I got some pigs

[shaz]

Well, I bought 6 pigs yesterday out of Winchester and put them in an old barn. They have water and Coop 505 swine feed 16% protein.
They're 30-40 pounds each. I want to butcher them in October sometime.

Any advise? I haven't touched a pig since 1978.

 

[slick4591]

At that age I would put them on something around 19% or better.

 

[txffamom]

From our experience, and we are not pro's:
We started with a very high protein feed for the first 10-14 days, then lowered it to a 16%. It seems to give them a jump start on growth that will level out and remain consistent throughout the feeding period. If using the same brand of feed, you can usually get them switched over in 2 feedings, instead if it taking days to switch feeds. The bag tag is of course the best resource for that info.

Healthy Weight gain is approx 2lbs per day. To maintain that, they should receive (in pounds) approx 4% of their body weight in feed per day. We also fed 1/4 to 1/2 pound of oat groats per head per day that seemed to help their frame continue to grow and develop as we added weight.

Your feeding period sounds to be approximately 160 days, which will put them at about 340-360lbs at processing, which is a good weight.
We were raising show hogs with pretty extensive diets overall, but I would recommend tossing in a tums every couple of days to maintain gut health. Feeding through the heat of the summer can be tricky and they will go off feed if too hot, so any cheap preventative may be worth it.

Again, we are not pros, but my daughter treated every pig like a science project and measured and weighed every ounce of anything she fed them and recorded the results.

The most expensive lesson we learned: worm them before processing and watch the withdrawal time on the wormed.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

What breeding are they? How many gilts?
Are they on concrete in the barn, or is it dirt floor? If dirt worm them once a month to keep them going. In a barn with water, and electricity you could setup a fan and mister ($30 mister+ $100 fan) pretty easy to keep them cool, and gaining well during the summer to hit your oct. date in the 250+ weights.
I wish I had the ration we use to use, but it was lighting stuff. They called if the SIUC ration because it was the stuff they used down at the college. Had one gilt that we keep longer then the others, and she ended up weighing 496 at 8-9 months. Made a lot of bacon with her. :lol:
I might be able to find it somewhere, but I believe it was in about the 15-16%.

 

[shaz]

What breeding are they? How many gilts?
Are they on concrete in the barn, or is it dirt floor? If dirt worm them once a month to keep them going. In a barn with water, and electricity you could setup a fan and mister ($30 mister+ $100 fan) pretty easy to keep them cool, and gaining well during the summer to hit your oct. date in the 250+ weights.
I wish I had the ration we use to use, but it was lighting stuff. They called if the SIUC ration because it was the stuff they used down at the college. Had one gilt that we keep longer then the others, and she ended up weighing 496 at 8-9 months. Made a lot of bacon with her. :lol:
I might be able to find it somewhere, but I believe it was in about the 15-16%.

They're castrated males. Breed? No idea.

I have them on a dirt floor. Could I use a Noramectrin injectable?
It shouldn't get too hot in that barn. It has a loft. Think spraying them with water on hot days would work?

 

[suzorse]

do you have a way to make an outside run for them off the barn ? where you could make them a wallow as pigs spend most of the day when it is hot in a wallow as they can not sweat, and that is how they stay cool ,a mister is a great idea for that also
Suzanne

 

[Alan]

Interesting post for me, if you have the pigs penned in a barn, say 2 pigs in a 14x14 area, how hot is too hot temperature wise? How much does humidity play into it....... I've been in the south a few times in the summer, you guys have humidity! Here in the PNW during the summer our temps are 70's to 80's with very little humidity. We may get a week or two with 100+ temps, rarely more than a few days day in a row.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[txffamom]

Interesting post for me, if you have the pigs penned in a barn, say 2 in a 14x14 area, how hot is too hot temperature wise? How much does humidity play into it....... I've been in the south a few times in the summer, you guys have humidity! Here in the PNW during the summer our temps are 70's to 80's with very little humidity. We may get a week or two with 100+ temps, rarely more than a few days day in a row.

Thanks,
Alan

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Basic-12 ... /202271381

We stall individually due to the fighting, in 5x5 and 5x10 stalls.
This is the mister we use. I don't see the timer, but it was a very inexpensive garden timer that has two choices for settings...length of time to run, and length of time between sprays.

Ugh...this phone...

As far as humidity, I'm not sure, as we have year round humidity. As far as temps, their preferred temp is 60-70 degrees. Below 50 outdoors, heat lamps are on. Above 70 outdoors, fans are on and above 80 outdoors, fans and misters are used. Above 90, the mister is on all day and intermittantly at night.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Interesting post for me, if you have the pigs penned in a barn, say 2 pigs in a 14x14 area, how hot is too hot temperature wise? How much does humidity play into it....... I've been in the south a few times in the summer, you guys have humidity! Here in the PNW during the summer our temps are 70's to 80's with very little humidity. We may get a week or two with 100+ temps, rarely more than a few days day in a row.

Thanks,
Alan

Best production temps, temps they gain best at.
2-3 week old Weaners- 75-80 degrees
50-60 pound feeders- around 72 degrees
Finishers- as close as possible to 60 degrees, with 73 as top.
Outside of a controlled barn environment, with pigs that are use to the heat you could go a lot hotter and not lose as much efficiency. My pigs that I had at home before would be siting outside under the tarp shade I made, when it was 100+. If I was to try that with the pigs I take care of now, they would be dropping like flies. Just depends if they are outside adapted.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

What breeding are they? How many gilts?
Are they on concrete in the barn, or is it dirt floor? If dirt worm them once a month to keep them going. In a barn with water, and electricity you could setup a fan and mister ($30 mister+ $100 fan) pretty easy to keep them cool, and gaining well during the summer to hit your oct. date in the 250+ weights.
I wish I had the ration we use to use, but it was lighting stuff. They called if the SIUC ration because it was the stuff they used down at the college. Had one gilt that we keep longer then the others, and she ended up weighing 496 at 8-9 months. Made a lot of bacon with her. :lol:
I might be able to find it somewhere, but I believe it was in about the 15-16%.

They're castrated males. Breed? No idea.

I have them on a dirt floor. Could I use a Noramectrin injectable?
It shouldn't get too hot in that barn. It has a loft. Think spraying them with water on hot days would work?

Post a pic if you can, would like to see them.
Don't know about Nora never used it, just some feed additive wormier that I can't remember. Just about anything for stomach worms will work.
They should be fine in a barn with a loft. If there is a opening to the north side you could make a outside pen for them, like suzorse said.

 

[shaz]

Sounds like most folks concern was temperature. Noted. I'll watch feed intake as the temp increases.

 

[Ohio Cowboy]

Are these show pigs or just raising meat for the table ?

 

[Ohio Cowboy]

I think based on your first post they are just for the table. Basically you have it covered. Food and water. What are you watering them out of ? Inside of a barn with a dirt floor I wouldn't worry to much about temps. They will dig a nice cool sleeping spot. Just keep the barn doors open to let a breeze in and they will do the rest. I wouldnt mess with a mister. All that will do is make a big slop hole in the barn. I raise 8 pigs a year and have the same setup. It gets hot here 90+ most days during july and august, and the pigs are fine. Keep em during the winter too and it gets into the negative numbers. Give em a straw pile and water and food. They will be fine.

 

[shaz]

I'm watering out of a couple of pans. Feeding out of an old bull type mineral feeder. I'll know more about waste this evening when I check on them.

Should I be limit feeding or give them free choice?

Thanks

 

[sim.-ang.king]

All they can eat.

 

[Ohio Cowboy]

Yep feed them all they can eat. Might want to look into a hopper type feeder or else they will just tip it and waste the feed. Same with the water pans. They will just tip them over.
Get your self a 55 gallon plastic barrel and then one of those $5 pig water nipples from tsc and screw it into the side of the barrel at the bottom. They will waste a lot less and it will be less work for you. Only have to fill it every few days instead of every day.

 

[jachwhit]

Stay on the 505 until 130 lbs then you can switch to finisher (#517) from 130lbs to market weight. Co-op also has a feed through pig wormer (#534).

 

[Son of Butch]

Did you hear about the little pig that ate all he wanted?
He made a Hog of himself.

 

[highgrit]

Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I suggest you set up a lix-it for water, you will have less waist of water. Here is a pic of one: http://shop.krusefeed.com/product.sc?productId=811

We have one, and it is fitted into a 3 foot long metal pipe, then a hose that runs to the faucet. The pigs will damage anything not tied down and metal, so we wire the metal pipe in the corner of the pen, at shoulder height of the pig, and that way they never reach the hose (to chew a hole in!). It will keep your barn drier.
I also suggest a pig feeder, less waist of feed. We have a 4 hole, but it is leftover from the old days when we used to raise a bunch of pigs. We keep ours full, and let the pig eat ad-lib. Ours was born in January, and our fair is June 6th, with the pig scheduled for processing that Monday following the fair. We have not weighed him in two weeks, but last time he weighed over 200 pounds, and I suspect we will easily hit the 270 mark for the fair. Might have to go restrictive feed before then.
But, just our suggestions after raising pigs over my lifetime, for just eating and showing.