Homegrown Acres

Three Steps to Buying Your Pigs

Place a Deposit
Return Signed Contract
Plan for Pick Up or Delivery

The first thing you need to do is to get on our reserve list. These pigs are rare and are usually sold out long before they are born, so don't wait too long to reserve yours! Our reserve list has people who have signed a purchase contract and given us a deposit for a pig. We provide pigs first come, first served.

Place a Deposit

For purebred piglets we require a 50% deposit to hold your place on our reserve list; a flat $40 deposit for crosses. Full prices for weaned piglets are:

$350 for Large Blacks

$40 and up for cross piglets (be sure to ask)

We do not sell pork; only live piglets and occasional butcher hogs. We also don't sell barrows. If you wish to have a barrow can have our vet do it at cost or you can do it yourself after purchase.

We will never sell a piglet until it is weaned. Don't even ask... The chance for survival of piglets still on the bottle (bottle babies) is too low. Also, because they generally become very attached to human contact, we only sell weaned bottle babies as breeders or pets (not feeders). We may donate them to well managed ecological parks or educational institutions; contact us if interested.

Use the PayPal widget (on the right) to provide your deposit. You don't need to have a PayPal account; you can use your credit or debit card. Contact us if you need a different payment method.

Return a signed contract.

When you provide a deposit (or first deposit payment) to reserve your pig you will need to return a signed contract to us (except for Hampshire piglets). You can view it by clicking here. This means that you are committing to the purchase of a pig; at that time your deposit will be treated according to the contract. Please download, fill in, sign and return the contract to us. Once we receive the contract and the deposit is fully paid, we will place your name on our reserve list.

Please understand that reservations are dependent upon availability. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature :) Although we can tell you when we think your piglets might be born, you may have to wait for a later litter if there aren't enough piglets born to fill your order.

Plan for pick up or delivery.

We can generally give you an idea of when your pig will be available. Initially we can tell you when we anticipate to have litters. Once we are sure that the sow is pregnant we can narrow that down to a better date; when the sow has the litter we can provide pick up dates. Please understand that we have no control over the number of gilts and boars born in each litter; you may have to wait for a later litter if the litters do not have enough gilts or boars for your order. Most people come to the farm to pick up their piglets.

Obtain any necessary permits. If our pigs have to cross State or National borders to get from us to you, you will probably need a permit to import the pigs. Contact your State Department of Agriculture (or similar) to learn what you need; requirements vary. If you require a veterinary health certificate we will need appropriate notice to schedule that with our Veterinarian.

Get your pig! We ask that you pick up your pig within seven days of the date that it is available (click here for directions to our farm). Pickup dates are negotiable but please understand that we will not release a piglet until it is weaned and if we have to keep it beyond the seven days you may incur additional costs. See the contract for how we handle that. If we are to deliver the pig to your farm we will work out the details with you.

Transporting your pig. If you are going to pick up your pig you will need appropriate transportation. All this really means is something that will keep the pig healthy until you get it back to your farm. Most people use large dog crates. You can easily transport up to three piglets this way as long as they have room to move around. You must also keep the pigs hydrated and warm. You can provide them with a bowl of water (heavy dog bowls work well) or offer them water every few hours. To keep them from becoming too hot or cold most people place the dog crate in the back of their SUV or wagon. We do not recommend transporting them in a trailer unless you are sure that the temperature within the trailer will not become less than 50 degrees or more than 75 degrees fahrenheit. Remember that they need clean airflow and the airflow and sunlight can significantly alter the temperature within the trailer from that outside. If you must stop overnight the pigs should be fine as long as the temperature remains within the parameters above (or you could try to sneak them into your hotel...)

Shipping. It is sometimes possible for us to ship your piglet to you via air or ground. If space is available we can ship via air to most major airports. Costs vary; you should check the airline's website for their costs and rules. For ground shipment, we can often find a livestock transporter who can add your piglet to his trailer for a relatively low cost. These are usually horse or cattle transporters who have some extra space on their trailers; we have seen prices as low as $150 per piglet to the West Coast and as high as $2.00 per loaded mile, one way. It really depends upon who we can find traveling in your direction when your pig is ready. We don't make any money on shipping; we just ask for reimbursement of our costs. The shipping contract will always be between you and the transporter so that you have complete control over your piglet and how it is treated.

Please understand that if we or you cannot arrange shipping by the pick up date you will have three options. We can keep the piglets until shipping is ready (at additional cost); you can pick up the piglets at our farm; or you can wait until a later litter has the piglets you desire.