Pig Pricesand other pig questions

[mtnhomechick]

I can get 4 month old pigs for 35.00. Is that a good price?

I have a 10x30 chicken run that I'm not using right now. It's made of cyclone fencing dog run panels. It's not attached to the ground but I think we could probably do that fast with some ribar( sp?).

Do I need to do any thing other than just feed them. I want to get two.

What should a 4 month old pig weigh?

Can I just feed it hog mash?

Thanks,

Mary

 

[justusnak]

$35.00 is a good price for a 4 month old. I am thinking...jeesh, I cant remember for sure, but I think at 4 months old, they should weigh about 50 pounds, maybe a little more?? As for the pen....they are DIGGERS. I mean....if they can get thier nose under it...they will. Even if they can't get thier nose under it....they dig, dig, dig. We used rebar every 3 feet around our pen, and they STILL dug up the fencing between that. Next spring..we will build a better pen, useing RR ties burried all around the perimiter with the fencing attached to the outside, then burried. Hog mash...scraps ( no meat) feed corn. They pretty much eat everything! Make sure they have plenty water, and good dry bedding in a place to get out of the weather. We are haveing one of our hams for Christmas dinner...and if its HALF as good as the chops...I will be happy. There is just no comparison to fresh pork!!

I say...GO GET EM!!!

 

[mtnhomechick]

I just called to get info on the pigs. The seller is barely english speaking but she says they are brown with a white stripe around the middle and weigh about 40 to 50 lb.

What breed would that be and is it good for eating.

I wonder if the pen I have will contain them for a week or so until we can make something sturdier. Right now I DO NOT have rebar. It's just a 10x30 dog kennel with a tarp cover.

 

[greyfields]

That's small for 4 months old. 35 lbs is normal for a weiner pig which is 7 or 8 weeks old. The price is very good, though. I pay $75 per weiner.

Breed doesn't matter. they are all made of pork and how you feed and manage them will have a larger impact.

 

[mtnhomechick]

Well, we're gonna go take a look. I'm thinking electric fencing inside the run. Make sense, Greyfield's?

BTW..she said it was hard for her to actually tell how much they weigh so I'll let ya know.

 

[greyfields]

They're probably heavier then.

You can use a hotwire about 6" off the ground to keep them in. Pigs aren't dumb and don't like to be shocked.

If you have heavy groundcover, you may need to go 8". If you are a drylot, they may be able to slip under 6".

 

[chrissum]

put rings in thier nose before you put them in the pen, this will help with the rooting, also make sure you dont get the runts of the litter, they will take a lot longer to get to butcher weight. The white belt means they are part hampshire.

 

[seedcorn]

40# pig should be no more than 8 weeks old. At 4 months old it should be 150# plus. If it's small and old, then it was a runt and at any price, it's not a good deal unless you have free feed.

 

[mtnhomechick]

Well, I obviously am being challenged by language on this one. It's a hispanic woman who has LOTS of pigs. She had 6 that are about 30 lb. Not sure I'm getting the correct age.

There is no white stripe so don't know how I got that one wrong on the phone.

Anyway, the little ones were just castrated about an hour before I got there.

This is what I THINK she is saying.

She asked her husband to get two pigs to feed scraps to. He came home with a whole bunch of pigs and she already has two going to butcher, one pregnant and one that's 150 lb. She wanted 100 for that one.

She sold the 3 girl pigs today and had the rest of the little boys.

I don't know.......I took two. Will see how it goes

She just had corn thrown on the ground and that's all the food I saw.

If I made a mistake it will be a lesson I guess.

Wish me luck.......they're on the way right now. She's delivering.

Thanks....and I will take any more advice I can get.

Mary

 

[justusnak]

Ohhh, I want to see pics!!!! I just love little piggies!