Farrow To Finish

Here at our small Farm we pride ourselves on farrowing to finish, What does this mean? Well we have a small herd , we have a Boar (male pig), and we have three sows (female pigs who have had babies already). We leave our boar with our sows up till they are about to Farrow (give birth). Some who raise pigs keep their boar isolated, away from the female only allowing them to be in with each other when they are ready to breed.  We feel that there is nothing natural about that and leaves the boar unsocialized which could we feel lead to aggrasion when with the sows.
When it is time for our sows to deliver we take them out a few days prior so they can prep their area and feel safe and confident in what is about to come. We do not us a farrowing crate when they deliver, this is inhumane and definatly something we do not believe in for any reason. What is a farrowing crate you ask well it is only big enough for the sow to move front and back a few inches. and can only get up and down, farmers use these to try and reduce the fatality in pigglets and if they have to give shots or anything it does make that easier, but what is easier for us humans doesn't make it right for the sows. We believe in being very hands on with our sows when it comes time for delivery it shows they are use to us and by being hands on with them everyday they trust us. If there is a problem we can get right in with the mothers and give them a helping hand. When it comes time to nurse they can move around and get comfortable. Giving birth should be natural and we have chosen to do anything to minimize stress on our moms.
By raising our pigs from birth to finish we can ensure to our clients they have been treated with kindness and feed only the best in nutrients. Most commercial farms that raise pigs pump them full of hormones and antibiotics to make sure they can mass produce the product in a certain time line.
With our pigs we do not give any hormones and we would only consideration the use of antibiotics if the overall health of our herd was in jeopardy. By avoiding hormones our pigs take longer to reach market weight but they are growing at a natural rate so the muscle and fat in the cuts are the highest quality.
We do not tail dock our piglets, which is cutting their tails when little to prevent the others from biting at each others tails. We also do not ear knotch (clip ears to identify), Or cut what is called there needle teeth. When you have a hog in the wild there is not people there to do it so we chose not to also.