Animal Lovers Web Blog

We braved freezing temperatures, muddy puddles and our first flurry of snow to visit a local farm that specialises in rare breed pork, poultry and lamb. Pepperfield Farm in North Yorkshire is owned by two teachers, Terry and Joanne Laheney who, for the past four years have been dedicating their free time out of the classroom to the care of Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, Tamworth pigs, Wiltshire Horn sheep and Buff and Blue Orpington chickens.

The main purpose of our visit was to gain more information about pig breeds following our pig keeping course back in October, particularly in relation to the Gloucestershire Old Spot. We are keen to get a couple of weaners, but were still deliberating as to which breed would be the best for us. Our discussions with Terry and Joanne encouraged us to take a closer look at the Old Spots because of their reputation as a very friendly breed of pig.

We were fortunate to be able to get up close to the pigs, armed with a bucket of carrots and were treated to a mini-stampede of Old Spots and an occasional Tamworth, who were only too happy to relieve us of our load! The Old Spots certainly looked more like a traditional pig, with big floppy ears that conveniently acted as umberellas over their eyes to keep out the driving snowy rain. The weather reinforced the stereotypical view of being as “happy as a pig in muck”, as they squelched and rooted through the rain-soaked ground. The younger pigs were very inquisitive, jostling for their carrots and taking an occasional nip from the older pigs! They were absolutely gorgeous.

We are hoping to get a couple of piglets in the springtime and today’s visit certainly provided food for thought! We really took a shine to the Old Spots and think that they would be a lovely addition to our animals. In the meantime, we will be looking forward to sampling some of their produce and tucking into some sausage and mash for dinner tonight - thanks pigs!

Diane
www.AnimalLoversWeb.com