The pig is the most efficient converter of waste into meat.
Breeds
Berkshire: marbled meat, excellent flavor. Duroc: fast growth, red color. Yorkshire: large litters, lots of meat. Amish often keep crossbreeds — healthier than purebreds.
Feeding
Kitchen scraps: peelings, soured milk, whey from cheesemaking. Grain: corn, barley. Pasture: roots, bugs, grass. A pig eats literally everything humans don't. Perfect recycling.
Housing
Pen: 5-10 m² per pig. Strong fence (pigs are smart and strong). Sun shelter (pigs sunburn). Mud wallow — not dirt for fun, but cooling (pigs have no sweat glands).
Timeline
Piglet 2 months → fattening 4-6 months → butcher at 100-120 kg. Total: 6-8 months birth to meat.
Products
One pig: 70-80 kg meat. Bacon, ham, sausage, salt pork, lard. Smoking: 2-3 weeks. One pig feeds a family of 4 with meat for half a year.