We have decided to raise 2 pigs for meat this year. I am pretty sure I am going with an electric fence. If anyone has a good design pig house please let me know. We want to keep them as "organic" as possible. I would like to know what kind of shots, medications, worming that pigs absolutely need. I want them happy and healthy just not stuffed full of junk. I am getting them in most likely march /April and keeping them thru Oct/nov.
Who raises pigs? Beginner has a few basic questions
Hi Lora,
I'm just posting this to keep it on top and alive. I know nothing about raising pigs. I just can't believe nobody has posted a reply to your questions. Here's an interesting link.
http://extension.unh.edu/Pubs/HGPubs/pigraise.pdf
JB
BTW, I lived in the Nashua area for about 30 years. Too cold for me. Look out for a lot of snow tonight.
Thanks and me too! I was born and raised in Bedford. You wouldn't want to be Nashua now! I spoke with my Mom she said they never needed anything when we were raising them in the 70's, I'd still like a second opinion!
Thanks again!
Check this place...
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29
Julie =0)
My father in law used to feed about 600 head (he fed and took care of them, they were owned by someone else) I took one of the "crippled" pigs they would have culled, and raised her up for butcher. I know we didn't give her anything except cracked corn, fresh water, and sometimes scraps from the table.
I *think* my father in law just fed a pre mixed feed that was brought out in bulk by the feed truck. I know when they were sick (feed truck hadn't emptied out the truck completely one time, and the pigs got some medicated cattle feed!) he had to feed a medicated feed to bring them out of it. They were dropping down, showing signs of paralysis, and I know several died.
We have 3 piglets coming...they were just born about 2 weeks ago I think...anyway, we will be getting them around 40 lbs. I did see a pig feed bag at TSC..not sure if I will go there, or just buy from the feed elevator. We also have cracked corn, so more then likely we will put them on that slowly. I don't recall any meds given, unless they do get sick. I believe LeRoy always had penicillin on hand. That's probably not too much help, but it's all I can think of, lol!
Dawn
I'm normally just a lurker here (I'm eagerly waiting for spring when my first chicks will arrive) but thought I'd pipe up. This is a link to River Cottage, which is the website of a British chef that decided to quit the big city for the country life. In the UK he would be called a smallholder - here in the US, a homesteader. He grows all of his own food, from pigs to parsnips and everything in between. There is loads of valuable information on the website and in the forums. I hope it's useful.
http://www.rivercottage.net/EdibleProjects/Articles.aspx?artid=109&cid=69
http://forum.rivercottage.net/viewforum.php?f=26&sid=45b8c0943f2d55bed27fb9e1e0d7c129
Thanks everyone!
LoraK, Sorry...just reading this. I've been raising pigs for years and I don't give them anything. The only thing is once (in a very blue moon) if they catch a cough, I'll give an injection of Ivomec, I think I've done that 3 times in all the years I've had them. Other than that, my pigs are about as natural as they can get.
I used to live in Massachusetts (born and raised there) and my family still lives there. I know you've had a lot of snow. I can't walk it in anymore...too cold :(
Blessings,
Kathy
Hi LoraK,
I have only once given wormer and it was because of coughing. I did a top dress wormer that I bought from Agway-when I remember the name I'll let you know! We use two rows of fencing-the outside is a four foot cattle fence and about a foot inside we string up three rows of electric fence. Sometimes the pigs will run through an electric fence so it's good to have a back-up! They are VERY hard to catch once loose when they aren't familiar with you yet!
We use an unmedicated feed, no junk food! They get food all summer long from the garden.
Here is a pic of this year's pigs. I hope you can see how the fencing is set up.
We've been raising pigs for over 15 years. I have grown attached to every single one but boy are they good! I try to spend as much time as I can when we first get them especially at feeding time. I'll stay next to the feeder so they have to come near me in order to eat. I don't attempt to touch them for the first few days so they don't see me as a threat. Then I will slowly start gently touching them while they are eating. Most pigs will accept this within a short time although I've had a couple over the years that seemed to be just a tad crazy!! Pretty soon they come running when they see you just for a nice scratch! I had one pig that followed me around like a dog!! I'd let her out of her pen and she would follow me around. Sometimes she would wander abit but when I called her she would come running!
Here is another pic hope you can see the fencing.
Sue
Sorry about so many posts!! We use a non-medicated pig starter then move on to unmed. pig and sow both of these we purchase from agway. We use a bathtub for watering(sometimes they will climb in for a soak!
Thanks so much everyone!!! So good food and water and thats it. Good to know. I think I will add that extra fence too. And that tub idea is great!!! What do you use for thier food? and does anyone have a favorite breed??? I usually see those big pink ones around here.
When we have only one pig, we use an old sink that the hole has been sealed off. When there are more, we use another tub for the grain. Be careful though, only feed out how much they finish up because grain can sour especially in the heat. I clean mine out every other day with the hose and scrub brush-the pigs love this because they get a nice bath too! There are pig feeders out there but they are out of my financial reach! Plus it's nice to recycle items that would be tossed out. As far as feeding piglets, I use a round rubber feeder that has about an 4" lip on it. When they are little they don't nose the feeder up like they do when they are bigger. Which also makes the tub great for feeding, they love to tip things over with their noses!
Yorkshires are nice but they can get sunburn on their light skin. My favorite is the Hampshire(black and white belted) If you'd like to see pics and descriptions of breeds try this website: http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/swine/ This website also has horses, goats, sheep and cattle breeds listed.
Make sure when you purchase your piglets the farm is clean and disease free. We learned the hard way a few years back when we purchased a piglet that ended up bringing a nasty skin disease to our farm. We moved the whole area in which we were raising the pigs just to make sure it didn't affect any future animals. We are lucky to have the space to do so not everyone does.
Hey LoraK,
I'm glad I moved your post to the top. There certainly have been a lot of people posting since. Since then I have been doing some research about raising pigs. The thing I found most interesting is how pigs act somewhat like rototillers. Many people put them in their garden area to root and fertilize their garden at the same time. I have about a half acre of wooded land behind my garden that I would like to thin and be able to use. Lots of young growth. I wonder if I got 2 pigs and let them loose on this area if they would clear the land for me. Just a thought.
JB
Thats the exact reason I am getting pigs, we have been clearing white cedar (we have many acres of it plus a couple very large pine and need something to clear stumps and rocks plus you get nice fertile land
We have used them to clear brush for us. We set up fencing which we move when an area is cleaned off. We found if the area is too large they just pick favorite spots the root around. I have used them in garden areas as well. We will throw grass clippings(untreated) and leaves in with them and they do a great job 'tilling' them into the soil. They are taken out in the fall to let any manure age and compost. Then in the spring spread lime(you may want to do a soil test). Tomatoes love it! We get alot of volunteer plants this way also from the veggies they have eaten the previous year.
Thanks Sandy,
Did you find that you had to feed them less because of this, or is that just wishfull thinking? Also, how much do they actually clear. I've read they can bring trees down, if given enough time, from eating the roots. Again maybe wishfull thinking.
JB
We fed out slightly less, the biggest saver is when we give them extras from the garden. As far as the trees, well, we kept pigs in one area for 3 years(at approx 6 month intervals) and there was a large maple tree in there. They did root up quite a few roots and left some large roots exposed but that was almost 10 years ago and the tree is still there! I think it might make a difference if the tree has a shallow root system and perhaps how well established the tree is. A couple of years ago we placed the pen in a brushy area that had a couple of pine trees and they cleared most of the brush but the pines are still thriving. It could be that it's not enough consistent time, given 3 years without a break perhaps the tree wouldn't make any type of recovery. hope this helps.
Well, this year's pigs are going in last year's garden. The cattle fence is already in place so we just have to add the inside electric fence. We haven't decided if we are moving the shed next to the garden into the pen for housing or build a pig hutch for them. We had a movable(using the front-end loader) hutch for pigs but after many years of use it was getting weather and insect damaged; so we scrapped it.
Well, here's a pic of the new pen:
My in-laws raised pigs a couple years ago. It was a delightful experience except that they decided to pen them 25 feet upwind of our bedroom. PeeU!
So I am not a fan of the traditional sty. I've heard you can use a chicken tractor system with pigs (with different caging, of course) and if you move them everyday, they're less likely to dig mud holes. They'll dig up grubs and roots for you. But I wouldn't use in on a hillside, with the roots of plants gone, everything would erode too quickly and you would lose valuable topsoil.
You could run an electric wire around the bottom if you had a battery system. But pigs do love to rub up agaist stuff. If you could find a way to have a board sticking through the middle of it for them to itch thier back on. I've read that you can soak a cloth in some kind of animal safe insect repellant, wrap that around the board, and vwola! Less stressed animals.
And yes- they are escape artists. And smart, smart smart! I don't know if this is true or not, but my father in law says never to fall down in a pig pen, because a boar will take a bite out of you. ???? Maybe it's true, maybe we've been watching too much Hannibal.
Anyway, pigs are good for a number of things, here's a link.
http://www.agroforestry.net/overstory/overstory50.html
and another link
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Spring2006/RaisingOrganicHogsbytheTractorMethod/tabid/212/Default.aspx
We have a solar powered electric fence charger-this could be used on the 'pig' tractor system. I have read about the Large Black pig in Countryside Mag. It states that these pigs don't root up the grass, they graze so there is no need to ring them. Just fence in a few acres and let them graze!
Yes pigs will eat meat! I haven't had a problem with mine-they are well-fed. A neighbor raises pigs and he has geese and chickens that walk among them but again they are well-fed.