WhyNot Farm Blog

Thoughtful op-ed piece from the NY Times on pigs raised in confinement

Modern factory farms have so much wrong with them, but a starting point is a practice of turning pigs into cannibals. Read the Full Article from the NY Times

The Frozen Tundra

Baby, it’s cold outside! Here’s what’s going on at the Whynot.  We have had eight alpaca cria in the past four months.  Some of the babies are pictured above.  We are struggling to keep everyone warm in these polar conditions.  See the mayhem in the pig’s farrowing hut below.  Everyone’s after a spot under the heat lamp.  …

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Alpaca babies!

We’ve been having babies on the farm this month.  Could we have picked a more inopportune time?  Nevertheless, these little guys are pretty hardy and really cute. Above is Hank (brown cria) and Red (rose-gray cria) with their moms.

Baba Looey

Here’s a pic of our erstwhile guard donkey, Baba Looey. In the second shot, he is with his gal-pal, Snow Rose.

Happy Pig Families

Here are pictures of Boris and Biggie, two of our prized purebred Berkshire hogs. See their little one nursing in the rear view. What a happy little family! Here’s a picture of Boris and his siblings when they were little guys. We have established a very nice herd of purebred Berkshires, in addition to our …

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Smithfield Food acquisition by the Chinese – On becoming China’s Farm Team

Here’s a thoughtful article by Mark Bittman of the NY Times on the fall-out from the sale of Smithfield Foods to the Chinese.  It’s the largest producer of pork in the U.S. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/opinion/bittman-on-becoming-chinas-farm-team.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0

We have a new baby!

Darren was born yesterday to Mom, Ruggine and proud Papa, El Patron. He is just a doll. Stay tuned for more pictures of our newest baby.

Pigs

Last year we began raising pigs on pasture.  We started with a small herd of eight Yorkshire/Duroc cross piglets. Then we added to the herd with eight Berkshire piglets.  After that, we added a group of Ossabaws, which are an endangered breed of pig that produces a special dark, rich ham.  This is a picture …

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More pictures of our newest baby cria

We named our newest cria Darren, after the gentleman who helped him into the world. Darren works with us on the farm and just happened to witness and assist with the birth, including keeping Baba-Looey, our protective guardian donkey, away from the baby. Baba-Looey thought the baby was some kind of intruder – a threat …

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American Livestock Breed Conservancy’s Priority List for Chicken Breeds

Here is a list of the chicken breeds that are on the ALBC’s priority list. The breeds on this list are the closest to extinction, so we should all consider what we can do to perpetuate the wonderful diversity found in our favorite fowl. Critical: (this means that the breeding population of these birds is fewer …

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