Piggery FAQ
Where are you located?
Our 70 acre farm is located in Trumansburg, NY in the beautiful Finger Lakes region.
Where can I get your pork treats?
We sell our fresh goods every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at our downtown butcher shop. We also have a CSA subscription meat program that services the Ithaca and NYC markets.
How do I sign up for your CSA?
If you’re interested in participating in our CSA (community supported agriculture) program, take a look at the description of the program on our website and click through to sign up. If we’re between sign up periods, just send us your email address to get on the waiting list for the next CSA period…
Do you ship your products?
Due to our NYS processing constraints, we definitely can’t ship outside of New York State. At this point, we’ve never shipped our fresh products within NY because of the astronomical costs of overnight shipment, insulated coolers, etc. The shipping costs add about $40+ to an order. We’d be open to shipping, but wanted to warn you up front about the expensive shipping costs….
Do you really make all your own goods?
Yep! We have a New York State inspected butcher shop on our farm where we handcraft all of our fresh cuts, sausages, pates, lunch meat and lard every week.
Can you make a special cut for me?
Absolutely! We’d be happy to. Just give us a few days notice by calling 607-342-2245 or by emailing sandfordheather@yahoo.com
What breed of pigs do you raise?
This changes all the time as we experiment with our breeding program. We specialize in raising traditional, heritage pigs. All of our pigs are at least one quarter Mulefoot hogs (A rare North American lard breed). We cross our handsome Mulefoot boars with Yorkshire, Durcoc, Hampshire and Glouchestshire Old Spot ladies to make some darn cute piglets.
What do you feed your pigs?
Our pigs are grazed on over 30+ acres of natural pastures filled with clover, oats and some acorns & walnuts. They are fed whey ( a byproduct of cheese production) from a few nearby artisan cheese makers. To round out their diet, we feed non-GMO small grains like barley, tritcale and field peas.
Pigs eat grass? Really?
Yes! Pigs love fresh young grasses, although not so much as they love clover, dandelions, lambsquarters, curly dock, canada thistles, plantain and other pasture “weeds”. Some have estimated that a growing pig will eat as much as 15 pounds of pasture vegetation in a day, but this is a very difficult thing to measure. We rotate them into fresh pastures at least three to four times a week (every day when we’re firing on all cylinders) during the grazing season (April-November) to ensure that they get plenty of fresh greens which keeps them healthy and gives them lots of good-for-you omega 3 fats.
How are your pigs slaughtered?
Unfortunately we’re not allowed to slaughter the pigs on our farm according to federal law. They are put down at tiny USDA slaughterhouse 27 miles from our farm. We have witnessed the slaughtering procedure and are comfortable that the slaughterhouse does a good, humane job.
How big is your farm?
We are a very small family farm. We currently have a herd of 170 (or so) pigs on about 30 acres of fenced pasture. Ultimately, we think our pastures can support a herd of about 300-500 pigs of assorted sizes.
