Pig Bliss

[rustbreeches]

So happy! I have 11 pigs with a butcher date in March, and I just bought 10 more that should be ready to go in June. I love pigs, I love having an outlet for scraps, and I love that you can use everything but the squeal. I love bacon and sausage and cottage bacon and grilled tenderloin.

Pigs are wonderful! The competitive show circuit around here has made weaner pigs really expensive, but this litter was not born at an optimal time to show.

And though my bacon eating prowess is impressive, we are not eating all these! We use them as employee bonuses and I sell a few to cover the cost of purchasing them.

[Chestnut_Run]

I like bacon. Lol. The rest of the pig too. We just bought our farm last year and are still building horse facilities. But I’d like to raise a few pigs in the future, mainly one for us and one or two to sell to help cover the cost of raising ours.

Any advice for a pig newbie since you seem to really like pigs? Or books you would recommend? My husband is worried about the smell and them being dangerous. I’m thinking we butcher before they get to a really dangerous size. We have no desire to breed pigs.

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

[QUOTE=Chestnut Run;7905948]
I like bacon. Lol. The rest of the pig too. We just bought our farm last year and are still building horse facilities. But I’d like to raise a few pigs in the future, mainly one for us and one or two to sell to help cover the cost of raising ours.

Any advice for a pig newbie since you seem to really like pigs? Or books you would recommend? My husband is worried about the smell and them being dangerous. I’m thinking we butcher before they get to a really dangerous size. We have no desire to breed pigs.[/QUOTE]

Make sure you have a really strong fence that they can’t get out of, electric fence will help too. Make sure they have a place to get in out the sun and other elements. Otherwise they’re pretty easy to take care of.

[cutter99]

Rustbreeches- PEDV has really done a number on pig prices this year. Pennsylvania got hit really hard with it last year and we’re shocked at what we were getting for pigs!

[cowboymom]

It’s a good year to be in the meat business! Cows are crazy high.

I always want to get a few pigs to raise and butcher. DH grew up with hogs that the family used for a main portion of their diet and I wish we had them too. We can butcher and process them ourselves. DH is afraid I will become “attached” and we will have a bunch of pet pigs. Can’t imagine where he got that idea… :uhoh:

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=cutter99;7906013]
Rustbreeches- PEDV has really done a number on pig prices this year. Pennsylvania got hit really hard with it last year and we’re shocked at what we were getting for pigs![/QUOTE]

What are you getting for weaners with shots and castrated? The off season price here is usually $90-100. I got all 10 of these @ $60. Show season prices easily double.

Chestnut Run, cutter99 is probably a much better person to talk to, I just have these pigs as a hobby. A hobby that should net me $2000 for vacation this summer.

We raise the pigs on waste milk, that is milk from cows that either just calved, or are being treated for illness. That milk doesn’t go in the bulk tank, so we just dump it unless someone wants it for pigs or calves. We also feed flaked corn and push up feed that is what the cows didn’t eat that day. So essentially, we don’t have to pay to feed them. And they fatten very quickly on milk, as opposed to just solid food

We have found it way more cost effective to buy them when they are weaned, as opposed to trying to farrow. That is hard work, and you need to have the right set-up for it.

Pigs need a very tight, sturdy fence. We use the galvanized hog panels and t-posts. Pigs need good shelter, ours is built of straw bales. Pigs don’t sweat, so a shady, wet place is essential in hot weather. I re-wet the wallow in their pen at least once a day in the summer. Pigs are actually very clean, given the opportunity. They use one area of their corral to defecate, and only that area. They also love the fluffy straw beds in the winter.

Also, don’t put them too close to a dirt road. They are susceptible to dust pneumonia. We feed enough clabbered milk that pig scours aren’t a problem.

When we go to load, we work the pigs with panels, or pallets. You aren’t going to stop a 300lb hog like you can a horse or cow. They aren’t made to maneuver. I am always wary when dealing with an omnivore that weights twice what I do, but as log as you aren’t sticking your hands into the pen, they shouldn’t hurt you.

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=cowboymom;7906058]
It’s a good year to be in the meat business! Cows are crazy high.

I always want to get a few pigs to raise and butcher. DH grew up with hogs that the family used for a main portion of their diet and I wish we had them too. We can butcher and process them ourselves. DH is afraid I will become “attached” and we will have a bunch of pet pigs. Can’t imagine where he got that idea… :uhoh:[/QUOTE]

We are culling very heavily because prices are so high. The flip side is springers are through the roof, but milk is holding at right around $25. I feel bad because I know it is in part due to the havoc Atlas wrought on SD, and the drought in the SW. I drove from Padre Island all the way through Texas to CO and it was heartbreaking, the dry lakes and all.

And it is much easier to slaughter when they are no longer cute!

Cutter99, I just played around on CL for PA, to see prices, you guys are higher than us. I

[Mosey_2003]

I was surprised by hogs. My girl friend got two bred sows initially, now has three and a boar. They DO stink. They ARE dangerous. From what I’ve seen in the past couple years, here is the limited advice I would give:

Don’t get sows, buy weaners. You don’t want to deal with farrowing; if you don’t use a crate the sow can turn mean when you need to do things to the piglets, and even if you do it’s a lot of work and there’s no guarantee of live weaners.

Fence like you mean it. Hog panels and electric, if possible. They will test it.

Pick an area you don’t mind turning to mud, they will root and make wallows.

Buy the heaviest equipment you can, ie feeders and waterers. They’re little brutes and especially once they git bigger will ram into and toss things around, especially water tanks. Concrete water tank is really good if you can find one.

If possible, have a cement pad for food and water and a dry place.

And a plan for loading to go to market, they are dense and have a low center of gravity, they will bull through you quite easily if they want.

Have fun! They can be pretty fun to watch :yes:

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

Another thing to make it easier on you Chestnut Run, is since you’re only going to get a couple of pigs, get a strong stick or a sorting paddle from TSC and work on maneuvering the pigs with that. The sooner you start the easier it is to get them out of your way or to where you need them to go. They’re very smart and easy to train.

My pig would sit for bananas :lol:

[Chestnut_Run]

LOL–I didn’t expect so much advice on pigs! I’ll let you all know how it goes for us. We’ve got several acres of woods on the back of our farm. I was thinking about fencing it in really well to put goats on it. Let them clear it out so I can have some trails to ride on. Maybe I’ll put a couple of pigs on it either before or after the goats and see how we get on. Sounds like as long as we’re cautious and set things up right to limit having to handle them or be in the pen with them directly, that pigs aren’t really much more dangerous than other livestock. And being in the wooded section keeps them away from our house or any of the neighbors houses, so as far as smell, should work too.

Thanks for the advice.

And OP, good luck with your piggies and bacon!

[rustbreeches]

You will have so much fun with the pigs! You might even find that you can finance some horse stuff with them. I had already sold all the extras ready in March and I just sold another one today for June!

[ReSomething]

Ollie pig would lay down and roll over. I’d get in there with her when she was little, like 60 pounds, and she’d roll over at my feet and I’d rub her belly and give her scritches and she’d grunt grunt grunt. She didn’t get pregnant though so that was the end of her. They love hard boiled eggs, those can get them to move along pretty well.

Getting the weaners is the best idea if you can find any. They really are destructive, much more so than even the worst horse, the muscles in an adult pig’s neck are designed with rooting in mind and have terrific force. Pig fights are terrifying things to watch and a bloody mess if they’ve got tusks. If they are down in the woods they’ll strip all the underbrush in short order.

We had ours up in the old garden area and they took out a big dead stump for us, we kept tossing corn around the bottom of it and they dug out that too, and then they dug out all the old iron debris and the chunks of bottle glass - and they chewed on that, the bottle glass, not eating it but like it was a quid of tobacco or something, just to have in their mouths - scared me but good but they never died of it. They also ate all the coal that they found from where the old barn stove had been, very enthusiastically. You could get them to beg for that too.

I used to fill up their wallows and then spray them and they would come up to be sprayed and turn around, yep, you DON’T want to name the nice ones. The nasty ones it’s not too hard to knock on the head and enjoy the wonderful roasts!

The trashman bought some of ours, he might still have some for sale CR.

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=cutter99;7906013]
Rustbreeches- PEDV has really done a number on pig prices this year. Pennsylvania got hit really hard with it last year and we’re shocked at what we were getting for pigs![/QUOTE]

It was the opposite at the local county 4-H livestock auction this fall… The number of pigs brought to the fair was tiny… and so were the prices at auction. Parents were pretty disappointed. Most expected good prices for just the reason you stated, but instead, the pigs went well below market value.

[sid]

This thread comes at a good time as I was just thinking about starting a cottage industry on part of the farm I don’t use for horses anymore to raise pigs for some of the finer restaurants in the DC metro area – chefs who want to use locally farmed products. I’ll do more research.

But like another poster I’m afraid I’ll name them and them I’m totally screwed. :lol:

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=sid;7908228]
This thread comes at a good time as I was just thinking about starting a cottage industry on part of the farm I don’t use for horses anymore to raise pigs for some of the finer restaurants in the DC metro area – chefs who want to use locally farmed products. I’ll do more research.[/QUOTE]

Might be able to find some contacts/resources here: http://farmtoforkloudoun.com/

This is a local farm that started with the same concept, though I am not sure they do any livestock… http://eatwellnaturalfarm.com/

[rustbreeches]

Make sure if you are getting weaners, that their eye teeth were clipped, so you don’t get tusks!

I picked my new 10 up this morning. Turns out it is the FFA farm one of the high schools in Greeley has their program in. SO I got a whole mish mash of colors. The Ag teacher said they farrow year round, so I now have a standing order for 10 or 12 every 3 months! Yay!

They are so stinking cute, the kids are going up tomorrow to play with them, it was so cold and snowing and sleeting today.

[cowboymom]

DH and I have been talking about setting up a pig pen here. Hopefully this summer we can get set up for them. I love the straw house, I’ve done that for the goats and dogs here before and it’s a great idea.

[rustbreeches]

https://www.facebook.com/142770192431984/photos/a.817330964975900.1073741826.142770192431984/817593808282949/?type=1&theater

Here is a pic of the Taj MaHog

[Simkie]

WOW.

How are you supporting those bales in the middle?

And good lord, isn’t that like… at least $1k in hay?? Conservatively? My 4 string 3 x 3 bales are about $100/each, and those look like 6 string bales?

[rustbreeches]

[QUOTE=Simkie;7908754]
WOW.

How are you supporting those bales in the middle?

And good lord, isn’t that like… at least $1k in hay?? Conservatively? My 4 string 3 x 3 bales are about $100/each, and those look like 6 string bales?[/QUOTE]

It has drill stem running across to hold up the ‘roof’. And they are straw bales, so we have about $850, give or take in supplies. 20 bales, 1/2 ton to the bale @$85/ton

We buy in such huge quantities, that isn’t really even felt when counting costs. We go through about 35 tons a week in hay alone.

And a happy wife is PRICELESS!!!