When John and I decided to pasture raise Berkshire Hogs we had know idea that we would be going back to the “way it used to be.”  If I have heard it once, I have heard it a hundred times….”That is how my grandparents used to do it.”  Why should everyone be surprised that Circle B Ranch Berkshire Hogs are raised the old-fashioned way?  Why should everyone be surprised that Circle B Ranch Berkshire Hogs freely roam on pasture?  We breed, farrow and raise all of our Berkshire Hogs. Circle B Ranch raises our Berkshire Hogs without unnecessary antibiotics, without additional growth hormones and without animal by-products in their feed.

Circle B Ranch has gone back to the days that Berkshire hogs roam on pasture and are not raised in confinement. Being raised on pasture they are healthier, which means that antibiotics are rarely needed.  Circle B Ranch does care for a sick pig, but that pig will be pulled from the herd and isolated for 30 days. Circle B Ranch even has a pig infirmary!! Since confinement hogs are all jammed into a building they are given significant amount of antibiotics to control disease. Confinement hogs will never feel rain on their skin or feel the suns rays.  They will never know how it feels to wallow in mud. They will never know how to root for bugs or nuts. They will never know how it feels to be a pig!

Can you possibly imagine being a piglet born in confinement?  Your poor mother hog never leaves her crate and is bred three times per year.  The piglet is weaned from the mother at 2-3 weeks of age. Circle B Ranch weans our piglets at 8-10 weeks of age…or when the piglet group is outside of our back patio.  The piglets are never far from their food source…the sow.

Going back the old-fashioned way of raising pigs provides the animals with exposure to fresh air and the opportunity to run and exercise, which helps making our hogs stress free.  Stress free hogs means a better tasting product.  The taste of pasture raised pork is more intense than meat from confined hogs with a great fat cap.  The Berkshire breed has more marbling since the fat content of the meat is higher and the meat is firmer.  Yes the hogs do exercise!!