The Hitt Family Farm

October 31, 2024 — remembered and recorded in October 2026

We arrived in Virginia on September 12, 2024, ready to begin building what would become The Hitt Family Farm. There was plenty to work out, but one of our early projects was making room for pigs.

Before we brought any home, Bill spent part of those first weeks building their pen and pig house. Our beginning was simple: one pen, one house, and room for four gilts.

Bringing Them Home

On October 31, 2024, we drove about three hours north and west to a farm to pick up our first pigs. The drive through the mountains was beautiful.

The people we bought them from had probably a dozen adult pigs—one boar and ten or eleven sows—and lots of piglets to choose from. We knew we only wanted gilts.

We came home with the four piggies we were able to catch. I’m not sure we chose certain pigs so much as got what we could catch!

We ended up with a Kune Kune–Mangalitsa mix, a Kune Kune, and two Kune Kune–Meishan mixes.

We hadn’t decided on Kune Kune pigs and mixes on a whim. We had done a lot of research, followed other homesteaders, and watched their videos. From what we were seeing and hearing about their friendliness, ease of raising, and the lard they could produce, we believed they would be a good fit for our homestead.

Looking back, I wish some of the homesteaders we followed had shared more of the whole picture. We heard plenty about what made these pigs appealing, but not enough about some of the REAL characteristics that would matter when raising them for our own goals. That information would have helped us make a more educated decision. It’s one reason we want to share the good and the difficult parts of our own experience here.

Having the pigs here meant moving from planning into the daily work of feeding, watering, caring for them, and learning what needed improving.

What We Know Looking Back

During that first year, we eventually butchered three of the pigs and kept Molly to breed. She is our Kune Kune–Meishan sow and the remaining member of those original four.

Some of the qualities that first attracted us weren’t the best fit for our pork-raising goals. That understanding came later, through experience, and helped us rethink the direction of our future herd.

But on that first day, we were just beginning. Bill had built a place for them, the four gilts were home, and we had a new set of responsibilities.

Looking back from October 2026, with more shelters, paddocks, and Molly’s first litter now part of the story, we want to remember that starting point: four gilts, one pen, and one pig house.