European Wild Boar

Our farm is committed to raising our hogs in wide open pastures, allowing them to roam freely and exhibit their innate behavior (again, our pigs get to be pigs!). So from the beginning, we wanted to raise breeds with good foraging abilities. 

We initially began with a herd of Tamworths, known for adapting well to pastures, and crossbred them with Duroc, Yorkshire, and Hampshire pigs. But, when it comes to thriving in our operation, the European Wild hogs take the cake. 

Watching these shaggy hogs is a hoot!

More Photos

Vegetable Culls

One of the most amazing characteristics of pigs is their diet.

Primarily, our hogs gain on organic grain (some of which we dry-farm), but as mentioned before, they also spend a great deal of time foraging and rooting for food available in pasture; whether the meal be nuts, grass and other vegetation, or insects.

To round out our hogs' diet, ensuring they receive a diverse base of nutrients, we also feed them our vegetable culls (sorted, damaged produce and trimmings). During winter, the hogs munch on root vegetables, such as beets, potatoes, carrots, turnips and radishes, and leafy stuff, like kales, cabbages, broccoli, leeks, and trimmed tops of various veggies. 

In one of the photos is a flowering patch of brassicas. The pigs devour the mustard cover seeded in pasture, so we picked and fed a few lugs of the stuff and figured they would enjoy rabe... 

Our hogs loved it!

Rainy Days

The recent rain sure made things wet and muddy. Even on flat ground I had trouble with footing, but the pigs had no problem traversing uneven terrain. 

More Pictures of Riverdog Farm Hogs in Pasture

New Pasture for Our Hogs

On February 6th, we moved some of our gilts and barrows into the pasture above. It's carpeted with lush green grass and bordered by oak and black walnut trees. The pigs spend a good time of their day foraging on the grass and rooting for acorns and walnuts. 

Our hogs do eat organic grain feed, but they appear to be instinctively searching for fallen acorns and black walnuts. It's a thrill for us to watch our pigs be pigs!

About Our Pork

Riverdog hogs are raised in open pasture and fed supplemental organic grain. They are free-ranging pigs of mixed breeds including Duroc, Tamworth, Yorkshire, and wildboar breeds. We plant grasses in their pasture so they have plenty of fresh forage. Shade is provided by black walnuts and oaks along with other vegetation. The trees provide a favorite treat for the pigs too - nuts and acorns!