1st timer***Market Hogs????

[HobbyChickener]

I have a few (1700 or so) Let me know if there are more questions.

Be careful of feeding them scraps. The reason pigs are "mostly" grown on concrete an inside now days is because of the rooting and slop eating that caused several type of diseases. Also try and avoid feeding them any grains that or whole. Corn should always be ground so they can get the most nutrition out of it. NEVER feed them unprocessed soybeans. Beans in general are hard for a hog to process but raw soy can kill them.

Also it does not take a large amount of feed to sustain a hog, but only if it isn't moving around a lot. If you keep it fairly confined it shouldn't take but about 3-4 pounds of feed a day to put 1-1.5 lbs on it. Hogs are very efficient eaters when fed correctly.

Also be careful if you are in a hotter climate to avoid having a pure white hog unless you have shade or cover for them. As hard as it may seem to believe they will get sunburned and it really upsets them. And a mad or irritable hog is not a fun one to mess with. Good Luck!

 

[SeaChick]

Greyfields, you are totally right about farm-raised pork. We have been splitting a whole hog witha couple of friends for the past two winters. It's locally raised by some organic farmers we know. The first year I was totally bowled over by the taste of the meat. Incredible...... just nothing like grocery store pork. And I found myself craving the fat, too. The I diod someresearch about how GOOD for you the fat is on naturally-raised animals, so now I don't feel guilty eating the fat. We get a grass-fed cow as well, and I can't imagine ever going back to factory-farmed pork and beef again.

As soon as I have enough land, I'm planning on raising a couple of pigs myself!

Stacey

 

[nadams4]

Wow! Thanks for all of the advise!

Would an auction be a good place to find piglets?? We have a huge Amish community right down the road, and there is a huge auction there. Its called Mt. Hope Auction. I was thinking about going there to get 2 or 3!

I have read many good things about yorkshire-duroc crosses...i was going to try to find a few of them.

 

[GwenFarms]

Yes thats a good place to find a few weaners. I would only start with two if I were you. I usually raise yorkshires. As an above poster said, you do need to have them some shade. While raising them in an industrial setting it works out to have them in a small pen, it doesn't work too well on a small farm, unless you can afford a concrete pad and have time to hose it down a couple of times a day. In a small home setting a too small area will become VERY unsanitary and very smelly really quickly. Look around online at pen designs and find something doable for you. I think you will really enjoy raising pigs if you can find a pen that works!

 

[greyfields]

Quote:

I'm not going to argue with the advice above. But I would never consider raising pigs indoors on concrete. Part of getting into farming was wanting my animals to have a high quality of life. This means rutting and wallowing for pigs. There is a saying in Italian which is "You can tell a happy pig by the amount of dirt on its nose."

 

[GwenFarms]

Well said Greyfields

 

[FarmGirl01]

I love the Quote.

 

[nadams4]

I plan on fencing in a large pasture for them. There are lots of shrubs, and brush in this area.

I am also working on a house on skids (So its movable) for them.

 

[FarmGirl01]

My two hogs that I had last summer cleaned about an acre of land. They completey removed every bit of grass and weeds. The field looked like it had been plowed with a tractor. I was more than happy to let them go to work. Less feed consumed and they really enjoyed themselves. Now the mules had a great dry lot to be in this spring. The mules are easy keepers and have trouble with the spring grass. Why to go hogs.

 

[nadams4]

if i get them at 8 weeks old, can i start feeding them 18% hog grower feed and continue feeding that til market or should i switch???