Consume Product - Arete Network

If you have the input required pigs are best animal for getting meat fast. Yeah chickens exist but it's a pain to protect them from foxes, hawks, weasel, mink etc. Pigs can also be easily trained to follow a rattling bucket of grains, can't say that for chickens.

The only reason I would keep chickens for meat is for commercial reasons, keeping a dozen of chickens around for eggs though is amazing.

There is also so much more you can do cooking pork that you simply cannot do with chicken, like bacon and pulled pork, I think I made my point lol.

If you also have some goats or sheep for milk you should always make cheese from the milk and soak the grains you feed the pigs in the leftover whey over 24 hours, makes it higher protein and makes it more easily digestible for the pigs. You could also do the same for chickens if you wish.

Small scale farming is all about minimising cash flow and maximising everything you can get from your own farm. Lets say you got some deformed eggs from the chickens, feed them to the pigs, perhaps you ate fewer eggs than expected, feed it to the pigs.

Another cool thing you can do is if you have an orchard of hazel, apple and pear trees you can just let the pigs in to eat everything that was damaged or rotten on the ground. That sugar boost right before slaughter is fantastic for flavor and fat content.

It's such a wonderful system.