Need advice on hogs

[MO_cows]

Hubby wants to raise a few hogs. Not breed them, just buy weaned pigs and raise them to butcher weight. Not trying to make money on them, just recoup our expenses. One for us and the rest for family/friends, probably 4 total. What would be a good breed or cross? How big a pen needed for 4? Can you buy commercial pig chow in a bag without meds or animal byproducts in it? Is a barrow a castrated boar? Any help from someone who's been there and done that would be appreciated.

 

[dun]

I don;t recall all of the particulars about pen size since we haven;t raised any pigs in the past 20 plus years and I don;t know about the pig feed question. Never fed a bought feed other then steam rolled corn and barley.
A barrow is a castrated male

 

[Alberta farmer]

I'm no "pig expert" but live close to a hog barn. One time the neighbor gave my kids a couple of runts. In a modern pig barn, pigs that can't cut the mustard with their pen mates are nothing but a nuisance and usually get knocked on the head.
Anyway we kept them for about two years and just fed them finely rolled barley and scraps and vegetables out of the garden. They also kind of liked a few handfulls of second cut alphalfa! They lived outside in an open cattle shed with a big round straw bale rolled in once in awhile. They drank out of the cattle waterer by getting up on their hind legs. Finally I loaded them up and sold them and they weighed 530 lbs and 486 lbs! They were nice pets but had become escape artists once too often! There was a whole lot of wailing from my kids...although they sure did appreciate the money they got for them!

 

[I luv herfrds]

I always liked the Duroc breed. Look for a DurocxHampshire. The hog pen I have is just over 15x15 feet, but was also divied up for a farrow to finish.
I haven't bought pig feed in years so I don't know what is in it.
What I used to feed was soaked ground barley. I would fill (2) 5 gal. buckets with the barley in the morning and then fill up with water. Let sit overnight and feed in the trough in the morning and repeat. Vegetable scaps are fine from your kitchen. They also love kosha, fresh alfala and cut grass. No meat. If you can get some corn that will also be good for them. If it is dried soak it too.
Make sure they have a large shade area. I had a small rubber tank 3'Lx2'Hx2 1/2'W that I would fill with water, since pigs don't sweat. They also love mud.
Hope this helps you out.

 

[mnmtranching]

Make sure you get barrows or gilts. Boars stink and taste worse.
Pen should be 12X12 min. and set on cement or very hard ground. With shade and shelter.
You can buy corn [ground is best] and Soy bean meal. Any pre mixed ration may contain animal protein.
The old way to feed pigs would be to "slop" Mix the feed with water to make slush. Method now days is full dry feed in feeders with drink fountains.

 

[HOSS]

I always liked the Duroc breed. Look for a DurocxHampshire. The hog pen I have is just over 15x15 feet, but was also divied up for a farrow to finish.
I haven't bought pig feed in years so I don't know what is in it.
What I used to feed was soaked ground barley. I would fill (2) 5 gal. buckets with the barley in the morning and then fill up with water. Let sit overnight and feed in the trough in the morning and repeat. Vegetable scaps are fine from your kitchen. They also love kosha, fresh alfala and cut grass. No meat. If you can get some corn that will also be good for them. If it is dried soak it too.
Make sure they have a large shade area. I had a small rubber tank 3'Lx2'Hx2 1/2'W that I would fill with water, since pigs don't sweat. They also love mud.
Hope this helps you out.

I agree with I luv herfrds on the Hampshire x Duroc. I grew up on a hog farm and we used Hampshire boars on Duroc sows. I might raise one or two now if I was in a pinch but I'd rather buy them at the sale and drive them straight over to the packer. No mess, no fuss and they are cheap.

 

[syork]

My dad has raised hogs for years. Our favorite was the Tamsworth. They have the leanest meat and so tender. The Durocs have more fat than meat. I also like the Tamsworth x Hampshire crossed. As for pen size the bigger the better. As for feed we used to feed Red Dog the best food in the world for hogs. But they no longer sell it. If you can get access to feed bread in bakerys and add it to wheat middlings, ground corn and hog pellets and mix that with bread you will have you some hogs when it comes butchering time. :nod:

 

[HOSS]

My dad has raised hogs for years. Our favorite was the Tamsworth. They have the leanest meat and so tender. The Durocs have more fat than meat. I also like the Tamsworth x Hampshire crossed. As for pen size the bigger the better. As for feed we used to feed Red Dog the best food in the world for hogs. But they no longer sell it. If you can get access to feed bread in bakerys and add it to wheat middlings, ground corn and hog pellets and mix that with bread you will have you some hogs when it comes butchering time. :nod:

My uncle used to run a milk truck. When they had milk that got too old they would give it to us to feed to the pigs. We would empty the 1 gallon jugs into 55 gallon drum feeders. Allot of times we got chocolate milk. Boy did those hogs gain weight slopping up that stuff.

 

[MO_cows]

Good info, thanks! Still got a lot to learn before we jump into this. Do they need salt/mineral? Vaccinations? Is there pour on wormer for hogs, too?

 

[I luv herfrds]

Stay away from the bread.
Sister bought a pig years ago that was fed pretty much nothing, but day old bread. Never saw so much fat on a hog.
Most pigs are vaccinated when they are younger then 6 weeks, normal age for weaners.
Be aware of what you are buying, if the seller won't let you pick go else.
Talk to your vet about wormers. I never treated my pigs. They never needed salt or minerals.

Reading a very old cream seperator book they talked alot about feeding pigs out on corn and 2% milk. Was pretty interesting reading.

 

[terra8186]

Here is my pig report from last year. Sorry about the formatting.

I know I overpaid for the pigs, but there is a story behind that. I had a 20x20 foot pen for 6 and last year I went 30X30 for 9. My recommendation to you is purchase or build an automatic feeder. Pigs like to step in their food making a mess and spill the rest of it. We dont have concrete yet. It would be nice, but concrete for a couple pigs each year is a pig expense.

2008 Pig Report

Holding Time of Pigs
Bought 9 pigs on April 16, 2007 – Each pig weighed about 37 lbs pd $50/pig
1 July 3rd – Total of 78 days
2 August 1st - Total of 107 Days
6 August 13th – Total of 120 Days

PreSeason Estimate
Feed Estimate
9 pigs is 600 lbs/pig @ $0.15/lb = $90/pig + $50/pig + $20/pig profit or pig roast = $160/pig
Total Feed bill -- $90*9 = $810

Grain Feed
Purchase and Feed Rates
Date #'s #'s Left Days of Feed Cons. Rate Pig Cons Pig Weight
4-15 500 0 0 0 37
4-26 1300 ?
5-20 1800 600 24 50/b/day 5lb/day 70
6-14 0 1000 25 58lb/day 6lb/day 130
7-1 1600 300 6lb/day 170
8-13 0 0 43 44lb/day 6lb/day+corn 200-250


4-24-08 Auto feeder and Auto water

DeWormer Directions
Dewormed on June 19-23 with 2 lbs of dewormer for 170 lbs of feed. Cost $14
From Directions:
Pig Feed #days Dewormer 25lb bag/ton
50lb 4.5lb/day 3 .5
100lb 5 3 1
150lb 6.5 5 1
200lb 7 8 1

Calculating: We have 130lb pigs which eat 6lb/day. For 9 pigs that is 55lb feed/day. For 3 days that is 165lb/day.
165 X
2000 25
Fenbendazole is 2 lbs/170 lbs of feed.


Sample Feed & Costs
July 1st – Co-op
Weight Sold Unit Description unit Price Total
0 1 Each Grinding $8.00 $8,00
1350 24.1 Bu Corn $7.00 $168.75
200 2 cwt Soybean Meal $24.00 $48
50 .5 cwt KA Swine Vitamin $44.20 $22.1
1600 lbs $0.16/lb $246.85


Processing
Weights
Matt's Meat weight was 100 lbs
2 Pig Roast Weight was 100lbs
6 Pigs processed out at 186, 186, 176, 158, 140, 182

Prices
6 others were at $0.38 /lb hanging weight, $40/kill, and $0.45/lb smoked
Total was $70/processing, $40/kill, and $25/smoking = $115-140

Finished Weight on Processed Pigs @ 70% hanging weight to live weight
186 - 265 lb
186 – 265 lb
182 – 260 lb
176 – 250 lb
158 – 225 lb
140 – 200 lb

Processed Take (Weighed)

Lbs Description Packages Weight/package
7.5 Ham Hocks (smoked) 4 2
7.5 Pork Shoulder Roast 2 3
11 Bacon (smoked) 11 1
36 Ham 4 9
10 Pork Steak 6 2.5 (2 steaks)
22 Pork Chops 14 1.6 (3 chops) weighed
17 Sausage (seasoned) 15 1
6 Spare Ribs 2 3
7.5 Pork Loin Roast 2 4
1 Heart/Tongue 1 0
20 Pork Fat 2 10
126 lbs meat + 20 lbs fat

Pig Roast Processed Meat
15 packages of 3 pork chops
6 2.5lb pork loin roast
4 slabs of ribs
6 lbs of side pork
4 packages of ham hocks
6 2lb package of pulled pork

 

[Toby L.]

2008 Pig Report

Holding Time of Pigs
Bought 9 pigs on April 16, 2007 – Each pig weighed about 37 lbs pd $50/pig
1 July 3rd – Total of 78 days
2 August 1st - Total of 107 Days
6 August 13th – Total of 120 Days


So in 120 day's you brought a 37 pound pig to 265 pounds?
How much grain did it take for you to get one pig to that wieght?

I was thinking of doing 10 pigs this year, I usually do at least a couple a year. I'm going to be buying corn from a farmer, so when I have him grind the corn I can throw in 200 pounds of soybean meal and 50 pounds of minerals? And I think you had put in 1200 pounds of corn in that mixture, so what would the estimate protien value be in a mixture like that? Saying the corn is 8% protien.
I can get the corn for $10 a hundred, so if I mix my own I can save alot more money then just buying %16 pig grower at the feed store for $300 a ton. But I wanted my mixture to equal as close to 16% as possible, thanks.

 

[Jalopy]

Toby L

1750 lbs corn@ 8%P = 140lbs P
200 # sbmeal @40% P =80#P
50# Mineral ) P =0#P

2000# feed =220#P or 11%protein= protein/ton

1450# corn @8% P = 116#P
500# Sbmeal@ 40% = 200# P
50# mineral = 0# P

2000# = 316#p ===15.8% protein/ ton
Assuming corn at .10/# and soybean meal at .165/# then the first ration would cost $175 +$33 = $208/ton
The second ration would cost $145 +82.5 = $227.5/ ton plus mineral cost on each of the rations

 

[Toby L.]

Toby L

1750 lbs corn@ 8%P = 140lbs P
200 # sbmeal @40% P =80#P
50# Mineral ) P =0#P

2000# feed =220#P or 11%protein= protein/ton

1450# corn @8% P = 116#P
500# Sbmeal@ 40% = 200# P
50# mineral = 0# P

2000# = 316#p ===15.8% protein/ ton
Assuming corn at .10/# and soybean meal at .165/# then the first ration would cost $175 +$33 = $208/ton
The second ration would cost $145 +82.5 = $227.5/ ton plus mineral cost on each of the rations

Thanks for the information Jalopy, I wonder if a guy would just stick with the 12% ration, if he could get a better product. Even though I think that it might take a little longer to get them to a butcher wieght.
Every year I tell myself that I will keep track of how much I spend on pigs. That usually only last till the second or third time I buy grain, then it all goes out the window. I think that if I keep buying it by the ton that it would be easier to keep track of.

 

[bigbull338]

i would build atlest a 30 by 30 pen on concrete if you could.an most important make it so they cant escape.its no fun chasing an catching piggs.

 

[dun]

i would build atlest a 30 by 30 pen on concrete if you could.an most important make it so they cant escape.its no fun chasing an catching piggs.

I'll second the concrete floor. We built ours so that it had a mild slope from the front and the back to a 6 inch wide by 4 inch ddep square bottomed gutter down the middle. We would was the pen down every day and it generally only took a cople of days and the pigs would learn to crap and pee directly into the gutter. We had a couple of oak pallets cvoered on one side with oak planking so they could get up off the concrete and a cover over the pen that covered covered the back 2/3 so they could get shade.

 

[MO_cows]

Wow, what good record keeping! thanks very much, that is very helpful.

There will be no concrete to start with. Our soil is sandy and dries out fast. We figured to make a basic pen out of hog panels with t-posts to start with. Probably need an electric wire around the pen close to the bottom to keep them from rooting out? We can fork up hay that the cows waste for bedding, probably have to buy some straw too. Haven't figured out what kind of shelter to build yet, seems like they tear stuff up pretty good so it would have to be sturdy.

For just 4, probably will go with the commercial feed and supplement with kitchen scraps, garden glut, whatever else comes available. Sounds like we could get them in the spring and have ham by Christmas??

 

[Toby L.]

Some years we put hog rings in there noses to keep them from rutting. It works pretty good when the electric fence gets turned off. And they don't rut at all.

 

[terra8186]

So in 120 day's you brought a 37 pound pig to 265 pounds?
How much grain did it take for you to get one pig to that wieght?

I was thinking of doing 10 pigs this year, I usually do at least a couple a year. I'm going to be buying corn from a farmer, so when I have him grind the corn I can throw in 200 pounds of soybean meal and 50 pounds of minerals? And I think you had put in 1200 pounds of corn in that mixture, so what would the estimate protien value be in a mixture like that? Saying the corn is 8% protien.
I can get the corn for $10 a hundred, so if I mix my own I can save alot more money then just buying %16 pig grower at the feed store for $300 a ton. But I wanted my mixture to equal as close to 16% as possible, thanks.

I never checked but I was told my mixture was 16%.
You asked about total feed. I estimated at the beginning of the year 600 lbs/pig and I used 5400 lbs for 9 pigs.
I wish I had concrete for my pigs. I have never had one escape (only 2 years though). I used concrete wire fence and doubled fastened it to a split rail fence. I buried the fence about 6 inches into the ground. They always had food and water so they really never wanted to get out. If you forget to feed them, they will start leaning or tearing the fence down.
As far as making the crap in the same area, I fenced off a small partition and they go their to crap. They will go to the bathroom in a corner if you give them one.

 

[Toby L.]

So in 120 day's you brought a 37 pound pig to 265 pounds?
How much grain did it take for you to get one pig to that wieght?

I was thinking of doing 10 pigs this year, I usually do at least a couple a year. I'm going to be buying corn from a farmer, so when I have him grind the corn I can throw in 200 pounds of soybean meal and 50 pounds of minerals? And I think you had put in 1200 pounds of corn in that mixture, so what would the estimate protien value be in a mixture like that? Saying the corn is 8% protien.
I can get the corn for $10 a hundred, so if I mix my own I can save alot more money then just buying %16 pig grower at the feed store for $300 a ton. But I wanted my mixture to equal as close to 16% as possible, thanks.

I never checked but I was told my mixture was 16%.
You asked about total feed. I estimated at the beginning of the year 600 lbs/pig and I used 5400 lbs for 9 pigs.


The reason I asked is, a couple years ago I asked the guy at the feed store how much grain does it take to get a pig from 45 pounds to 300. He did some figuring on the calculator and told me 1500 pounds. That seemed like a really high number, and I don't think that I've ever feed them that much, like I said, I never kept track. But then again 600 pounds seems low to me, but if that's what you fed them, that's what you fed them. So for 10 pigs I can plan on buying 3 tons of mix. Thanks.