We have two British Lop sows, Clary and Susan. These ladies spend their days outside foraging and grazing freely amongst our pastures eating plants, grasses, roots, nuts and invertebrates. Their natural diet is supplemented by locally produced grains such as barley, peas and wheat. We often ferment these grains prior to feeding as we believe it improves their gut and therefore their overall health, as well as enhancing the nutrient digestibility of the food.
Our resident boar Neil, also a British Lop, so our piglets are pedigree British Lops. This breed is native to the South West. They make excellent mothers and are docile in nature. Our Lops are slow grown which means more intramuscular fat giving a creamier, moist texture to the pork. We are proud to be preserving this wonderful rare breed.
We aim for each sow to have between 1-2 litters per year. They enjoy making their own nests in the moor grasses and are excellent mothers producing some very cute piglets! The piglets stay with their mums until around 8-10 weeks old. By this time the piglets are independent, confident and weaned. The weaners are kept together as a drove until around 9 months old. We then take them to our local abattoir for slaughter. Our local skilled butcher produces the pork you will find for sale at Moor Taw honesty shop shed.
Our pigs play a valuable part in improving biodiversity at our farm. Their natural rootling behaviour helps to decrease soil compaction, aerating it and improving the overall health of the soil. Their rootling creates new opportunities for seeds stored deep in the soil’s seed bank to germinate, discouraging grassy swards and increasing species diversity. In their search for omnivorous delights within the soil they create hundreds of lumps and bumps, each of these has the potential to become its own microclimate supporting greater biodiversity.
As our pigs spend their lives outdoors, they are exposed to sunlight much more than conventionally reared pigs. The resulting meat therefore has higher levels of vitamin D compared to pigs kept inside. Their diverse diet results in a better omega 3:6 ratio and is more nutritionally dense as a result of their diverse rich diet, a large proportion of which is pasture. Our pigs live a happy, natural and fulfilled life and spend their days adventurously enjoying our wildlife friendly farm.
How to buy our Lop Chop’d Pork
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