Mommaoftwinboys and anybody else wanting to know about raising a pig

[FaithManor]

Here is our set-up.

 

We board a horse on a farm two miles from here and I do chores in exchange for boarding. So that is where the pig resides until butchering time. We raise him along with two other pigs that the farmer is rearing.

 

The pigs have an old milk house that isn't used for this purpose from which they can come and go at will and it's their shady spot. We keep it filled with straw and don't need to change the straw out because pigs don't like to "go" in their bedding. They have a large fenced area to run and root in plus a large water trough and feed troughs. We generally keep the gate locked and don't have to go in with them. They are pretty self-sustaining. We toss the food over the fence and into the trough and fill their water trough from a hose. Pigs are not big water drinkers so they don't get it dirty at all and we generally just refill as needed with fresh well water which is nice and cold. There is a children's wading pool in the corner near the house. We dug it down into the ground so that it is level and the pigs can get in and out easily. We filled it about 1/3-1/2 full of play sand and then water. We re-wet as needed. This makes a nice wallow for them. Pigs don't have sweat glands and so they roll in mud or water in order to cool off. That said, they are still very clean. They pick one corner of the fenced in yard (a sandy area) and all three use that as their out-house. So, we just toss some dirt and grass clippings on top of it when it begins to have a hint of odor in the summer weather...we have also been known to toss it around a little with a pitchfork and then add composting bacteria. It takes care of the smell. We essentially have odor free pigs because of this.

 

Their care is very easy. Much easier than the horses, chickens, or ducks.

We'll be sending these to the butcher on the first Monday of October. We don't grow them until Christmas as many farmers do because we aren't interested in a heavy/fatty pig. 175-200 pounds, while a small pig, makes for very lean pork with a nice flavor.

 

We have all of our friends save their leftovers/kitchen scraps for the pigs and we take turns making the rounds to pick them up. We also sprinkle a little dried molasses on their food each day which helps sweeten the meat and has the added bonus of being high in a number of minerals that keeps the pigs healthy. They will also eat corn husks and grass clippings. We supplement with an organic feed towards the last six weeks of their life because they are usually getting big enough that they want more food than what our local friends' kitchens can provide. However, I did discover some 2008 jars of tomatoes, green beans, and mixed veggies that I had forgotten were in the basement. I am still using up my 2009 and of course, in a couple of months, will be canning again. So, they'll be getting a couple of jars a day for a while.

 

Our local meat packing plant ( a very nice, very clean, family owned operation that has never once in 80 years had a health/agricultural violation) charges $30.00 for the kill and gutting (sorry to be so graphic but if you're going to raise your animals for food, you kind of have to get used to it) and $.35 per pound for cutting and wrapping. They make nice sweet maple syrup flavored sausage and cut to order. We've got a great working relationship with them. We paid $45.00 a piece to get them as weanlings who were recently castrated. We prefer the castrated males...they are very docile and quite entertaining!

 

 

Oh, and if we ever need to raise them off farm...we'll put them on my parents' acreage (five acres) that has lots of forage. We'll keep them in a portable pen (a secure fenced area that can be moved every other day) with a small shed (that's really all you have to have for summer pigs) which we can build of scrap wood for, another wading pool wallow, and my parents border collie for protection. We'll put the dog on a very long lead but not allow him to run completely free because he'll take off after a pheasant or something and we won't see him for the rest of the day....so much for protection! LOL... We'll lock them up at night in the shed so that coyotes can't get into them. Coyotes will pack hunt at night, especially when they have cubs, and that's too much for one border collie to handle alone. So, if we do that, the boys will be required to pitch straw every other day in order to keep the shed clean and fresh smelling.

 

Hope that answers everyones questions.

Faith

Edited July 5, 2010 by FaithManor

[mommyoftwinboys]

Thank you so much Faithmanor for that wonderful intro to pigs!

One more question, is there a specific time of year we should purchase the pig? Is it too late now or say a month from now?

[FaithManor]

No, not specifically. I mean, you buy one in April or May and you grow it to 175-200 pounds, then you can butcher it before October or very early October.

 

The main issue is growing it economically. November is when all of the grass dies and most of the excess produce from local gardens is gone. The bugs are dormant (pigs love to root for grasshoppers, crickets, etc.) so you have to purchase a lot of feed or hay because the animal is big and eating a lot. It's more economical to feed them through the summer.

 

But, just make a plan for how you will feed it. Some people get them and don't wait to a certain size to butcher. They just say, "We are going to feed this animal until x date and then butcher no matter what the size." That said, given the cost of butchering and wrapping, I am not sure if it is economical to only raise a big to say 135 or 140 pounds. A lot depends on how much you paid to begin with....this time of year, you might get lucky and pick up a weanling cheaply from a 4-H kid who has already had his spring pigs, picked out the best quality for 4-H and breeding, and has some excess "ugly" pigs to dispose of...it all depends. Try Craigslist...you might get lucky.

 

Faith

[Wayfaring Stranger]

How many pigs do you have per acre? What kind of fence do you use? How much food per day do they eat at there largest? How much time per day does the care for the pigs take (on average)? Is there any reason the pigs could not be left for 36 hrs without anyone on the property? What is the longest amount of time you would safely leave the pigs unattended? Thanks for posting this. I am a long way from doing pigs but would like to slowly get all the pieces in place.

[FaithManor]

Okay here goes...I didn't think there would any serious takers on this..Wow!

 

We have three pigs. They are weanling feeder pigs and they came to us immediately following castration which tends to be six-eight weeks after birth. When castrated young, the procedure is simple and not very painful at all...most farmers and 4-H kids can do it themselves. Castrated males are the nicest to keep, they still grow out well, better than a young sow (sows can get huge but this is over a long period of time), and they are quite docile. The worst thing that you'll ever deal with in a 200 pound barrow is that he may rush your legs (not maliciously) if you bring food into the pen. We never let the kids in there once they get very pig for this reason. Pigs are very excitable and one of the littles could be knocked down and I have hard time getting up and balanced if the pigs are going wild over the food pail.

 

At about eight weeks, the pigs are called "feeder" pigs and this is what you want because you don't want to deal with a barrow taken away from its mother before it was ready and then needing to give it some milk three or four times per day or buy formula...ugh.

 

We have three pigs (one each for three different families) penned into a quarter acre. We have a moveable fence if necessary to allow them more. Technically, a half acre is more than plenty if one is not feeding a pig to 300 or 400 lbs. We "feed' them twice per day and let them root for bugs and eat grass the rest of the time. They will eat the rinds of most anything although, unless really hungry, are not fond of potato peels, corn husks, old bread, you name it. I once found a bag of flour in the back of the cupboard, decided that it was too old to bake with, and through it in the trough with a sprinkle of dried molasses and the other leftovers. I added just enough water to make a little sludge. They ate it like I'd made them their own loaf of french bread!

We try to give them a gallon of food at each feeding while they are smaller and then gradually increase it as they grow. If we buy organic pig feed (which is kind of expensive but sometimes necessary if we make the rounds of our friends kitchens and there aren't enough left overs), then we take a half gallon of dry feed and mix it with water until its a very thick gravy consistency. I also have been known to throw them some of my ducks cracked corn. They love that. I just don't give them a lot of cracked corn because corn makes pigs gain fat not muscle.

 

I would leave pigs, as long as they have secure area to get into, and you don't have problems with big predators (wild dogs, coyotes, mountain lions, poaching neighbors, etc.) for up to 48 hours under the following conditions: a large water trough that couldn't be tipped would be left full (pigs are not big water drinkers because their primary uptake is through food, but if I'm not going to be there to give them fruits and vegetables, then they may need to drink more), the wallow is very full of mud and not likely to dry out while I'm gone or the weather is going to be termperate so they don't need to cool off, and I provided a corner with two gallons of chopped fruit rind (think watermelon, pineapple, or cantelope), hay or dried grass clippings to munch on (large pile), some oats or a little soy (the fiber will really fill their bellies) and plenty of area to root around. They'll be ready for you to "slop" them when you get home, but they will be okay.

 

The main thing about leaving pigs is not to do it in really hot weather. Some pigs have a genetic problem called PSS which causes them to undergo a sudden body chemistry change that makes their body temperature skyrocket to 109 or even higher in a matter of minutes. A pig with the condition is likely drop over dead on a 90 degree day with no warning. Unless you actually witness the collapse, you will be unable to do anything about it. In rare cases, pigs have been saved because it happened when the farmer was watching and he was able to turn a cold house on the animal, get its body temperature down, and then move it into total shade until the weather abated. It does happen...and frankly, you don't want a pig carcass in with your other pigs for two reasons: it will be "ripe" and nasty from the heat and you will have to dispose of the remains, and you will be unebelievably shocked at the cannibalistic quality of pigs. You might come home to nothing but bones. However, with animal husbandry, it is best if animals do not eat like kind because some types of diseases are transmitted this way...think beef cattle being fed feed made from beef bi-products and CJV disease. So, you really want to avoid your pigs eating their deceased relative.

 

The fence is privacy fence. This may be overkill but it just happens to be a leftover fence from the previous farm owners and hey, a good free fence, is GOOD! This is the only fence that we've ever used since we haven't had this operation anywhere else so I can't speak to the houdini traits or lack thereof, of pigs. Ours have never been out. DH says that if we were to move the operation to my folks place, we would use chain link buried a foot in because he thinks pigs are diggers. Hobby Farm magazine puts out a journal on pig raising (they have a whole serious of informational beginner farm journals) and it is a handy getting started reference. Just be careful to take some of it with a grain of salt, it seems like the folks at Hobby Farm have a fair amount of money to play with and think that all farms need every bell and whistle. Pigs are low maintenance and don't require fancy surroundings, feed pans, etc.

 

I hope that answers all of your questions.

Faith