This little piggie went to the market....

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
In my 16 years as a Swine Nutritionist I have only observed anemia in baby piglets and lactating sows, never have I seen it in growing-finishing pigs fed quality feeding programs.

It is good you had an astute friend to help you with that pig. It is frustrating when something so simple fixes problems.

Jim

 

[dancingbear]

Yeah, everybody said it was unusual for one that age, he was about 4 or 5 months old. But it can happen. It was weird. I was just overwhelmingly relieved that it was something so easily treated. I never figured out why that one, and none of the others had a problem. But as I said, I started giving them some iron from time to time, after that. Not a lot, I wouldn't want to go too far the other way, and have a toxic iron build-up.

 

[becky3086]

Please don't take this wrong, but I am amazed that there is a such thing as a Swine Nutritionist. I am seriously curious to know how you get to be one?

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
I have a M.S. and Ph.D. in Swine Nutrition from a leading Land Grant University. My studies included statistics, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and milling sciences. My Academic Transcripts contain over 300 credit hours and I have been published in four different peer reviewed journals. I spend my days helpign pork producers improve their feeding programs by designing dietary programs to meet the nutritional needs of the pig coupled with the limitations for the feeding and mixing equipment.

Nurtitionists are the ones that design the feeds you provide to your livestock. We review literature, conduct research, and discuss nutrient needs with our peers. This allows us to provide dietary programs that meet the animal's needs.

Jim

 

[becky3086]

Oh I see. Very interesting. I am glad that I asked. Learn something new every day here.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Well, we have about 6 plus inches of snow and it keeps coming. Pigs are down for the night... they sure do go way out of their way to make a nice big bed out of straw. It's funny to watch all six of them scrape all the straw together than fight to get in the middle.

All the girls are doing well... as far as eating goes. But they don't eat near as much as I though they would.... I'm going through about 20 lbs (5 gal bucket) full of pig feed / day now. Today they only ate half. Should I be giving them free choice feed? Our scrap / slop bucket hasn't been filling up lately so they have been solely getting feed.

They have been finding all kinds of goodies under the snow.... they found the pumpkins from fall and are eating all of the roots in the dirt. I can just tell that pigs are at home in the dirt they way they forage for food... it's like those snouts were designed to be little shovels!

We are supposed to get another 6 inches of snow by Monday night so we will see what happens. I may have to shovel them a little play area outside of their pen.... they are using one corner of their hut to do their deed. I guess it maybe too big for them....

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey Jeff!

the old timers will tell you to feed them as much as they will eat in 20 mins..... we fed 2 or 3 times per day (the noon meal was usually snacks - eggs if we didnt give them at morning feed, or whatever we took out of the garden weeds etc). if they found food outside they'll fill up by rooting around. we intentionally put this years in a poison ivy invested part of the pastured so they'd kill it - they did and nope it didnt hurt them and they ate a lot. we also found that they grew in fits and starts - sometimes eating a lot - sometimes not so much. they might also be munching on the straw???

but

if they are significantly off their food for a feeding or two start observing their behavior and signs of illness.

and keep this pic in mind: (post #314)

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3739&p=32



ps we never scalded ours - just skinned them. and if you really want to go old school - torch them
;-)

 

[Brunty_Farms]

You cant' be showing me pictures like that! I may just end up doing one of these pigs early then! Urgg... they have to be at least a couple hundred pounds before you start showing me ham and bacon pictures!

 

[Brunty_Farms]

So the little pigs are too much to handle at the moment. I'm constantly running out to their pen to make sure they don't get out. As they got out twice this week... the first time no biggie. The second time we had the police force here... and since our cops have nothing better to do they all show up to check out the pig adventure. You would have thought that someone just got shot.... nope just a few escapees.

The fence was turned off... by me... I forgot to turn it back on.

Those darn things figured out that it was off. I think they can sense it. SO now they think they can just walk right out of the pen.... I fixed the fence so they are getting shocked good now... but they are so stinkin' stubborn! They haven't figured out yet that the fence is what is shocking them. They stand about 3 feet away and smell for like 2 minutes... and when pigs smell they sound like someone coughing up flem.....

Oh my I didn't sign up for this.

 

[dancingbear]

Jeff, how big is the yard enclosure for your pigs? Mine have never even tried to get out, a few people said they think it's because they have so much space to wander and root. Others say they have a hard time keeping pigs in no matter what.

I wonder if it may have something to do with the different breeds, maybe some are more prone to escaping than others? I have no idea what mine are. Around here, most of the people I've talked to who raise pigs like we did, just keeping them a short time to feed out and butcher, usually don't know what breeds they have. The people we bought ours from didn't know what breeds they were, and they breed them and sell piglets every year.

Do you have any down timber or logs on your place? Maybe you could make a log fence to keep them in. Or if there's a source of free pallets near you, those could be heavy-duty "instant fence panels". I've heard that if you put the fence up outside the electric, the electric discourages them from ripping out the fence panels. Plus they recognize the panels as a physical barrier, being more easily visible for the near-sighted pigs. So you (theoretically) get double reinforcement. They don't want to get zapped, and the see a barrier they can't pass through anyway, so are less inclined to try.