I was driving into Christchurch yesterday and stopped to look at a free range pig farm that is connected to the Christchurch prison and run by Canterbury Corrections.
Can anyone tell me more about it, as in where do they sell their pork and under what label?
There are not many genuine free range pig farms where the piglets are actually fattened on the farm outside in the open.
I like supporting farms that I know are truly free range e.g. Havoc.

Helen, the Prison's pork is sold to "Freshpork" here's a couple of links [webcache.googleusercontent.com]
[www.google.co.nz]

From the first link:

"Christchurch Men’s Prison piggery
•fattens between 16,000 and 17,000 pigs a year
•maintains approximately 800 sows for breeding
•is one of seven SPCA accredited free farm practices in the country – this is where sows are outside and growing pigs are housed in eco barns
•won awards at the 2007 Freshpork Carcass competition
•two of the instructors working have won the prestigious Pork Industry Herd Manager of the Year Award."

"
Where are products from these industries sold?
•Milk is sold to Fonterra
•Fattened pigs are sold to Freshpork
•Wool and meat is sold through Affco and PPCS
•Plants can be bought directly from the nurseries in large quantities and are commonly sold to local councils.

Regards,
Dawn.

Thanks Dawn.
Oh damn I had thought that the piglets were fattened outdoors as we definitely saw some pigs that were not mature sow size and nor babies. I wonder what an eco barn is as opposed to a shed....
I had really hoped that they were free range not just free farmed. Yes I know it is better than being indoors for all of their life but I was hoping on the extra bonus.

What a great initiative to give prisoners meaningful work to do.

In their short life it seems the piglets to be grown for their meat can often be raised totally indoors to stop them from getting sun-burned and to protect them from adverse weather and where their feeding, health and welfare can be monitored and managed, but I'm sure there will be more totally free-range farms around and about surely. Because of the climate and soil conditions, I understand not all areas in NZ are deemed to be suitable for commercial entities to be totally free-range because pigs love mud and are top notch at desecrating paddocks into nothingness but mud which in turn takes the paddocks months to recover and also mud means the animals are more susceptible to infections and health problems. I did read Christchurch is one of the places which does lend itself to out door piggeries.

From what I can tell an Eco barn (see link) has shavings or other on the floor for the piglets to root in as they do, and their living conditions are specially controlled. [www.nzpork.co.nz]

I agree, it is great that the prisoners can work on these farms and do and learn something constructive.
Regards,
Dawn.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2017 06:58AM by Dawn.

Once upon a time there were pig farms all through that area. We used to see them as we travelled to Christchurch from the West Coast. Then with intensive farming they moved indoors. The prison farm looked to have good shelter for the pigs and maybe they fatten some as there were some bigger than baby piglets running about.
So good to see!

We used to have a pet pig and no matter how much land we gave him, he turned it into a pig sty



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2017 08:49AM by J1.

Helen, just another thought with the bigger than piglets you saw running about outside - they could possibly be the up and coming sows and boars which will keep the piglet population coming along. A certain amount of the old sows and a few boars will be culled out of the 'herd' (that's probably the wrong word for pigs - a herd of pigs? - doesn't sound right!) every year and replacement pigs are saved for breeding purposes.
Regards,
Dawn.

I thought that was interesting Dawn, re group of pigs, so I looked it up.

The name for a group of pigs depends on the animals' ages. A group of young pigs is called a drift, drove or litter. Groups of older pigs are called a sounder of swine, a team or passel of hogs or a singular of boars. But apparently you can say herd of pigs too.

Thanks for that J1, now you've mentioned it I have heard of a 'drift or drove' of pigs and I guess that's why 'herd' of pigs to me didn't look quite right. The other definitions of older pigs are more foreign, but nice to know 'a herd of pigs' also fits.

I laughed at your pet pig and turning his land into a pig sty! Hard to believe pigs are one of the cleanest animals on earth. They have no sweat glands and that's why they wallow in the mud - to cool down. I love hearing pigs eat and all the little noises they make with each other competing to eat their food. The saying 'eat like a pig' is so true - greedily and noisily!
Regards,
Dawn.

Don't you just love the pig in the Vodafone advertisement ! That is a match made in Heaven

I've really enjoyed reading the comments on this topic.

Beverley, yes, I love that advertisement.

J1, good heavens that really opened my eyes, I've only ever thought of a litter although I've 'eard' of a/an (?) herd as well as being for cows So much to remember now for "The Chase".

We also had a pig or two and I used to hold my nose when I had to take down their dinner.

I had to smile when I imagined some of the thoughts and comments of the prisoners regarding pigs.

I am going to interview Warren the piggery farmer in a week or so on Radio Live.
I had a brief chat to him this morning and yes the smaller pigs I saw must have been developing breeding stock.
The piglets are transferred to sheds at 26 days and then fatten indoors after that.
He was on his mobile and it wasn't quite clear but I think I have this right that they grow pigs for Freedom farms.
The sows are free range but the term for the pork is free farmed. Meaning the piglets are fattened in sheds as opposed to being free range where they are outdoor.

Beverley the Piglet/Postie TV ad is about the only one that I will pause to watch. I love it - it is very heart warming. It is typical of a Rural Postie to try to find the owner. The ad has such a lovely ending.............even a Piglet can steal a man's heart!
Regards,
Dawn.

Yes me too I love that ad.
I am very fond of pigs but know if we were in a position to have one that I would find it very difficult to slaughter it.

The piglet ad always reminds me of the time we found three little piglets on the road as we drove into town. We stopped and attempted to round them up, what a job!!!! They ran squealing onto railway tracks and we chased them up and down for an hour or so, eventually got them all caught, then wondered what to do with them. Went to a neighbour's house but they weren't home, so we put them all in the garage! Eventually the owners were found and gave us a bottle of vodka for our efforts. Kind of put me off piglets though.

I will regale you with a porker of a story. When I lived on the 10 acre block we raised pigs (along with cattle and sheep, and actually rabbits for a while). To stop the pigs making a total mess of their grassy area, we had no option but to ring their noses (not using a telephone but inserting a ring through their nose). We always had pigs and I would decide when it was time for the men to do the dastardly deed, by judging if a back leg would fit into my roasting pan - that was our decision process as to when they were ready to leave this realm. One year we bought 3 Kune Kune pigs....and my youngest son (he was only around 4 or 5) took a real shine to one.. So we called him Kune and he become a pet. My son could actually ride him around for a while like a horse. Well Kune got bigger, and bigger and bigger - too big to eat. But also too big to trust. One time hubby was walking along the race with a bag of food for Kune and the other pigs (kept separate) and Kune actually bit him on the bum trying to get to the swinging bag of food. Then the worst possible thing happened. I was at work, but hubby was in the paddocks and the boys were playing - Kune actually devoured a lamb, and the boys saw it happen. They were devastated. We never had problems with him eating other stock prior to this. In the end, Kune was kept to a smaller paddock with a sheltered house - and he was huge, both lengthwise and round wise. He eventually died in his sleep from old age. He was the only animal we actually named and kept as a pet.

Heh, Irene, I know what you mean about kune kunes getting big. Ours was one too. He came from Devonport so we named him Portly. Boy, he sure lived up to his name. One time we were taking him for a walk waddle around our section and he suddenly decided to make a beeline for our open dining room door. It had a closed flyscreen door on it and he went straight through it as though it wasn't there. We laughed at the enormous round hole created in the mesh.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2017 09:52AM by J1.

Oh gosh, I didn't realise a pig would devour a lamb.
I had a friend that had 2 piglets in her city home for quite some time until the authorities told her that they would have to go.
She had a convertible car and would drive around town with the piglets perched beside her.

Well said, Dawn !

Here is my chat with Warren Chilton from Canterbury Corrections Piggery if anyone is interested in listening to it.