes as deposits come in so reserve early.

Feeder pig weaners around 6 to 8 weeks of age:
  Boars: $150 in the Fall; $200 Winter, Spring, Summer;
  Gilts: $250
Prices are based on season when piglets will be picked up. Due to a shortage of piglets this year the price is a little higher than previously. People who reserved at the old price last year will get that price. New reserves are at this year’s price. Likewise you can lock in this year’s price for next year by reserving before January 1st.

Frequently Asked Question: Why are spring piglets so expensive?
Answer: Because of supply and demand. Spring piglets are the hardest to produce and the highest in demand so they are the highest priced. You might be able to find cheaper piglets at auction or off the back of a cull truck from out west but ask yourself why I don’t bother buying those myself… Quality matters. Read more here.

CSA Pre-Buy Piglets: If you would like to save money, plan ahead and pre-pay. When you pay in full ahead of time we offer a pre-buy discount for the following year on piglets and breeder stock:
  - 10% for spring/summer reserves received by Dec 31st
  - 20% for spring/summer reserves received by Sept 1st
Plan ahead, save money and get on the list for spring piglets.

“For years I got pigs from [Sugar Mountain Farm] and was delighted with them but then one year I bought them from someone else who was cheaper. What a mistake. In the end the other pigs cost a lot more with the vet bill, higher feed costs and slower growth. This year I’m back to buying Sugar Mountain Farm pigs.”

-Sharon Zecchinelli, Homesteader & Chef, Enosburg Falls, Vermont

Note that the above prices are for feeder piglets – ones you would raise for meat, not select prime pigs one would raise for breeding. Breeder piglets cost more because they are higher quality genetics – the ones we would choose ourselves to keep back for breeding. If you are looking to breed a pig it is worth paying the small extra select fee of $50/piglet for the farmer’s keen eye to pick the best of the litter. A very limited number of ready to breed prime boars and ready to breed prime gilts are available at times. Guaranteed bred prime gilts and prime breeding boars are also available at times. Availability is limited as we only sell the best of the best as breeders. If you want to get into breeding and farrowing the easiest way is to start with a bred gilt. See details on breeders below.

Piglets are ready to wean and go at about four to six weeks of age. We hold them a little while after weaning to transition them fully. Older, bigger grower and roaster pigs are available – see order form.

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To reserve send $15 per pig as a non-refundable deposit. When you send the deposit let me know the rough time you would like to pick them up and what sexes. We don’t guarantee an exact date – that’s up to the sows, weather and how many people are on the reserve list ahead of you but we’ll try to hit it as closely as possible. The deposit puts you on the list based on the order we get your deposit.

“The piglets I bought from Sugar Mountain Farm behaved exactly how I wanted: like old fashioned pigs! They were well trained to the electric fence, rooted like champs, gained weight quickly and produced very tasty pork. We moved them around our field and the pigs did a wonderful job of tilling and fertilizing the field. And I have never had a single health problem (not one! not even worms) with piglets from Sugar Mountain Farm.”

-Abby Duke, Chef, Farmer & Restaurateur at Sugarsnap, Burlington, Vermont

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PLEASE NOTE:
WE DO NOT SHIP PIGS.
We offer pickup at the farm
and local on route delivery.
Buy locally and support
farmers in your area.

Pickup is available at the farm gate or we can deliver them to you at one of the stops along Holly’s weekly delivery route. She drives up I-91 and I-89 from Mass to Bradford to Burlington. Delivery is just $10. See the delivery route map. Be sure to have a secure carrier for your new piglets. A dog crate works very well with a bit of hay in it. Piglets should not be transported free in the car or in your lap for safety reasons nor should they be transported in open pickup truck beds as they can get easily chilled.

Our pigs are primarily Yorkshire large white pigs with a mix of other heritage breeds – not pure bred. We selectively breed for pasture-ability, mothering, meat quality, marbling, taste, length, temperament and other characteristics. Ever once in a while we see a red or black spotted piglet – there is probably a bit of Large Black, Tamworth, Berkshire and a bit of Glouster Old Spot in them. In the last few years we have started crossing Large Black into the herd – another fast growing pig with excellent taste and mothering ability. Please note that these are farm pigs, not pet pigs – they get big, they eat a lot, they poop a lot – black gold.

We keep our pigs on pasture, not in confinement housing and they are trained to electric fencing. Initially you will want a very securely physically fenced space with electric inside to re-home your pigs to their new space and let them get used to you, your voice, etc. This is very important for when they first arrive and are getting used to their new digs. Small, say 16′x16′ is good at this point. Well secured hog panel or pallets make a good, inexpensive physical fence. After a few weeks you can set them out to well fenced pasture paddocks and begin managed rotational grazing.

Note that butcher’s tend to be solidly booked months in advanced during the fall. When you get your pigs, also call the butcher and schedule a slaughter date if it is going to fall in August through December.

PLEASE NOTE: All live animal sales are final. Inspect your animals when you receive them. If there is any problem say so then before you take them so that we can give you a different animal. The exception is bred gilts which are guaranteed to farrow. If you are transporting animals interstate or internationally then you need to make any necessary arrangements such as vet certificates. Get your ducks lined up in a row well ahead of time so the process goes smoothly.

“Ajax, as we named the breeder boar we got from Sugar Mountain Farm, has turned out to be a magnificent animal, a credit to his race indeed. He is robust and has more than doubled in size to over 600 lbs and is also extremely tractable and good-natured.”

-George Nash of Gopher Broke Farm, Wolcott, Vermont
Ajax is a black boar born of Blackie.

Boars are male pigs with testicles – they generally grow faster, bigger and leaner than barrows (castrated males) or gilts. See this article about Essential Differences. Most people buy boar piglets for raising as meat. We breed for a gentle temperament and have never found boar taint in our pigs – we have been testing them for years and selling the meat from our boars to thousands of customers. Castration is not necessary and is hard on the piglets setting them back on their growth and killing some. We no longer offer castration. If you want barrows then buy boars and you can do the castration or have a vet do it. Before castrating, read about Boar Taint – It is mostly a myth.

Frequently Asked Question: Why are pigs more expensive and hard to find in the spring?
Answer: There is a very strong seasonality to pricing for two reasons. It is harder to farrow, to birth, pigs in the winter months – winter is very harsh. This reduces supply. Demand is high in the spring because virtually everyone wants to buy piglets in the spring. Conversely, the easy litters are from the summer but those are not in as much demand in the fall which produces a low demand in the fall and thus lower prices. Get your piglets later in the year, as late as October, so as to pay lower prices for the piglets. Pigs do great right through the winter. Read on my blog about how we raise pigs outdoors right through the winter.

Barrows are male pigs that have been castrated and nolonger have testicles. Barrows generally grow slower and fatter than boars but faster and leaner than gilts. We do not sell barrows as castration is not necessary with our pig herd genetics and pasture management.

Frequently Asked Question: How many months will it take a piglet to reach butchering size?
Answer: The short answer is six to eight months. The long answer is how big do you want the pig to be, how much do you have to feed it, what are you feeding it, what does the feed cost, are you willing to keep caring for it into the winter, what is it being fed, etc? All of these are factors in how fast the pig grows and how big it grows. You can slaughter a pig at any size. Over about 250 lbs on a commercial feed the hog starts putting on more fat and less muscle as well as being less efficient at turning feed into pork. Pigs weather the winter well but grow slower and you have to deal with water in freezing conditions. Up to a point it is more efficient from a slaughter point of view to raise the pig larger rather than smaller. Generally people aim for 225 to 250 lbs which most pigs reach on a full feed balanced diet in about six months. Pick the size you want the pig to be and go for that. Any way you cut it, its good eating. Enjoy your home grown pork!

Gilts are female pigs that have not birthed (farrowed) a litter of piglets yet. Gilts generally grow the slowest and put on more fat than boars or barrows. If you are looking for lard, a short bodied (lard type) gilt raised on a high calorie diet is the ticket.

Frequently Asked Question: Why are gilts more expensive?
Answer: We like to keep gilts back to watch for that exceptional 5% who will make good breeding stock as replacement sows in our herds to continue improving our breed. To find them we must select the best gilt piglets and watch them grow for eight months, then breed the best of those, the primes. Not all of those will ‘take’ that is to say get pregnant. Of those that take we need to wait for them to gestate for 16 weeks of pregnancy. Finally after a year we find out what their first litter is like and how they perform as mothers. After another six to eight weeks we pick the best of those as our replacement sows. About 5% of the gilts make the cut to sows. Boars on the other hand stands less than a 0.5% chance of being kept for breeding (each boar services about 15 sows) so I don’t need to keep as many boars as gilts to select for breeding stock and improve our herd. Life’s hard on the farm if you’re a guy. Same as in the wild herds.

Sows are female pigs that have given farrowed (birthed) a litter of piglets. She will typically farrow two or more litters per year with a gestation period of about four months (“Three months, three weeks, three days, 3 am” is the old saying). Some exceptional sows like Blackie on our farm have farrowed, of their own choice, three times a year producing as many as 19 piglets per litter – that’s unusually productive. The largest litter a sow from our farm has had is 22 piglets but 8 to 12 is more common.

Frequently Asked Question: How many litters can I get out of a sow?
Answer: A sow will typically have two or so litters per year. An exceptional sow like Blackie’s line will have three litters a year. You can also just breed her once a year with a borrowed boar or AI if that fits your needs – use the warm seasons when farrowing is easy. Sows typically live five to ten years but you do not have to keep them that long. Some people will keep a sow for a couple of years then eat her as she gets too large for them to handle. A large sow eats a lot more than a small sow but she is also a more experienced mother and better pasture grazer. If you’re feeding sow chow then this high cost may matter to you. Since we are pasture based this is not a big issue for us. Thus we have many older sows that weight 600 to 800 lbs. As sows get older they gain experience, are better grazers, better mothers and milkers. Older sows also have bigger litters up to a point when they lose fertility and their litter count drops. When the end comes, sows are good eating. They will be a bit tougher than a finisher and a bit more fat than other pigs but not excessively when kept on pasture. See this article about hanging meat.

Tail Cutting & Teeth Clipping are things we do not do. Neither intervention is necessary and both can cause pain and infection in the piglet. Some piglets naturally end up with shorter tails. There is a recessive heritable genetic trait for short tails which we have in our herd which is why some of our sows like Flip, Flop, Flo, Flora and Fauna have short tails as so do their piglets. Our long tailed boars and sows like Archimedes and Big Pig carry this trait but don’t express it although their offspring do sometimes.

Select piglets are available for $50 extra each – If you want a pig for breeding purposes or have some other personal preference such as color you can pick your own from the available piglets. It takes extra time to do this thus the up-charge. Otherwise I pick out the piglets which is much easier and can be done ahead of time so the piglets are ready when you arrive. When buying select piglets allow extra time for selection and let me know ahead of time that you want to do this as well as letting me know of any characteristics you’re looking for such as a red pig or spotted pig. If you’re looking for breeder piglets be sure to tell me.

Frequently Asked Question: Can I just breed feeder piglets and save?
Answer: Sure, but then you don’t get the advanatage of starting with the better genetics. Breed the best of the best to continually improve your livestock. To do less is wasting your time. It takes a year to bring a gilt from being a piglet to farrowing. Not all animals are fertile. Some feeder piglets have fewer teats. When I pick out select piglets for breeding I’m giving you the advantage of my eye and experience to get you started on better footing. This is well worth the added nominal cost of a select piglet.

Blackie’s Descendant Select piglets are available for $100 extra each plus $50 for any teats beyond 14. Limited availability and reserve list for piglets from her and her daughters. Blackie is our top breeding sow having produced three litters in a year and litters of 19 piglets with excellent conformation. One of her daughters produced litters of 12, 20 and 22 piglets. Color varies, ask if you have a preference. Note that Blackie is not a pure bred Large Black although she does look it. She is a superior sow which is the reason for the premium on piglets from her line. She is crossed with our top premium boars.

Guaranteed Bred Prime Guilts are high quality gilts that we have kept back. These are gilts I would consider adding to our own breeder herds. By the time they leave our farm at close to a year of age the gilts are visibly into their pregnancy and guaranteed to farrow or you can return the gilt for a full refund minus a $50 loading fee. A Bred Gilt is an excellent way to get started. The price is higher because you’re getting a lot of piglets that you can then raise and eat or sell and you still have the gilt who’s then an experienced sow but also a lot of meat herself. In our experience Bred Gilts generally farrow six to fourteen piglets the first time – the count is not guaranteed. Guarantee is void if gilt shows any signs of abuse. A returned gilt must be parasite and disease free, alive, not thin or overly fat and returned in good condition no more than 31 days after her due date. Note that a gilt can not actually return to our farm for herd bio-security reasons – she would go diretly to the butcher should she fail. Take care of the lady and she’ll perform for you – guaranteed.
  $1,000 due to farrow Winter
  $1,200 due to farrow Fall
  $1,500 due to farrow Spring & Summer
  Add $50 per teat beyond 14.
  Add $100 for Blackie line.

Frequently Asked Question: Can I bring her back to rebreed next year?
Answer: No, for health security reasons for our herd we can’t bring in animals that have been elsewhere. We have what is termed closed herds. You can do Artificial Insemination (AI) on a pig. You can also breed her to one of her sons – this is not taboo in pig culture and will not produce monsters. The offspring are then your feeder pigs for the next round. Alternatively, you can buy a Prime Boar next year, breed her to him and then when she is obviously pregnant send him to the butcher and enjoy him twice. Lastly, consider getting a select boar piglet now so that by the time she is ready to rebreed the boar piglet should be ready to service her.

Breeding Boars Prime are proven boars of finisher size of fine condition and quality that I would keep for my own herd for replacement boars if I had the space. Sugar Mountain Farm Prime Boars offer excellent pasture proven genetics, heritage breeding and are hand raised for a docile temperment. The Primes are the best sons of our best sows and our own best boars. They have already demonstrated their inclination to breed. All of our boars have 14 or more teats as do their sow, sire and other breeders in our herd – this is a key factor in determining productivity in their future daughters. A Sugar Mountain Farm Prime boar is a great way to inject high quality genetics into your herd.
  $750 in Summer & Fall
  $850 in Winter & Spring
  Add $50 per teat beyond 14.
  Add $100 for Blackie line.

Frequently Asked Question: Are boars mean?
Answer: No. Boars are not mean. They are big animals. They do have big teeth and sharp tusks. Like any animal, even a sow, they can bite, step on your feet, crush you against a wall or post. Be careful around animals. These are farm pigs, not pets. We select hard for good temperament in both our sows and our boars. Respect them and treat them well.

Runts happen occasionally but we do not sell them as piglets because they will take you a month or two longer to raise to market size – this isn’t worth the cost of feed. Note that runts will eventually get big – they aren’t good for pets and won’t stay small. If you are looking for a pet pig consider a Pot Bellied pig or some other non-farm variety that stays under 200 lbs, or better yet get a dog, cat or ferret. Farm pigs easily grow to 800 lbs or far more like our big boars Spot. [Spot topped out at 1,700 lbs when he died of old age in our fields in the fall of 2010. His brother Big'Un topped out at about 1,600 lbs.]

Rent-a-Pig: We also do not rent or loan boars, pigs or piglets for events, breeding or otherwise. Once an animal leaves our farm they can not return due to biosecurity reasons so as to protect the health of our foundation breeding herds. There are some people who do have boars from our farm’s genetics who offer Rent-a-Boar services. Ajax at Gopher Broke Farm is one such boar from Blackie’s line.

“We just had two sows farrow in the last week who were bred by a boar (Ajax) you sold to Gopher Broke Farm. It was a first litter for both and they each had 14 piglets that seem to be doing quite well, growing fast and learning from mom to root in the soil.

-Will Bunten, Bluebird Farm, Waterville, VT

Pet-a-Pig: We do not have pig petting available. There are petting zoos in New Hampshire and Vermont which are lovely places to take the children to see piglets, chicks, goats, sheep, geese and other farm animals. Check out Shelburne Farms in the Burlington, Vermont area or Friendly Farm in Dublin, NH for great family fun. They are setup for this and have a wide variety of animals for children to see and handle.

Prices subject to change without notice. Pigs are live animals and vary. Availability depends on Mother Nature and the sows. Your mileage will vary.

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