Pigs?

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Thunder

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With the higher prices for pork these days, has anyone thought about raising some pigs? Are they hard to get to market? We have regular auctions here for cattle, sheep, and goats, but I've never seen one for pigs.

Just wondering if it is a decent idea or harder than it seems.
 
As I have a large extended family it has occurred to me that I have a large direct market that no one is currently utilizing......
 
Did a direct marketing pig thing for a couple years. It was ok. Biggest thing w pigs is how easily and inexpensively you can get grain. Great way to generate a cash income. Fail to castrate and things can get out of hand real quick, lol.
 
They're more difficult than you'd think and they're not easy to load ,and when they get around 300 pounds they're intimidating, when you are in knee deep pig slop, trying to load them, because it just happened to pour down rain the day you Have to take them to the butcher, ... Also a big pig can and will bite off your knee cap if you tick them off.(not speaking from experience) thankfully... But that being said I've been raising feeder pigs for 5? Year's now, and I'm still doing it lol. You can feed a pig everything but citrus and not have to worry about them getting sick. Don't expect to make money on selling them to relatives, or anyone , (unless they will pay you $200/$250 a pound Live Weight... And they pay the butcher fee. Also the best idea is to buy and raise feeder pigs to butcher size, don't bother with the sow boar side of it, unless you are planning to shell out a lot of money in feed, and you have Concrete sheds to Farrow in. Those nice shiny metal pig huts they sell at farm stores, pigs Enjoy destroying them..
 
Thunder said:
With the higher prices for pork these days, has anyone thought about raising some pigs? Are they hard to get to market? We have regular auctions here for cattle, sheep, and goats, but I've never seen one for pigs.

Just wondering if it is a decent idea or harder than it seems.
Click to expand...
As Kenny said, you need a direct market. In my area, we have 3 sausage companies within a 50-mile radius so there is a market here. But, and it is a big but, they buy large volume and don't just buy from the back yard farmer. Pig waste and lagoons are pretty strictly regulated around here. The good thing is, that if there is a food processor near you, you might be able to make it work by feeding the waste from the processor.
 
Hereford2 said:
They're more difficult than you'd think and they're not easy to load ,and when they get around 300 pounds they're intimidating, when you are in knee deep pig slop, trying to load them, because it just happened to pour down rain the day you Have to take them to the butcher, ... Also a big pig can and will bite off your knee cap if you tick them off.(not speaking from experience) thankfully... But that being said I've been raising feeder pigs for 5? Year's now, and I'm still doing it lol. You can feed a pig everything but citrus and not have to worry about them getting sick. Don't expect to make money on selling them to relatives, or anyone , (unless they will pay you $200/$250 a pound Live Weight... And they pay the butcher fee. Also the best idea is to buy and raise feeder pigs to butcher size, don't bother with the sow boar side of it, unless you are planning to shell out a lot of money in feed, and you have Concrete sheds to Farrow in. Those nice shiny metal pig huts they sell at farm stores, pigs Enjoy destroying them..
Click to expand...
This! Friend of mine had some feeders and I took care of them for a few days while they were out of town. Scared the bejesus outta me! All I could think of was Hannibal😨
 
Everyone here used to raise hogs, until the mid to late 90's. One independent producer left in the county, about 600 sow herd. There's a few that fatten some out for the butcher market, but I don't think it's a big money deal, you have to enjoy doing it to make it worth the while.
 
There's no hog market anywhere close to me I'm aware of.
We do feed a few hogs per year for us and family. Most come from 4H show breeders I Know and are culls .
They pretty much get fed corn and oat hay their entire, but short lives.
I challenge anyone to have better tasting pork than me.....
 
I see lean hog prices are about 20 cents higher than we were getting 40 years ago and corn is about double… I'm out!
 
I raised 6 back in 2014 because calves were too expensive to eat and the kids expect some free meat. I really enjoyed it but I like raising animals anyway. Feed costs are too high now unless you can grow your own corn.
 
I raised feeder pigs for years. Kept up to 10 sows... sold the pigs at 8 weeks or so. Made some good money at it and I liked my pigs. They are hard to find around here now since so many of the small 3-10 sow farmers went out. I just got my own place again, and will raise a few hopefully next year. Not interested in marketing the pork, want to sell the feeders... easier, and feeder pigs are in the $50-100 a head range. Used to be that $30 was average. But feed is alot higher... so justified. Lots of people around here raise a couple for personal use... feeding lots of garden waste and milk etc from family operations....
I trained mine to go right up on the truck to eat... started it about 2 weeks before sale time... in 3 days they were waiting at the gate for me to open it up and up the ramp they would run. Same as with the trailer.... takes a couple days of just feeding them on there and they will be wanting to get on the trailer....gotta have a ramp for the smaller ones but not a big deal to park the trailer there and let them go up to eat. I had a "creep gate" so only the pigs could get through and I fed the sows just as soon as the pigs were on their way through the creep gate so they didn't tear things up. I also spent time with the hogs and kept them friendlier and quieter.... and NEVER put up with one that was aggressive. If she so much as got to barking at me with her pigs... she left when they did.
Yes, they can hurt you and are canabalistic... you have to use caution with any animal. Had a friend who got his back broke years ago from a ram that hit him from behind.... plenty of cattle/bull stories... granted none of them can tear your flesh apart like a hog.....
 
Back in the day their was money to be made with hogs…at least here. Iowa was fighting pseudorabies that wiped out entire pig litters. Energy shortages and power outages for the coldest winters of the time froze what pseudorabies didn't kill elsewhere. We sold a lot of 50# feeder pigs $90 a head. Took about $10 or less to get it their. Top hogs bringing $135 with a feed cost of about $30. Thank God we got out before I took 10,000 sows to make the bills for a 170 sow farm. 2014 cattle prices are reminiscent of hogs back then.
 
Henry county IL was the big capitol of the world back in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's. I made gas money in high school holding feeder pigs during vaccination time, baling straw, and building pasture fence. Field sows will kill you, the meaner they were the better chance they had of protecting their litter. Think jumping bulldozer with teeth. That pretty well describes sows.
They eat everything, pipe gates, wooden barns, metal feeders. If there not on concrete they need rung. Ringing hogs is great ear piercing stress relief. :ROFLMAO:
Like said before you gotta enjoy them, because they are a lot more work than other livestock.
 
We raised registered Hereford hogs for awhile and got $250-$300 for weaners. My wife is a marketing genius. Sold them in WA. Oregon Montana Utah California pretty good gig for awhile. I did AI to keep the genetics proper.
 

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