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Posted: 6/16/2011 8:12:04 AM EDT
Well, pigs are back on the homestead.
I had a really hard time finding feeders this year. Picked up six 40 pounders yesterday at a big commercial hog farm. The farmer was nice enough to sell us a few and give the family a tour of his operation. That was very interesting and impressive. No odor to speak of in the piglet houses and only a mild odor in the finishing barn. That says a lot considering he has 7000 pigs on the farm. These are Hampshire-Yorkshire crosses. We'll see how they do in the sun. I dug a wallow for them which I think they'll appreciate in the hot weather. The kids enjoy the little pigs. The pigs are small enough at this point that there aren't really pressing safety issues. In a couple months the kids won't want to go in with them. Not much else to report......using the same pellleted feed as last year, bedding them on straw and not running any electric fence again. Watering them on two hog nipples. 
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Posted: 6/16/2011 8:17:27 AM EDT
[#1]
Mmmmmmmmmmmm Bacon.
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Posted: 6/16/2011 8:20:12 AM EDT
[#2]
I'm jealous!
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Posted: 6/16/2011 9:39:50 AM EDT
[#3]
Quoted:No odor to speak of in the piglet houses and only a mild odor in the finishing barn. That says a lot considering he has 7000 pigs on the farm.
Can you go into a little more detail in how the waste is handled? I assume sloped concrete floor into gutters and daily water spray going into a below ground septic tank? btw, the little piggies are sunburned (last pic) likely they were housed indoors and exposure to sun. See how they are crowding the vegetation next to the fence in one pic. The plastic shed probably lacks air circulation (cut a hole on the opposite side of the opening) so is hotter than natural shade . I cant see the whole fenced area so there may be other sources of shade. Those are some big 40pounders. Were they weighed. Your height please for size reference (pic #4) Awesome pics - I hope I dont come out sounding like a critical know it all. I enjoyed the pics. I helped raise pigs growing up in a tropical island.
thanks |
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Posted: 6/16/2011 10:06:59 AM EDT
[#4]
I just recently found your Pigs 2010 thread and I loved it. You have inspired me to get my own. We are in the process of selling our home and moving to the country so we can have some bacon that hopefull is as outstanding looking as yours. Thank you very much for posting this!
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Posted: 6/16/2011 10:17:28 AM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
I just recently found your Pigs 2010 thread and I loved it. You have inspired me to get my own. We are in the process of selling our home and moving to the country so we can have some bacon that hopefull is as outstanding looking as yours. Thank you very much for posting this! 
Good luck with things.
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Posted: 6/16/2011 10:23:26 AM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
Quoted:No odor to speak of in the piglet houses and only a mild odor in the finishing barn. That says a lot considering he has 7000 pigs on the farm.
Can you go into a little more detail in how the waste is handled? I assume sloped concrete floor into gutters and daily water spray going into a below ground septic tank? btw, the little piggies are sunburned (last pic) likely they were housed indoors and exposure to sun. Actually an even better system than sloped concrete––rubberized grids that sit over sluiceways that take the waste to holding tanks. Yes, sun is an issue though the little pig in that pic doesn't have as much burn as you think. A lot of that is camera artifact. In any case, that's why I prefer colored pigs as I believe they handle sun better. |
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Posted: 6/16/2011 10:42:46 AM EDT
[#7]
These pig threads are the best threads in arfcom. (I like the chicken and rabbits too)
What price, may I ask, did you have to give for them? |
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Posted: 6/16/2011 10:50:52 AM EDT
[#8]
They were $70 each.
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Posted: 6/16/2011 1:01:10 PM EDT
[#9]
Quoted:
They were $70 each. I decided to try pigs this year and had a heck of a time finding some. I paid $50/ea for two 25lb piglets. There are pics of them linked in the thread I had going. I guess I need to update it. You mention you aren't using electric fence this year.... why is that? I made a square with 16ft panels and put hot wire aroung the bottom of the inside to keep them from rooting under.... it seems to have "saved my bacon". lol |
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Posted: 6/16/2011 1:14:56 PM EDT
[#10]
Subscribed. I look forward to this thread each year.
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Posted: 6/16/2011 1:28:02 PM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
Subscribed. I look forward to this thread each year. You're not the only one. 
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Posted: 6/16/2011 3:12:44 PM EDT
[#12]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Subscribed. I look forward to this thread each year. You're not the only one. me too |
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Posted: 6/16/2011 3:23:09 PM EDT
[#13]
Look good!
Prices have been high this year, at least around here, so I think you did alright. Always jumps up for spring pigs anyway, and some folks like to gouge the 4-H kids a little. 
I'm sticking with my contrarian fall pigs, but since we're ALMOST thru last years, and haven't started this year's, I may skip this coming winter. Will have to get my hog fix via you! |
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Posted: 6/16/2011 3:25:31 PM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
I'm sticking with my contrarian fall pigs, but since we're ALMOST thru last years, and haven't started this year's, I may skip this coming winter. I predict you'll get some pigs. You won't be able to resist. 
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Posted: 6/16/2011 3:28:43 PM EDT
[#15]
Quoted:
You mention you aren't using electric fence this year.... why is that? I made a square with 16ft panels and put hot wire aroung the bottom of the inside to keep them from rooting under.... it seems to have "saved my bacon". lol I had reasonable success last year without a hot wire and am trying that approach again. When it comes time to haul them it's kinda a PITA to cut into the hot wire to jack the trailer in. No real reason other than that.
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Posted: 6/16/2011 4:01:59 PM EDT
[#16]
would anyone care to link me to the 2010 thread? i couldn't find it
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Posted: 6/17/2011 3:30:32 AM EDT
[#17]
You end up with more and more pigs every year.
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Posted: 6/17/2011 9:07:36 AM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
You end up with more and more pigs every year. We're selling two of them to a friend. That'll leave us with four which is what we've raised the last few years. I considered getting more but decided against it as I think that getting six would change the dynamic in the pen. Plus I don't know if six hogs would fit well in that hootch.
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Posted: 6/17/2011 9:26:52 AM EDT
[#19]
What are weaners going for in your neck-o-the-woods? (Open to everyone)
$85 -$105 here. I have got a lock on 4-6 for $70, I think we are going to negotiate a little lower for a group buy. |
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Posted: 6/17/2011 9:29:15 AM EDT
[#20]
I am in in this one, got 2 this year. Cost $130 each from a friend with a micro-farm.
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Posted: 6/17/2011 10:35:45 AM EDT
[#21]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Subscribed. I look forward to this thread each year. You're not the only one. me too +4 |
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Posted: 6/17/2011 1:23:35 PM EDT
[#22]
Quoted:
What are weaners going for in your neck-o-the-woods? (Open to everyone) $85 -$105 here. I have got a lock on 4-6 for $70, I think we are going to negotiate a little lower for a group buy. Spring until this time of year $70-120 around here. I've paid a s little as $15 in the fall, seen them go for $9. Have a lady I've bought a few times from in teh past: whatver we can catch is $30. Kids cornered a couple 70 lbers last fall.
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Posted: 6/17/2011 2:22:27 PM EDT
[#23]
Feral:
Over the years you've experimented with growing various things for the pigs (I remember squash) as well as looting the farmers markets for discarded fruit and such. Any plans to do this again? Did you find that growing vegetables for the piggies to be worth the trouble insofar as it concerns weight gain in the piggies? |
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Posted: 6/17/2011 8:26:56 PM EDT
[#24]
Speaking of supplementing their feed, have you ever considered growing jerusalem artichokes in the pen for the piggies before bringing them home?
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Posted: 6/18/2011 12:58:01 PM EDT
[#25]
Taggity tag.
Feral, easy peazy to put a gap in the hot wire. You don't wanna? |
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Posted: 6/18/2011 2:46:53 PM EDT
[#26]
Quoted:
Over the years you've experimented with growing various things for the pigs (I remember squash) as well as looting the farmers markets for discarded fruit and such. Any plans to do this again? Did you find that growing vegetables for the piggies to be worth the trouble insofar as it concerns weight gain in the piggies? Quoted:
Speaking of supplementing their feed, have you ever considered growing jerusalem artichokes in the pen for the piggies before bringing them home? We fed a lot of squash to the pigs that year, so much so that they started turning their noses up at it. That says a lot as pigs really like squash. Now we were free choice feeding commercial hog feed at the time, so it wasn't like they were particularly hungry hogs. But it was interesting nonetheless to see them turn their noses up to the squash. Overall, I didn't see much reduction in the total feed bill when we were feeding squash and fruit, if any. But I don't think we did it "right" if feed bill reduction was the goal. It would've been much more productive, IMO, to have planted out a large area in field corn, squash, beans and something like Jerusalem artichokes. Then the pigs could be turned out sequentially in that plot. |
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Posted: 6/18/2011 2:49:34 PM EDT
[#27]
Quoted: Quoted: Over the years you've experimented with growing various things for the pigs (I remember squash) as well as looting the farmers markets for discarded fruit and such. Any plans to do this again? Did you find that growing vegetables for the piggies to be worth the trouble insofar as it concerns weight gain in the piggies? Quoted: Speaking of supplementing their feed, have you ever considered growing jerusalem artichokes in the pen for the piggies before bringing them home? We fed a lot of squash to the pigs that year, so much so that they started turning their noses up at it. That says a lot as pigs really like squash. Now we were free choice feeding commercial hog feed at the time, so it wasn't like they were particularly hungry hogs. But it was interesting nonetheless to see them turn their noses up to the squash. Overall, I didn't see much reduction in the total feed bill when we were feeding squash and fruit, if any. But I don't think we did it "right" if feed bill reduction was the goal. It would've been much more productive, IMO, to have planted out a large area in field corn, squash, beans and something like Jerusalem artichokes. Then the pigs could be turned out sequentially in that plot. Any plans for planting veggies specifically for the piggies this year? |
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Posted: 6/20/2011 4:34:37 AM EDT
[#28]
Quoted:
Feral, easy peazy to put a gap in the hot wire. You don't wanna? I'm not averse to running a hot wire but I'd probably couple that effort with revamping their pen geometry. I'm not entirely happy with the current set-up. |
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Posted: 6/20/2011 4:35:42 AM EDT
[#29]
Any plans for planting veggies specifically for the piggies this year? I may put in some late season squash. Not sure yet. |
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Posted: 6/20/2011 8:51:32 AM EDT
[#30]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Over the years you've experimented with growing various things for the pigs (I remember squash) as well as looting the farmers markets for discarded fruit and such. Any plans to do this again? Did you find that growing vegetables for the piggies to be worth the trouble insofar as it concerns weight gain in the piggies? Quoted:
Speaking of supplementing their feed, have you ever considered growing jerusalem artichokes in the pen for the piggies before bringing them home? We fed a lot of squash to the pigs that year, so much so that they started turning their noses up at it. That says a lot as pigs really like squash. Now we were free choice feeding commercial hog feed at the time, so it wasn't like they were particularly hungry hogs. But it was interesting nonetheless to see them turn their noses up to the squash. Overall, I didn't see much reduction in the total feed bill when we were feeding squash and fruit, if any. But I don't think we did it "right" if feed bill reduction was the goal. It would've been much more productive, IMO, to have planted out a large area in field corn, squash, beans and something like Jerusalem artichokes. Then the pigs could be turned out sequentially in that plot. I saw the same behavior from the feral I raised. She got to be a picky eater after a few months. Oddly enough, at the beginning, she did not like dried corn. I soured some and she ate that. Eventually, she stopped eating the soured and wanted it dry again. She always ate any sweets (old cookies, leftover cake, etc.). And she always ate any protein (left over steak, fried chicken bones, fish guts/skin, meat trimmings, ...) Other foods she would eat once or twice, then ignore. This was especially true of vegetables. She always ate lettuce, and at first she ate any thing green/produce. Eventually, she ate only the lettuce and would ignore other vegetable scraps searching for protein. TRG |
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Posted: 6/20/2011 9:07:04 AM EDT
[#31]
This one's favorite was clam linguini. Fo figure.
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Posted: 6/20/2011 10:28:30 PM EDT
[#32]
tag loved last years thread.
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Posted: 6/21/2011 11:04:00 AM EDT
[#33]
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Posted: 6/21/2011 3:57:00 PM EDT
[#34]
i can't wait for the day that we can have pigs...
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Posted: 6/22/2011 2:53:35 AM EDT
[#35]
Feral I must admit watching your posts over the years has inspired me! First chickens now this. Thanks for the great posts.
I also had a difficult time finding pigs. I paid $65 each. They are about 60 lbs. 
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Posted: 6/22/2011 3:27:17 AM EDT
[#36]
Quoted:
Feral I must admit watching your posts over the years has inspired me! First chickens now this. Thanks for the great posts. I also had a difficult time finding pigs. I paid $65 each. They are about 60 lbs. http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/2208/cimg0170k.jpg Let the fun commence!
Sounds like you did well on that price. What are you feeding? Gonna keep all six? |
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Posted: 6/22/2011 3:53:19 AM EDT
[#37]
It will be interesting to see their pen in a couple days/weeks. I bet there won't be a whole lot of green left!
Good luck. |
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Posted: 6/22/2011 4:23:28 AM EDT
[#38]
Pigs the same size around here were going for $100 in the spring. I'm feed them a high protein mash that my brother-in-law makes up (he has a feed store
). One (the big one) for me and the rest are for family.
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Posted: 6/22/2011 7:05:11 AM EDT
[#39]
I love your thread. I mention this to my wife and she said 'No'. 'Honey, instead of raising them, why don't you just shoot them when they come to root the pasture?' Oh well. She's right.
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Posted: 6/23/2011 5:23:24 AM EDT
[#40]
Nice, Feral!
Got our first piggies in Feb this year. They were around 35lbs a piece. i don't know how much they weigh now, but it is time to GO! Getting rid of the 2 boars and keeping the sow - going to see about getting her bred. They are yorkshire crosses as well. The sow and middle boar escaped from their pen yesterday while I was at work, so my wife, kids and mother traipsed all over the farm chasing them back to the pen. They've been good till now. No idea why they decided to bust out now...they have water and food! One thing i did learn over the past few months...nothing clears land like a pig. Goats can "trim" some bushes, but a hog will flat get rid of them! We have 2 GREAT clearings now...going to plant mangels and oats for the next batch... |
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Posted: 6/23/2011 3:24:40 PM EDT
[#41]
OK pig lovers.... quick question.... I have two pigs that are probably 80-90lbs ea. I have a pan full of scraps and two carcusses that we smoked and picked clean. I've been told that pigs will eat ANYTHING, but I wasn't so sure about throwing these bones in to younger pigs. Is it ok or should they just go in the burn barrel to be safe?
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Posted: 6/23/2011 3:56:40 PM EDT
[#42]
Quoted:
OK pig lovers.... quick question.... I have two pigs that are probably 80-90lbs ea. I have a pan full of scraps and two carcusses that we smoked and picked clean. I've been told that pigs will eat ANYTHING, but I wasn't so sure about throwing these bones in to younger pigs. Is it ok or should they just go in the burn barrel to be safe? The feral hog I raised would eat some meat from the bones. She preferred the scraps to be bone free. They probably do not have the jaw strength needed to crush large bones, but mine could (and would) eat chicken bones. TRG |
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Posted: 6/23/2011 6:23:00 PM EDT
[#43]
Quoted:
Quoted:
OK pig lovers.... quick question.... I have two pigs that are probably 80-90lbs ea. I have a pan full of scraps and two carcusses that we smoked and picked clean. I've been told that pigs will eat ANYTHING, but I wasn't so sure about throwing these bones in to younger pigs. Is it ok or should they just go in the burn barrel to be safe? The feral hog I raised would eat some meat from the bones. She preferred the scraps to be bone free. They probably do not have the jaw strength needed to crush large bones, but mine could (and would) eat chicken bones. TRG Thank you sir!!! I tossed them in the burn barrel... not worth the risk. |
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Posted: 6/24/2011 2:34:08 PM EDT
[#44]
Picked up some today.
I got 10, he had 15 more ready and another 15 a week out. I got them for $60 and listed them on CL for $85-100. If I can sell them I will go pick up more. I really only have room for 6 max. |
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Posted: 6/24/2011 4:53:39 PM EDT
[#45]
Quoted:
Picked up some today. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=30242 http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=30243 I got 10, he had 15 more ready and another 15 a week out. I got them for $60 and listed them on CL for $85-100. If I can sell them I will go pick up more. I really only have room for 6 max. Good price and they look stout too.
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Posted: 6/27/2011 11:53:18 AM EDT
[#46]
Quoted:
Picked up some today. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=30242 http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=30243 I got 10, he had 15 more ready and another 15 a week out. I got them for $60 and listed them on CL for $85-100. If I can sell them I will go pick up more. I really only have room for 6 max. I wish my pigs lookded that meaty. Different breeds I guess. 
Cedric with the dots and Osgood in the white. Pic was a couple weeks back. Steady diet of scraps and supplemented with oats and letting them root around the yard. My back yard is mostly crabgrass and dandelions so they are not hurting anything. Occasional poultry who met their demise early. This is my first batch and I readily admit that I have no freaking clue as to what we are doing. Primary reason for having them is to till up the back section of yard to make a place for a raspberry patch. I used dog kennel sections to fence off where the compost pit was, tore out the pit, and let the pigs do their thing. It is absolutely amazing how much they can do with that snout. Is .22lr going to be enough to cleanly harvest them when it comes time? Next caliber up is 9mm. Was thinking .22 because I have a can for that but can use a .223 one as well. |
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Posted: 6/27/2011 12:52:48 PM EDT
[#47]
Quoted:
This is my first batch and I readily admit that I have no freaking clue as to what we are doing. Primary reason for having them is to till up the back section of yard to make a place for a raspberry patch. I used dog kennel sections to fence off where the compost pit was, tore out the pit, and let the pigs do their thing. It is absolutely amazing how much they can do with that snout. Is .22lr going to be enough to cleanly harvest them when it comes time? Next caliber up is 9mm. Was thinking .22 because I have a can for that but can use a .223 one as well. Yep, they're little bulldozers.
Are they, um, living in you're backyard kinda like dogs? If so, that might get old when they get big. Rimfire is adequate for killing them. |
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Posted: 6/27/2011 1:11:41 PM EDT
[#48]
Quoted:
Quoted:
This is my first batch and I readily admit that I have no freaking clue as to what we are doing. Primary reason for having them is to till up the back section of yard to make a place for a raspberry patch. I used dog kennel sections to fence off where the compost pit was, tore out the pit, and let the pigs do their thing. It is absolutely amazing how much they can do with that snout. Is .22lr going to be enough to cleanly harvest them when it comes time? Next caliber up is 9mm. Was thinking .22 because I have a can for that but can use a .223 one as well. Yep, they're little bulldozers.
Are they, um, living in you're backyard kinda like dogs? If so, that might get old when they get big. Rimfire is adequate for killing them. They are not running free in the back yard. I have a pen made from a dog kennel set up for them with logs around it now to keep them from mangling it. I just let them out from time to time. Goal is to use pigs and chickens to tear up patches of ground to make more planting area for berries and other permaculture stuff so the containment needs to be something that can be moved. I do let them out from time to time into the back yard. They seem to like to run a little. Putting some oats into their feed bowl brings them back to the pen pretty fast. The pen surrounds where i used to have a compost pit. It worked out well to till everything in. I'll move the pen to another spot next year. I also used the pen to make a space for the broilers. I got net over them to keep out the eagles, ravens, owls, hawks, other chickens, etc. |
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Posted: 6/27/2011 2:15:17 PM EDT
[#49]
I had bad luck trying to kill a domestic pig with a .22. I was using a pistol, so perhaps velocity played a role, but the bullets just would not penetrate the skull adequately. I ended up using a .30 carbine to finish the job. One and done.
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Posted: 6/27/2011 2:18:40 PM EDT
[#50]
Quoted:
I had bad luck trying to kill a domestic pig with a .22. I was using a pistol, so perhaps velocity played a role, but the bullets just would not penetrate the skull adequately. I ended up using a .30 carbine to finish the job. One and done. You did something wrong. Even a lowly 22LR Short will go through-and-through a hog's skull. Front entry, rear exit. Good chance you were missing the brain pocket, it's not *that* big of a target after all. TRG |
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