Gloucester Old Spots

We now have seven Gloucester Old Spot Pigs (GOS). Three came from the breeder of the Alsa herd near Stansted Airport and four others came from a fellow who lives on a small holding in the middle of the Fens. These four weaners were also from a sow that came from the Alsa herd, so they are all cousins. They were all born within a week or so of each other.
They love their straw pig ark. It is holding up well, and although it was very wet during the middle of the summer, nothing more worrying than some strange foaming fungus grew on the straw.
Our next door neighbour has seven Tamworth pigs and we rely on their advice on Pig matters, as the have kept pigs for years. We feed them on a mixture of rolled wheat and barley. This has to be soaked in water for a few hours before the pigs are allowed to eat it. I allow about 1kg of hard feed per pig per day and this is split into a morning feed and an evening feed. The amount will increase as the pigs get larger, but it is important not to over feed the pigs as they are very efficient at turning any excess into fat. I have seen pictures of pork joints ready for the kitchen which have about a three inch layer of fat on the outside! Not very enticing...so they are on a carefully balanced diet. Through the summer we have added odd and ends to the feed. For example when the apples ripened we made gallons of apple juice and mixed up the squashed remains with the regular food. They love it! They also love the windfall plums which are really no good for anything else. They even split out the stones!
The pigs are very friendly and gallop across their paddock at feeding time, squealing and grunting with excitement. The children are quite relaxed with them. They love having their tummies rubbed and will roll over at a moments notice. The loudest squeals are heard when one of the pigs touches the electric fence. They all know exactly where it is and usually keep three or four inches away. However their droopy ears cover their field of view when they are foraging and mistakes sometimes happen.