info on feeder pigs

[Thyme]

Hi all. We are getting 2 small feeder pigs to fatten up for freezer meat.There is so much info on searches on feeder pig raising. Is there any one site for first time raisers that you recomend? We want to do this organic,hormone free. For everyone who has raised pigs how easy or hard is it?What do we need to watch for?Are going to put them into the old small chick coop (10 x 10 )that has been cleaned & disinfected will this be a problem?Is there any one breed that you like best? thanks

[fancyfowl]

Every breed/color has its share of fans, I like Red/Durocs.

pigs are easy but finding organic feed may be hard and it will probably cost more; i have never used hormones, never knew any pig men who did??

Pigs like the heat, hogs like it cool- make sure you can have a good air exchange if they are going to be housed inside a building. I would be sure they wont be able to root the boards off the shed, they can do wonders with that little snout.

[Anon001]

I think you will end up with a chicken coop that may be unusable after the hogs.

As far as hormones, you won't normally find it in hogs... you will find it in a lot of cattle, but not hogs. Just about the only time hormones are used in hogs is when a sow is pigging.... oxytocin is used then. But otherwise, you won't have to worry about hormones in pigs.... that is a misconception. You should be more worried about the anitbiotics and chemicals that are very common in livestock feeds for ALL types of animals.

I would recommend visiting an old farmer that raised hogs in a lot and not one that raises them on concrete. The smaller the confinement, the more likely you will have to intervene with antibiotics and such. Also, you will need to deworm hogs... There are organic methods, but this really needs to be done.

Good luck.

[Anon001]

I forgot, once you get the feeders some growth, you can feed just grain such as corn or milo... Check with your nearest grain elevators. Elevators always have tons of rotted grain and many times will let you take what you want for free just to get it off their hands. One nice thing about hogs is you won't have to worry about feeding rotten feedstuffs. A hog will pick through and get what they can but a hog will never eat anything that can make it sick.

Two more VERY important things to take note of. NEVER feed any kitchen scraps that contain any type of meat or blood product. The second thing is never let a small animal or small child around pigs without an adult right there. If you do, it can be very tragic. Pigs love meat and the taste of blood and/or raw meat can put them into a frenzy.

Paul

[AlchemyAcres]

......hormone free.

You mean synthetic and un-natural-added-hormone free, right?
'cause hogs naturally contain hormones.

Just askin'...
I know some folks who assume that meat can be totally hormone free.

Anyway....hogs are darn easy to raise....as Paul suggested...look for some cheap feed. :)

~Martin

[Thyme]

Yes sorry i meant the synthetic stuff that is added to feed.Once they are off starter feed I have a corn crib full of organic corn that they will eat. They also have a 32 x 16 *fenced grass area attached to the ex coop for them to be outside. We dont have a extension office here in a 3 county area, they closed down due to no money. Farmers here do cows or sheep or trotter horses. I will be doing this alone as hubby works 15 hrs a day 7 days a week .Thanks for the replys .

[Anon001]

Thyme,

Hormones are never added to any feeds for any animals as far as I know and I worked in the industry for a number of years. The hormones given to animals are given either as implants or injections. With hogs it is a liquid injected at birthing to help them come into their milk quicker and to shorten the farrowing time. In cattle it is a pellet that is implanted between the two layers of hide in the ear. The only reason is for accelerated growth. The cattle that a stockman is saving for replacement heifers will never have hormone. It is use in terminal cattle. But the other chemicals in your processed feeds are much more toxic and much more worrisome than any of the hormone used.

Paul

[momma_to_seven_chi]

When we were younger, my husband worked at a confinement. Since it was a production facility, they did nothing organically, so I can't help you much with that. *I do know the pigs will eat anything though. My family would always keep a few to fatten for our own use every year, and just feed them scraps. When you clean your garden, give them all the extras plus extra milk and eggs and table scraps. We also had the feed store grind a mixture of corn/soybeans/oats for them.

As far as breeds-- The yorkies and durocs were my favorites. The mixes of the two are cute too. *They have the short, cute faces from the yorkshires with the red/spots from the durocs. *They aren't the highest producers, but they are sooooo cute. *If they wanted better production they went for landrace and hamps. Landrace are long white pigs that tend to have 10+ piglets. Hamps are most common black/wht ones that you see on most farms.
The large poland chinas died very easily in the heat. *They were HUGE tall black hogs, but were not worth the cost because they lost so many in hot weather. *They had to be kept in air conditioning. The confinement gave up on them due to the cost of loss. *And on top of their heat intolerance, they were the worst sows due to lay-over issues. *If they kept three or four piglets out of ten, it was a good litter. *

And I can tell you that swine dig terribly. *They will dig out of any pen or any building that doesn't have a concrete floor. *You might have to think about that in your building. *My dad would just ring them, but at the confinement, they ran hotwire around the bottom of the outside pens and put blacktop just along the fencelines to try to prevent digging out. If the sows or feeders were in the buildings, they were in crates, so digging wasn't an issue. Manure/urine is always an issue, so you will need a pit or other way to clean up after them.

If you do try to raise organically, I would still think about things like ivermectin for lice/worms and*iron shots after birth for increased RBC counts. Are you eating these yourself or selling them? *If you try to start your own little herd to sell them, won't you still have to have the herd tested for pseudorabies, etc? I know the vet would come out four times a year to test 10% of the herd for pseudorabies, rhinitis, etc before any feeders or boars could be sold. That might vary by state, but where we are, vaccinations would be a must unless you are eating them yourself. You could avoid medicated feed, but probably need something for lice control and vaccines if you are selling any of these in the future. Even at the salebarns you need to have a vet either test to have a certificate to sell and you have the on-site vet that checks them for simple things like rhinitis.

Sorry this is so long.......... I talk alot even when I type. It's a girl thing.

[Anon001]

Mommato7 has good points. I was around some confinement due to my job in the feed (coop) industry. But, at home, I kept mine in 2 acres of timber. As long as they had that much room, rings, and an electric wire, I never had them dig out. But the smaller the area, the more trouble you have with everything... digging out, bacteria, worms, manure handling, etc. But, if you are just getting a couple hogs once a year to raise outdoors o dirt and use hog panels, you should be fine. Awhile back, I stopped keeping sows year round and now I just buy them once a year, raise them as organic as possible, butcher one and sell the other one or two to a neighbor. The place I raise them now is dirt and hog panels. I have them dig holes but it seems they push dirt up against the hog panels and I haven't had one dig out of it yet, But with any flexible fence, they will.

Mommato7 mentions lice control, but I don't usually have the trouble. If I do, I just spray them with a pyrethrin or permetrin.

Here in Kansas, they don't have to be tested and vaccinated to sell. That goes for most livestock. Some states are much stricter. However, at the sale barns here, there is always a vet on duty and most people will have the animals vaccinated, dewormed, etc before loading them to take them home. Not me. It is a lot cheaper if I do it myself. but, you will want that done before you buy them. I have a squeeze chute for hogs that makes it easy.

One other note that no one has mentioned.... Make certain that if you buy "males", that you get a "barrow" and not a "boar". lol

As for the deworming, there are many options. You can the injectible, water soluble (mixed with drinking water), or powder (mixed in feed). I prefer the powder.

(mommato7.. .. I sure like reading your posts....)

[momma_to_seven_chi]

Thank you, Paul. You are very kind.

You are right about lice too. I hadn't thought about it, but three pigs would be a much different scenario than 3000. In a big group like that lice are always an issue.
Do you just use little hog huts to raise piglets on the ground? If you have a large enough lot, you wouldn't have manure issues either? No lagoon or pit?

[Anon001]

Hi momma... lol

No lagoon or pit. I had two very small farrowing huts outside the main hog lot. When a sow got close to pigging, I would put her in a small pen with the farrowing shed... There were times I wouldn'g get her moved soon enough and the sows would "burrow" a nest in the ground and have the pigs. Then I would get help from a buddy. He would call them up for feeding while I took two five gallon buckets. As soon as you touch the babies, they start squealing. I would have to get them all in the two buckets and race to get back over the fence before momma would get to me. Then all I had to do was put them in the farrowing hut and she would go right to them. It was dangerous but funny. I had to do that more than once.

For lice, I always would pour about a measuring cup full of used motor oil down along the spine, just like when you use pour-on for cattle. That oil would always elimnate the lice and external parasites. I didn't have that trouble very often considering they were in two acres of timber rather than cofinement. But age old practices like these are not "appropriate" in commercial hog facilities.

The farrowing huts were A-frame roofing tin and about 4ft by 6ft and about 6ft tall. When they didn't have a sow and pigs, I would move them (on skids) and use them to brood chicks.

[cinok]

We raised 3 pigs last year year from may to november we had them in a 16x16 (4 hog panels)until september then moved then in a 50 x pen area that we fenced with feild fence we fed them grower ration for a whlie them corn and green scraps they did a heck of a job tilling the area for our garden they are easy to raise. Just like nay animal they reflect how they are treated treat them with respect and they will return it.

[Anon001]

The thing about hogs is that it has been said that they are the smartest of all the domesticated animals. They are one of the very few rare animals that can actually reason things out. That is why they will respond to like treatment and that is why they seem so smart.

[cinok]

I just read my last post I think my pigs could have typed it better ;D ;D

[goodwifefarm]

Hi! You are getting lots of good advice here, but I thought I'd just toss my two cents in ;)

The only thing that I would add that nobody else has touched on too much (except for Paul a little bit) is that hogs can be pretty mean. Even if they don't mean to be mean, they can be mean! I would very strongly suggest that you have it set up so that you can feed them from OUTSIDE the pen/shed or whatever. If you are a small woman carrying a bucket of feed............it could get ugly in a hurry! We've raised hogs off and on for years, and I never ever like to get in the pen with them at feeding time. If you've only got one it isn't near as bad, and of course they are such fun when they are cute little piglets. It's when they start getting upwards of a hundred pounds that things can get outta hand! Having a hog ram it's head in a bucket to get feed and dislodging your arm from your shoulder, while the other hog is crawling up your chest to root the other guy outta the way of the bucket is only fun in the movies!

On a nicer note, I had a pet boar when I was a kid that I bottle fed. His name was Ernie Bob and I loved him dearly. I wouldn't let my dad cut him cause I was afraid that Ernie wouldn't love me anymore. I also wouldn't let him clip his tushes for the same reason. That huge old hog used to suck on my bare toes and follow me everywhere! Gosh I miss him ;)

Happy hoggin!

sarah

[Thyme]

Thanks for all the replys . Piggies will be here next weekend. That is one thing that has me bothered is if they get mean. I have been afraid of pigs since I was 10 & at 4-h they thought it would be funny to take all of us smaller kids & act like they were going to throw us in a hog pen with a huge male they used for breeding.Since I will be the primary care taker of these 2 pigs I'll just have to deal with it.I just keep seeing that lovely roast pork. Nothing better than a pork stuffed with garlic slow cooked with cabbage potatoes carrots& swamp grass.

[AlchemyAcres]

Thanks for all the replys . Piggies will be here next weekend. That is one thing that has me bothered is if they get mean. I have been afraid of pigs since I was 10 & at 4-h they thought it would be funny to take all of us smaller kids & act like they were going to throw us in a hog pen with a huge male they used for breeding.Since I will be the primary care taker of these 2 pigs I'll just have to deal with it.I just keep seeing that lovely roast pork. Nothing better than a pork stuffed with garlic slow cooked with cabbage potatoes carrots& swamp grass.

Naww!!! You're only raising then to standard butcher size (230-250 lbs.), right?
They shouldn't be a problem!!!!


~Martin

[cinok]

Thanks for all the replys *. Piggies will be here next weekend. That is one thing that has me bothered is if they get mean. I have been afraid of pigs since I was 10 & at 4-h they thought it would be funny to take all of us smaller kids & act like they were going to throw us in a hog pen with a huge *male they used for breeding.Since I will be the primary care taker of these 2 pigs I'll just have to deal with it.I just keep seeing that lovely roast pork. Nothing better than a pork *stuffed with garlic slow cooked with cabbage potatoes *carrots& swamp grass.

I can almost guarantee you will find yourself out there talking to them and scratching them behind their ears before to long. Nothing like going out to a full freezer of meat that you raised yourself. Some one did point about walking into a pen with a bucket full of feed, we did have it set up so we could access the feeders from outside since it was one of the kids chores to feed them. They spooked our youngest once when the ran to him ,nothing different then the dog but it did spook him. But at the same time he would spend time petting and talking(If I know him he was telling them how good they would taste) to them.

[huckelberry]

pigs are escape artist...electric fence will be your best friend... ;)