pig owners

[roneil76]

My daughters and I intend to raise pigs this spring.
We will be buying our first pigs at weaning age and raising them to adults. we will most likely breed this pair and raise their piglets for the table and fore sale.

Ok, My ?s are endless but I've been reading allot. I picture I could build a home of some sort on one end and a mud hole on another. Make feeding troughs and attach them to the outside of the housing. feed on side water on the other. Then I could fence he whole thing in. This would give them about a 1/4 acer fenced in w/ housing and mud hole inside. would this be enough room?

Mainly I am hoping for you to post pics of your set ups which I could then visulize what I need to do.


If you have pics of your SET-UP please share them w/ me....

 

[boone]

Try http://www.homestead.com. I think that you will find more specific info there. Boone

 

[roneil76]

homestead.com appears to be a web site builder as far as I can tell. or they are selling web addresses I gather.?

 

[boone]

My mistake, let me think on it and get you the right address. Boone

 

[boone]

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com Sorry, Boone

 

[Jogeephus]

Pigs are not as "dirty" as some people think - they just like to get cool when its hot. A friend of mine had a pig named Dolly that stayed in the yard - just like a dog. They had a kiddy pool for her to lay in. She would come running to you when you drove into the yard - like a dog. Very smart animal. We mourned the loss of her a bit but the BBQ sandwiches made us forget our depression. :lol:

 

[roneil76]

boone I registered there

 

[6M Ranch]

I would research it a LOT before jumping in. A lot of the same problems arise as with cattle, and a bunch that are unique. How are you going to breed them? AI or buy a boar for a couple of sows? Pigs are very susceptible to disease, so it's unlikely a neighbor will lend you one. Even if they would, I wouldn't introduce them to my place. Farrow in crates or natural? Some areas are outlawing crates. You have to be there when they give birth, unless you want to lose 1/2 of the piglets. Clip tails, teeth, iron shots, when they're born. Castrate yourself? Vets won't come out to work on pigs, if they did, it wouldn't be worth it. Pigs are also very destructive. Pens need to be very secure. Fresh water supply summer and winter? We raised pigs for several years, never again. Not trying to talk you out of it, just open your eyes before opening your wallet. Lot's easier(cheaper) to buy weaners in the spring and feed them out.

 

[Alice]

Pigs are not as "dirty" as some people think - they just like to get cool when its hot. A friend of mine had a pig named Dolly that stayed in the yard - just like a dog. They had a kiddy pool for her to lay in. She would come running to you when you drove into the yard - like a dog. Very smart animal. We mourned the loss of her a bit but the BBQ sandwiches made us forget our depression. :lol:

Oh, that's cold... :lol2:

Alice

 

[Alice]

I would research it a LOT before jumping in. A lot of the same problems arise as with cattle, and a bunch that are unique. How are you going to breed them? AI or buy a boar for a couple of sows? Pigs are very susceptible to disease, so it's unlikely a neighbor will lend you one. Even if they would, I wouldn't introduce them to my place. Farrow in crates or natural? Some areas are outlawing crates. You have to be there when they give birth, unless you want to lose 1/2 of the piglets. Clip tails, teeth, iron shots, when they're born. Castrate yourself? Vets won't come out to work on pigs, if they did, it wouldn't be worth it. Pigs are also very destructive. Pens need to be very secure. Fresh water supply summer and winter? We raised pigs for several years, never again. Not trying to talk you out of it, just open your eyes before opening your wallet. Lot's easier(cheaper) to buy weaners in the spring and feed them out.

OK, I'm not real into the pig thang...Daddy raised them off and on, but I was just a little kid then and only remember when I fell off the fence into the pigs and giving my Daddy a near heart attack...so, pigs get AI'd? Oh my gosh...that's tantamount to giving a bobcat a bath, I would think.

Alice

 

[Workinonit Farm]

OK, I'm not real into the pig thang......so, pigs get AI'd?

Yes m'am they do. I, personally, do not have any experience with it though. There is a many-generation hog breeder/farmer near me and the majority of his sows are AI bred. Like the cattle industry, the semen he orders comes from boars as far away as Ohio, Indiana etc. My sows are bred by natural cover.

roneil76, keep on reading, and if you have an opportunity, visit other small-time breeders in your area (not the huge facilities which can house 1,000 or more).

6M Ranch has aslo brought up some very good points you should think about.

If I remember correctly, it was either plbcattle or ctlbaron who raised hogs at one time or another and there may be a few others. You could try PM'ing them. (after all, this is a cattle board).

If you'ld like I could PM you with more information, just let me know.

Katherine

 

[roneil76]

I would research it a LOT before jumping in. A lot of the same problems arise as with cattle, and a bunch that are unique. How are you going to breed them? AI or buy a boar for a couple of sows? Pigs are very susceptible to disease, so it's unlikely a neighbor will lend you one. Even if they would, I wouldn't introduce them to my place. Farrow in crates or natural? Some areas are outlawing crates. You have to be there when they give birth, unless you want to lose 1/2 of the piglets. Clip tails, teeth, iron shots, when they're born. Castrate yourself? Vets won't come out to work on pigs, if they did, it wouldn't be worth it. Pigs are also very destructive. Pens need to be very secure. Fresh water supply summer and winter? We raised pigs for several years, never again. Not trying to talk you out of it, just open your eyes before opening your wallet. Lot's easier(cheaper) to buy weaners in the spring and feed them out.

Ok 6M Ranch you got my attention and raised some ?s . why castrate?

fill me in teeth? tails? iron shot?

I siad tons of ?s and you opened a can of worms here.

 

[Beef11]

I've AI'd Pigs before, minimal restraints and very easy.

 

[roneil76]

I do realize this is cattle board. I dont post often but ido read allot of posts here. I realize the wealth of information the members here have w/ reguards to livestock in general and I'm greatful for your replys as I know my "Pig Post" is abit off topic.

thank you all much.

 

[stocky]

We had sows and raised pigs for the first 25 years of my life. Most of the time we had 20-40 sows. We would fatten out the hogs in different new ponds, they are the best thing there is to get a pond to hold water. All the questions raised are legitimate and I will never raise another pig again. It is too cheap to go and buy one from a neighbor at 250 lbs and have it butchered. Back then, the only ones that needed iron shots were the ones raised on concrete. They have to be castrated for meat quality. We quit breaking off the tusk teeth after a few years and couldnt tell any difference. We never clipped tails. You have to time the farrowing to decent weather, unless you have a great indoor setup. Sows will mash or kill their pigs, alot of the time. It gets old pulling dead baby pigs out of the pen and throwing them to the dogs. There is a huge difference in the mothering ability from sow to sow. If a sow is a bad mother, do not give her a second chance. I have had sows raise 15 pigs and have had sows that couldnt raise 5 pigs. Also, if you have cold weather, even 200 lb pigs will pile up and smother half of the group to death. Good luck with your decision

 

[MoGal]

I just don't see how that would be profitable to you with a small amount of sows........ the reason I say that is I just bought a pig ....... paid $58.30 per 100 lbs hanging weight... I got 232 pounds of pork and paid the man $135.25 for the pig and $101.55 for the slaughtering.

But I do wish you good will and fortune with your endeavor.

 

[6M Ranch]

Not trying to talk you out of it, but think about why you want to do it. If it's just for the thought of raising your own pork, buy some feeders for $25-$50 each from a local breeder, and feed them out. You only have them for 3-4 months that way. Raising pigs is a lot of work. I think it's a lot more time consuming than raising cattle. Storey puts out a lot of good books about raising cattle, pigs, goats, etc. Buy the one on pigs, and see if you still want to do it. I think the hardest thing for a small operation would be the breeding. We AI'd, but it's very hard to catch them in heat, when you don't have a boar. It just doesn't make sense if you only have a couple of sows. Feeding is also very expensive. The sow needs different feed when she's milking, then the creep you feed to the piglets is also very pricey. Unless you find a niche, raising pigs is a big money loser, unless on a very large scale.

 

[jp]

we raised pigs for about 6 years,ran 2 sows at a time and 1 boar. we figured not includiing labor the pigs we sold covered feed cost and the cost to put one in our freezer each year.Then our local mill stopped sellin corn and that changed. Now we'll buy 2 at 6-8 weeks old, raise one for us and one for a friend mostly cause they seem to do better havin 2 instead of just one. jp

 

[andybob]

For running pigs outside behind an electric fence, work on 10 adults to the acre, unless you are clearing land for ploughing.
I inseminate 130 sows a week on the company farm, but did natural mating on my 1000 sow outdoor unit, the feed was in the same form as range cubes and we ground fed them.
I attempted to scan and post some outdoor pig accomodation pictures a while back but had problems, and gave up, Ill try to get some help and post some usefull pictures.
The sows farrowed in individual huts where they made 'Nests' out of the straw bedding as long as the nests are managed before farrowing, you should lose less piglets than crated pigs, but this is also dependent on the sows being managed in such a way as to keep them docile, I averaged a 5% prewean mortality, and weaned an average of 24 piglets per sow per year. The best commercial genotype I found is the PIC landrace/duroc sow.
My break is over, so I will re-visit this post later if I can be of any further help.

 

[roneil76]

For running pigs outside behind an electric fence, work on 10 adults to the acre, unless you are clearing land for ploughing.
I inseminate 130 sows a week on the company farm, but did natural mating on my 1000 sow outdoor unit, the feed was in the same form as range cubes and we ground fed them.
I attempted to scan and post some outdoor pig accomodation pictures a while back but had problems, and gave up, Ill try to get some help and post some usefull pictures.
The sows farrowed in individual huts where they made 'Nests' out of the straw bedding as long as the nests are managed before farrowing, you should lose less piglets than crated pigs, but this is also dependent on the sows being managed in such a way as to keep them docile, I averaged a 5% prewean mortality, and weaned an average of 24 piglets per sow per year. The best commercial genotype I found is the PIC landrace/duroc sow.
My break is over, so I will re-visit this post later if I can be of any further help.

Thank you for the reply and if you want to send the pics directly to [email protected] I would love to take a look.

Agian thanks for the detialed reply. love the useful info. Please keep in touch. I got alot to learn. I want to be as prepared as possible befor I get an animal. Then learn the rest on the run of course. I raise chickens now and realize no two farms run the same. so there is, I'm sure, plenty I can't learn here.

But if you could send some pics I'd be Greatful!