# In need of a pig mentor!



## EggsForIHOP (Jun 23, 2010)

My husband has been pestering me to say yes to feeder hogs FOREVER...I caved...now we have 2 little piglets.  See...here's the thing...

He did the pig thing years ago with his dad - who passed away and is no longer around to help with all the info he had stored in his brain.  My husband, god bless him, not that great in the memory department.  So while he has the general idea, I now am stuck dealing with the actual research/work/etc...

Is there anyone in the Conroe area of Texas that wants to be my pig mentor?  Specifically, I know we will need help castrating the little boy (if we even do that...idk...just think I can't...but we will see)  All my friends are city people!   They are NO help! I can trade you some chickens (or even cash) just for this service - not to mention my undying love and appreciation and forever friendship for all things mentor-y you can provide!

I REALLY need a basic overview on this whole process of raising them though.  I am TOTALLY on information overload right now!  My husband keeps telling me "it's not that hard, it's just 2 hogs" but I need an instruction manual!

Do they need shots?

Can I spray them with the horse fly spray to help with bugs?

Can I feed them pancakes from work? (We have LOTS of pancakes)

Do I really need to cut the poor little guy?

Are pine shavings okay to put in their sleeping quarters? 

  I say again:   

Somebody sum it up short and sweet for me!


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## MikahMom (Jun 23, 2010)

Hi and Welcome to the World of Pigs! 

I am somewhat new to this as well but here is what I do know:  

1.  Did you ask the farmer you got your pigs from if they had already had their vaccinations?  Some farmers give their pigs shots and others don't.  If you only have the two little pigs and they aren't being introduced into a "strange" herd, I wouldn't think they would need them but it certainly wouldn't hurt.  

2.  They DO need to be wormed every 4-6 weeks.  If your local feed store doesn't carry Pig wormer you can order it from Jeffers. 

3.  What do you have your pigs on?  If they are in a pen with grass/dirt just make them a wallow and that will take care of the bugs.  That is one of the reasons pigs like to get muddy (besides it helps cool them down as they have no sweat glands).  

4.  Yes, you can feed them pancakes, but as they are piglets you will also need to feed them starter/grower feed (a complete feed) so you will be sure that they get all the protein, minerals etc that they need. They will also eat any vegetable scraps that you have (some people feed them meat but we don't do that with ours -- if you do make sure it is well boiled before you feed it to them).  

5.  If you got these to be feeder pigs and you either plan on putting them in your freezer or somebody else's you will need to have the boy cut -- or the meat will taste just awful by the time he is of age to be marketed.  

6.  Pine shavings or straw are just fine to put in their housing  -- just don't use sawdust.

Hope this helps and I'm sure you'll get lots of other people giving you help here too 


_____________________________________________________
Proud Owner of 2 Shire Horses, 2 Yorkshire Gilts, 1 Duroc Boar, 3 Nigerian Dwarf Goats, 24 Australorps, 1 Irish Wolfhound and 2 Australian Shepherds!


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## chunkydunk (Jun 23, 2010)

You can send me a email and ill send my phone number. You can call and ill try and answer any questions I can.


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