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Posted: 7/21/2015 10:55:55 AM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Had five Berkshire bacon seeds show up 2 days ago. 
The piglets are doing well--two gilts, three boarlets. We notched years yesterday and will probably castrate the three boys tonight. It's always amazing how strong hogs look when they come out of the womb. I'm curious, is five the "typical" head count for Berkshires? |
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Posted: 7/23/2015 1:49:35 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It's always amazing how strong hogs look when they come out of the womb. I'm curious, is five the "typical" head count for Berkshires? This is our first Berkshire litter so I don't really know. FWIW, I've read that Berks will often have smaller first litters. After that, I believe they have litters that are equal in size to most other hogs. |
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Posted: 7/27/2015 9:35:33 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This is our first Berkshire litter so I don't really know. FWIW, I've read that Berks will often have smaller first litters. After that, I believe they have litters that are equal in size to most other hogs. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
It's always amazing how strong hogs look when they come out of the womb. I'm curious, is five the "typical" head count for Berkshires? This is our first Berkshire litter so I don't really know. FWIW, I've read that Berks will often have smaller first litters. After that, I believe they have litters that are equal in size to most other hogs. I see what you mean.. After a few google searches it looks like around eight or more is the norm. What was really interesting while reading is that the breed fell out of favor not because of their taste but because of what big industry thought the consumer wanted, less fat and white meat. |
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Posted: 8/5/2015 9:29:57 PM EDT
[#4]
I'm going to kill my smallest hog on Friday & we'll roast it on Saturday. I'm estimating he's around 75-85 lbs. We did this last year & it was a hoot! Nothing like a day running the pit.
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Posted: 8/7/2015 2:05:13 AM EDT
[#5]
Pigs are also great for cleaning up june/july fruit drops filled with pests, they break the pest cycle, and get fat and happy. We raked these up for them but we hope as the system grows to have them move through the orchard during the drop season for them to clean it up themselves. Plus one more time after fruit to clean up the remaining drops then off to the butcher....
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Posted: 8/7/2015 11:20:42 AM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Pigs are also great for cleaning up june/july fruit drops filled with pests, they break the pest cycle, and get fat and happy. We raked these up for them but we hope as the system grows to have them move through the orchard during the drop season for them to clean it up themselves. Plus one more time after fruit to clean up the remaining drops then off to the butcher.... https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11800285_1681846062049176_5452688611131134489_n.jpg?oh=26ab420e83730fb23b958c4718fb38e8&oe=5643F6F3 Converting rotten, pest filled apples into bacon. Genius! Make some cider and that would be one heck of a meal. |
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Posted: 8/7/2015 11:35:27 AM EDT
[#7]
Well it's about fair time. Our boys and girls are all above 200# eating good and getting walked every day.
The only issue we had was rain. Our portion of OH received record rainfall from June into July. As in the most rain ever recorded in that time period since records started being kept in the 1870's. We had 14+ inches of rain in 29 days. Thus, we had a flooded hog enclosure a few times. They didn't seem to mind though. 
The flood... 
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Posted: 8/15/2015 12:30:29 AM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Pigs are also great for cleaning up june/july fruit drops filled with pests, they break the pest cycle, and get fat and happy. We raked these up for them but we hope as the system grows to have them move through the orchard during the drop season for them to clean it up themselves. Plus one more time after fruit to clean up the remaining drops then off to the butcher.... https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11800285_1681846062049176_5452688611131134489_n.jpg?oh=26ab420e83730fb23b958c4718fb38e8&oe=5643F6F3 Be careful with that. Pigs are notoriously hard on trees in a small pasture environment. They will use them as back rub posts and rub all the bark off the bottom two feet of tree, killing it. |
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Posted: 8/15/2015 11:04:28 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Converting rotten, pest filled apples into bacon. Genius! Make some cider and that would be one heck of a meal. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Pigs are also great for cleaning up june/july fruit drops filled with pests, they break the pest cycle, and get fat and happy. We raked these up for them but we hope as the system grows to have them move through the orchard during the drop season for them to clean it up themselves. Plus one more time after fruit to clean up the remaining drops then off to the butcher.... https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11800285_1681846062049176_5452688611131134489_n.jpg?oh=26ab420e83730fb23b958c4718fb38e8&oe=5643F6F3 Converting rotten, pest filled apples into bacon. Genius! Make some cider and that would be one heck of a meal. Cider would be for the fall drops, and that is a plan as well. I make around 10 gallons of cider a year, I need bigger barrels to keep up with the demand though. Quoted:
Quoted:
Pigs are also great for cleaning up june/july fruit drops filled with pests, they break the pest cycle, and get fat and happy. We raked these up for them but we hope as the system grows to have them move through the orchard during the drop season for them to clean it up themselves. Plus one more time after fruit to clean up the remaining drops then off to the butcher.... https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11800285_1681846062049176_5452688611131134489_n.jpg?oh=26ab420e83730fb23b958c4718fb38e8&oe=5643F6F3 Be careful with that. Pigs are notoriously hard on trees in a small pasture environment. They will use them as back rub posts and rub all the bark off the bottom two feet of tree, killing it. We will run fencing around the trees to keep the pigs off the trees but allow them to get close enough to get the drops. |
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Posted: 8/16/2015 5:19:10 PM EDT
[#10]
This thread inspired me to start raising pigs again. I pick up 2 15wk old York/Duroc mix for $60 each tomorrow after work.
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Posted: 8/16/2015 5:27:54 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This thread inspired me to start raising pigs again. I pick up 2 15wk old York/Duroc mix for $60 each tomorrow after work. Good price. |
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Posted: 8/18/2015 11:46:17 PM EDT
[#12]
Pigs have been moved to a new paddock:
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Posted: 8/19/2015 1:43:53 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryThey are going to clean all that up for you and they will love those saplings. |
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Posted: 8/19/2015 3:36:34 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
They are going to clean all that up for you and they will love those saplings. Quote HistoryQuoted:
They are going to clean all that up for you and they will love those saplings. Yup this is the 4th or 5th paddock they have been moved to, I need to get some after pictures to see the difference. |
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Posted: 8/22/2015 7:01:18 AM EDT
[#15]
We have 2 Tamworths and 3 Berks (and a damn potbelly the wife drug home). 1 Tam and 2 Berks are knocked up - so about 30 to 40 piglets should hit the ground in a month or so. Going to get mighty interesting!
eta: 2 Berks, not 1 are knocked up |
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Posted: 8/22/2015 11:26:54 AM EDT
[#16]
How long does it take to ween piglets?
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Posted: 8/22/2015 11:40:59 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
How long does it take to ween piglets? It depends a lot on how you raise them, genetics and breed. The tamworths are usually weaned at about 8 weeks. The berks - that's a new one, but I'll say 8 weeks is about the safest. We got our current 3 when they were only a few weeks old. they were definitely not weaned and the person we got them from, didn't know much about pigs at all. He kept them in a completely enclosed 50x25 barn with no wallow and nowhere to get in the sun or grass. We basically took them out of compassion - I doubted that they'd survive past a few days once we got them home. |
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