The farm
A human-scale farm, with animals that live outdoors.
From La Prévôté, in the north of Maine-et-Loire, we raise our pigs the way it used to be done: outdoors, with patience.
Our story
La Ferme du Cochon Bleu was born from a simple belief: a well-raised animal makes better meat. Carl Sheard settled at La Prévôté, in the rolling countryside of the Anjou bleu, to build an outdoor pig farm.
Season after season, the farm has grown without losing its soul. Sows farrow outside, piglets stay with their mothers, and paddocks are rotated so the grass can recover.
Organic farming
An organic farm, pigs raised outdoors
Our pigs live outside from birth to the end of fattening. They are born on the farm, grow up on our pastures and never know slatted floors or closed buildings. The farm is certified organic since 2001.
We raise a hardy breed. Its blue-grey patches recall the slate of the Anjou bleu, which gave the farm its name. These animals cope well outdoors and grow at their own pace.
The pigs eat what the farm produces. Cereals come from our agroforestry fields and forage from our pastures, topped up with fruit and vegetables.
- No preventive antibiotics
- No GMOs
- No chemical treatments on our fields
A pig’s life on the farm
01
Born outdoors
Piglets are born outside, beside their mother.
02
Weaning
Piglets leave their mother at around 7 weeks.
03
Growing on pasture
They grow up in groups, on our pastures.
04
Fattening
They eat the farm’s own cereals and forage.
05
Sold in boxes
The meat is vacuum-packed and sold in boxes at the farm.
What matters to us
- 01
Animal welfare
Space, straw-bedded shelters, contact with the soil: our pigs live according to their nature, and farrowing takes place outdoors.
- 02
Caring for the soil
Paddocks rotate through the year: the pigs work the ground, then the pasture rests and grows back.
- 03
Transparency
You are welcome at the farm. We enjoy explaining how we work and answering your questions.
- 04
Short supply chain
Selling direct keeps us connected to the people who eat what we produce.
Between pasture and crops
Around the farm, meadows are home to the animals, while the neighbouring fields mark the summer with the sound of the harvest.
