# Pig experts, pig forums, pig help!



## secuono (Aug 4, 2012)

Ok, I cannot for the life of me, find any forum or website that really helps with swine. Seems like every other animal has a solid resource to go to, but not for pigs. No one seems to be able to answer my questions and if they do, it's full of holes. These are Vietnamese pigs. 
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Anyone know any US based pig forums that really dive into the life of farm pigs? _

I need to know how to deal with raising breeding pigs. _When do I need to separate my 2mo girl from the males?_ Males are 2mo and 3mo now. _Or can they stay together?_

_If I leave my pair together all the time, will she only have two litters a year? When do they usually breed or will they breed all year long? _

I'd like to let the sow wean the litter. I've read weaning before they are 12wks isn't a good thing, wanting to keep them with mom until 12wks._ Then wean a few at a time until all are separated in a different pen or should I just start to sell them at 12wks and wean that way? Can the piglets be reintroduced after weaning, if so, how many weeks of separation before I can do that?
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What forage can pigs eat, the species name? What weeds, grasses and human scraps? _I gave them potato peels, banana, dried corn, weedy grasses and they didn't seem to like them too much. Some was eaten. I hear they can be very picky. 

They get 3 volume cups of pellets at the end of the day. _Is this too much for these tiny pigs or not enough?_ I'm feeding Hog Feed, not Mini Pig Feed, so I won't be giving them as much as the bag says. The mini food is more than twice as expensive and not going to happen. 

_When I am pasturing them, do I need to give them a pool of water & shade tarp?_ I'm thinking at least a tarp and a bucket for water. _During Winter, should I have a stationary pen where they live until Spring?_ There won't be much grass, so I'm guessing yes.


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## Cornish Heritage (Aug 4, 2012)

> When do I need to separate my 2mo girl from the males? Males are 2mo and 3mo now. Or can they stay together?


If you are going to eat one of the males as you wrote in another post you need to castrate him ASAP. Tainted meat is yucky! and YES he will have taint unless you are planning on eating him really soon. You do not want two males in with one female unless one is castrated. They WILL fight! BAD idea. If you leave them together they will breed & I think PB's breed early.



> If I leave my pair together all the time, will she only have two litters a year? When do they usually breed or will they breed all year long?


A pig pregnancy is 4mths (actually 3 months, 3 weeks & 3 days!). You can let the sow wean her piglets but you have to make sure she has enough feed. We wean at 8 weeks here. She will come back into heat 3-10 days after farrowing. 

You should wean all at once - a lot less hassle for you. It is not good practice to pull a piglet off it's mother & pass it directly to its new owner. You need to have weaned them 2-3 days before selling them on - less stress on the piglets.



> What forage can pigs eat, the species name? What weeds, grasses and human scraps? I gave them potato peels, banana, dried corn, weedy grasses and they didn't seem to like them too much. Some was eaten. I hear they can be very picky.


Piglets especially like wet food. Try mising some milk/cooked soft egss & you might well find they eat the whole lot down. 



> When I am pasturing them, do I need to give them a pool of water & shade tarp?


*Absolutely essential!* Pigs cannot sweat. Without a wallow & shade they will overheat & die very quickly.



> During Winter, should I have a stationary pen where they live until Spring? There won't be much grass, so I'm guessing yes.


*No!* Pigs need the nutrients from the soil year round & also love to be outside. They just do not need a wallow when it get below 60F.

Liz


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## secuono (Aug 4, 2012)

Grass doesn't grow in winter, I cannot have them making massive mud holes all over just waiting for spring. There's dirt in a stationary pen. Obviously they would be fed more and given hay for bedding. 

Only way I'm finding to castrate a pig is to cut into a conscious pig and literally rip them out. Really no other way? And no, no vet to do it for hundreds of dollars. We plan on butchering as soon as he reaches 60-90lbs, no idea when that will be.


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## BrownSheep (Aug 4, 2012)

With local anesthesics a pig won't feel anything. We had to over grown rams done for $30 at our local large animal vet. If you feel uncomfortable doing it find a local pig farmer to do it. Un castrated males in most species taste MUCH different when butchered.


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## BrownSheep (Aug 4, 2012)

. Duplicate sorry


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## secuono (Aug 4, 2012)

No idea what my vet would charge, but $40 for farm call and then the castration. If it's $30, then $70 per pig...no f-ing way. Much cheaper to buy meat instead, totally defeats the purpose. 

There's nothing here, I'm in VA, not in a pig/real farm area. Mainly horse farms, a little cattle farms and a hint of sheep.


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Aug 4, 2012)

Did you get my PM, secuono?


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## bonbean01 (Aug 4, 2012)

I can't remember if you got your little piggies strictly to grow out for your freezer or if you also wanted to breed them?  If they are just for growing out for your freezer, then you may want to sell the males and buy only females and males already castrated? People I know that buy little pigs strictly for raising for meat buy their piglets that way and don't have to bother with castrating.  Something to think about in the future.


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## secuono (Aug 4, 2012)

Pink boy and black girl are for breeding, other boy is for a roast. 
I can't buy PBs for meat, let alone castrated for meat. Only big breeds and those are $75-150 per piglet here. PBs are $40-60 per pig, fancy fake micro are $400-800.


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## secuono (Aug 4, 2012)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Did you get my PM, secuono?


About the friend wanting to buy stuff? Yea, I've got someone thinking about some of it and waiting on their decision before I call so I'm not calling a million times with what is or isn't available.


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Aug 4, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> Straw Hat Kikos said:
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> ...


haha Ok. I was just wondering. I always forget to put a subject in so sometimes I think I sent it but didn't.


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## drdoolittle (Aug 5, 2012)

First off, your little girl should ALREADY have a separate pen from the boys--amale pot belly pig can breed at 8 weeks old!  You do NOT want her to get pregnant at too young an age----you'll just end up with more problems than you want.

Here's what I do with my PBPs.  I put the male and female together in one pen when I want them to breed----only ONE male (like someone else said, if 2 intact males are together and there is a female around, they wil fight viciously and probably to the death).  

The pregnant female pigs get 2 cups of feed 2x a day until about half-way through the pregnancy-----then I start giving them 4 cups 2x a day.

When it's getting close to time for the babies tp be born, I separate the pigs----each female has her own pen---Pots are the most agressive of domestic pigs (second only to the wild boar) and the moms are VERY protective (you just don't know if one momma will eat another momma's babies).

Once the piglets come, I feed the momma her regular 2 cup per feeding ration plus 1 cup of feed PER piglet----so if she had 6 piglets, she would get 8 cups of feed 2x a day; 5 piglets would be 7 cups of feed; etc.  I leave the piglet with momma pig NO LONGER than 8 weeks----a male PBP can breed at 8 weeks old!  The only way all piglets can stay with mom is if all males are castrated---which I always have done around  a week old.  My babies are usually eating on their own at 5 weeks.

I feed my pigs 2 cups of feed 2x a day----they need 2 feedings a day, not one.  I give the same amount to them whether they are getting mini-pig feed or regular farm hog feed (which is what I feed the ones going to the butcher).

I would NOT try to re-introduce a piglet after you've taken it away.  I had a piglet separate from it's mom for only one week and when I tried to put it back with her and it's siblings, the mom tried to kill it----she didn't even recognize it.

My pigs are always in "stationary pens"---these are really nice-size pens actually big enough for a full-size pig.  They have individual houses, food and water dishes and wading pools.  I try to keep them with at least one other pig over the winter so they can keep each other warm, and the houses are stuffed with bedding and surrounded with bales of straw.  Feeding 2x a day is very important in the wintertime and also making sure they have water availble----have to break the ice and refill the water 2x a day.


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