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Buffalo Creek farm is a family run farm comprising 76 acres of rolling countryside located in Central Virginia, 6 miles east of the town of Dillwyn, 65 miles west of Richmond and 45 miles south of Charlottesville. There are over 60 acres of mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland, plus pasture, ponds and creeks.

Our stud boar is a Duroc (named Kevin Bacon) and the sows are all Tamworths. Durocs are a red breed that are well suited to living outdoors. Tamworths are descended from the English forest pig. They are excellent mothers (no need for farrowing crates), and love to forage in the woods. Tamworths do not do well in confinement and the breed has declined in numbers as industrial pig farming intensively raises pigs. In fact there are only a few thousand Tamworths left. However on our farm they are the ideal pig. The sows have two litters a year, one in April and one in October. If the weather is inclement the sows are brought into the farrowing hut a few days before the piglets are due. But we have found that, if the weather is favourable, the sows are more successful mothers if they are allowed to choose a nesting site in the woods. As the piglets are born on the soil there is no need for them to receive iron injections. We do not cut the piglets tails, teeth or ears. This reduces the stress on the piglets and their mothers to a minimum. The piglets stay with their mothers for 8 weeks before being weaned. After 5 weeks in the weaning area the piglets are released into the woods to join their mothers. There they eat nuts, fruits and berries, fungi, roots, leaves, and even some insects and other animals (if the pigs can catch them). This natural food improves the flavor of the pork, and the exercise the pigs get as they forage improves its texture. They wallow in the ponds and creeks in the hot weather, and the trees provide a lot of shelter from any temperature extremes. There are also loafing shelters scattered across the farm for the pigs to sleep in. These are regularly loaded with fresh bedding. In addition to the food they forage the pigs also receive a ration of a locally made feed containing ground corn, minerals, and molasses. The only restrictions on where the pigs go is the fence around the farmhouse (to keep them out of the garden), and the fence around the farm (to keep them off our neighbors land). The freedom and the natural environment the pigs enjoy produces stress free and very friendly pigs. We believe that a happy pig produces better pork. When the piglets grow to about 300 lbs (after about 10 to 12 months) they are taken to the nearest USDA butcher for slaughter and processing. A week later we collect the meat and store it on the farm until it is sold.

We only allow 2 to 3 pigs per acre of woodland. At this population density the pigs have a positive impact on the woods. As they rummage through the leaf litter they accidentally bury acorns and other nuts deeper into the soil which results in healthy tree saplings. They also control the undergrowth which allows the saplings to grow better. The waste they produce is spread across the farm and this increases the fertility of the soil, without the pollution issues associated with conventional pig farms.

We only give the pigs antibiotics in exceptional circumstances. In fact to date only one pig has received a an antibiotic shot on our farm. We also restrict the use of other medications to animals with specific health problems. We use guineas and chickens to control insect pests which greatly reduces the medications needed by the pigs.

We want to raise pigs in the most natural way we possibly can. In our opinion this is more humane than the way pigs live in conventional farms. We don't have the pollution problems that other pig farms have because of our low hog population density. And we think that this produces pork of a much higher quality.