Raising pigs

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waytomany?s
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Post by waytomany?s » Tue. Mar. 29, 2022 8:50 pm

Looking for tips. Been 40 years since I did it last. Got 2 female weaners couple weeks ago. Got them in a dirt floor horse stall for now, wife wants to get them to pen outside next month so we can start another duo inside in beginning of June. Anybody have luck keeping them outside and keeping them in the pen?

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Tue. Mar. 29, 2022 9:06 pm

They'll use anything for shelter, even an old car. We put barbed wire around the bottom of the pen on the inside and put rings in their noses but electric on the inside works just as good, actually better unless it gets grounded. If its not a big area I really liked using hog panels and buried them in the ground 6" or more. I say hog panels as you probably dont have the snow I had but they need to have height added. I used cattle panels because of snow. I think I attached chicken wire to the inside of it on the bottom too, with the cattle panels. Not needed with hog panels. Without their noses rung its a lot harder.

Theres not many things worse than chasing pigs so we did overkill.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Tue. Mar. 29, 2022 9:33 pm

Yep, if ya fence em right--outside is MUCH better then penned up--course they need a lil shelter like W said just to be able to get in or out when they want. Good luck my friend.

 
waytomany?s
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Post by waytomany?s » Fri. Apr. 01, 2022 9:16 pm

Well, tonight I learned that they prefer cooked butternut squash vs raw. Huh, who knew?


 
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Post by waytomany?s » Sat. Apr. 23, 2022 8:47 pm

Grungy and Red and growing fast. And filling their troth daily with sawdust from their bedding. I can't afford the fancy feeder where they feed themselves because I just bought warm morning and a splendid oak with the last of my tax money. Any suggestions on a day feeder that doesn't involve dumping it out every time they get fed?

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Sat. Apr. 23, 2022 10:14 pm

Pigs are wasteful, maybe thats why we use the word pig for that situation, lol Im working on old memories...

I do remember cleaning off spots on cement and feeding them there but it was more pigs and they didnt waste as much time eating small amounts. I liked feeding ear corn in frozen weather, I remember that, especially bred sows as I could control their intake better and could tell by how hungry they were at feeding time how much to feed them. (how many ears of corn per pig)

I would try pushing their bedding away from the feeding spot before I fed them. Dont overfeed them this high priced feed and they wont waste as much. Just what they will eat and a little more.

Something for the future, buy a bottle fed pig sometime. They will love you til the day they die no matter what you do to them... One year I had huge litters on 1st year sows and had to bottle feed some of the piglets. When feeding them out every time I was in the pen they would chew on my shoes, pants, you cant stop them either, lol

Hungry pigs squeal when they see you so its easy to tell if they are underfed.

 
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Post by waytomany?s » Mon. Apr. 25, 2022 9:11 pm

Ours bark. I think the dogs spend more time in the barn than I realized. Funny you mention bottle feeding one. I think I mentioned in original post that it's been forty ish years since I've had pigs. When I was in elementary school I raised pigs. We had a runt one time we thought for sure was a goner. Brought him in the house and kept him in a box for awhile. Made little vests out of my old socks to keep him warm. Moved him to the dirt floor basement when he got bigger. My parents were selling the house and mom forgot he wasn't locked in the old cistern when she took some folks down to show them the wood furnace. Apparently they thought a bear was down there when Moe came running for dinner.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Mon. Apr. 25, 2022 9:53 pm

Funny! I mostly kept them in the garage with an empty water tank with a heat lamp but did take one in the house a few times for entertainment. I must have bottle fed 20 of them that one year but I remember them being real young when they will drink out of a pan.


 
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Post by waytomany?s » Tue. Apr. 26, 2022 8:38 pm

I elevated the troth some. If they don't walk in it, it should do for awhile. No bedding in it for 2 days now. I put one of the nipple valves on a 5 gallon flat backed horse bucket for water. They probably would empty it in a day at this point.

 
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Post by waytomany?s » Wed. Sep. 21, 2022 8:56 pm

Ok, time to wrap this up. They never made it out of the old horse stall and I had to listen to complaints of how bad They smelled up until slaughter the last Wednesday of August. Black hung at 208 and red hung at 248. They destroyed 2 plastic feeders. I made a feeder out of some 2 by rough cut larch. Just a 30" v shape with boards screwed to the ends. They didn't wreck that. I went a.little too long with them, they started to add some extra fat but the bacon is beautiful.

 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Wed. Sep. 21, 2022 9:35 pm

Nice W--YEP, lotsa bacon lovers around!!! Take what ya learned & do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

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