How much $ to raise a pig to butcher?

[greyfields]

You simply cannot beat homegrown pork. It's absolutely nothing like pork you've eaten at a grocery store. Now, with that said, you need to separate yourself form industrial pork producers. DO let your pigs enjoy the light of the sun on their back. DO let your pigs root and be on grass/dirt. DO NOT put them in a dark unlit shed on a concrete pad and throw 'slop' at them, then expect good quality pork.

Animals which were allowed to move, exercise and display pig behavior have a tasty, pink/rose colored meat which is unbeatable. Pork should not be a white meat. It is marketed as that for 'health' reasons and the animals are fed and confined in a way to ensure the muscles get used as little as possible. It is simply wrong.

The best things about Pigs is that nothing from your garden or kitchen goes to waste. It's ecological to keep a pair of pigs. Never keep one pig, though, you must get two for the welfare of the animal. At the end of Summer, we let them "hog down" everything in the garden, meaning we don't have to till in the Fall.

My costs, in the Pacific Northwest, where everything is brutally more expensive than anywheere else:

Weaner pig: $65
Feed: $225 (with a heavy subsidy of garden gleaings)
Processing: $200 + curing charges (USDA inspected, vacuum packed)
Subtotal: $490 per pig

Other Costs - Here is where everyone gets turned sideways and loses money on pigs. These are all infrastructure costs ammoratized over a 2 year period, assuming 5 pigs per year:

Shelter: $18 per pig
Electric Polywire/Netting: $21 per pig
Fountains/Tanks: $4 per pig
Feeders: $5 per pig
Transport to Slaughter: $10 per pig
Insurance: ?? (too many variables to assing it simply to your pork)

I shoot for 250-285 hanging weight. It seems like a waste to do them any sooner as the bacon is too skinny for my tastes.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
Pigs can't eat grass. They may graze it, but don't have stomachs able to digest or get energy from it. I still find farms marketing "grass fed pork" which is simply laughable. I think they mean to say "Pastured".

Roots, however, are another matter. If you have unwanted blackberries, they will really do the job on anything in their pen.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
What would it look like if you were confined to a 20x20 area? That's way too small.

I raised my pigs in a 100' x 100' area last year, then moved them into portable netting which was at a minimum 40' x 40'. I moved that once they had plowed the entire area. Pigs must be allowed to wallow to stay cool. It's just what pigs do, use it to your advantage.

Pigs can go where John Deere can't.

 

[FarmGirl01]

This is what the two of them did to my pasture.
They ate every root, weed, etc... I was very pleased with them, as this is my dry lot for the mule that I have that grass founders in the spring. It was completely plowed.

 

[LoneCowboy]

We got our little piggy's today. I think they are smaller than they should be for feeder pigs. They only weight 15-20 lbs each. I was hoping for more like 40 lbs.

We have them in a 14' X 32' area. That's more than the book said, is that too small? They have the old compost pile to play in.

They cost us $40 each.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

Quote:
Most folks around here recommend 40-50 pounds for a weiner pig. Our pig last summer was only 5-10 when we got him from a gal who didnt know anything about pigs. He was the grand prize from a radio call in show and went to 3 different homes prior to us getting him.

The smaller the size run the more often you'll have to clean up to keep them healthy and happy.

 

[wynedot55]

Quote:
sounds like you got a lil weaner pigglett.because a feeder pigglett is like you say 30 or 40lbs.so you need to figure feeding the pig an extra 60 days.you can also feed him spoiled milk pored over his corn chopps an shorts.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Mine were close to 25 lbs when I got them.

 

[LoneCowboy]

How long did it take to grow out a 25 lb pig to market weight?

 

[greyfields]

About 2 more weeks than a 30 lb weaner pig. So, in the long run, it's not a huge deal. The biggest deal is to make sure they were actually weaned, and not just sold to you while still getting a large part of their diet from milk. In that case, they're going to not gain well while their diet is adjusting.

When I get my weaners, I always put the guy off an extra week to pick them up just to be sure. He knows I'm doing it, and that's probably why I pay $65 instead of $60. But, you can't beat milk for raising pigs.

That's why we have Nubian goats. In the long run, they'll be feeding my pigs and making sure they put on great weight early on.