# Raising pigs



## lnm03 (Jul 8, 2010)

My family and I are looking into raising pigs but dont know the first thing about it.  Can you direct me to some helpful links or can you tell me what I need to know?

How much space? How many do I have to have? What to feed? ect..

Thank you!


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## DixiePride (Jul 8, 2010)

If you are going to raise them to eat, get the heritage pigs which are yorkshire, duroc, hampshire ect.... just google raising pigs and you will get all sorts of links, that is what I did.... the heritage pigs are your fastest growing ones, remember the more you get the more you will have coming up to butcher at the same time, I get 2 a year for butchering, they are pretty easy to find for sale and when those two get butcherd get a couple more to raise for the new year.... if you are going to raise them to breed just remember they get very big and they are very strong and make sure you have a very sturdy pen for them and also if you run electric wire around the bottom they won't root out and once they are shocked they won't go to that area again because they are very smart creatures... I enjoy my pigs, I started out with little babys and they were very skiddish at first but the more you go around them and talk to them and spend time in their pen the more they will get use to you, mine loves having a big plastic kid pool to splash in and I go to the farmers market about twice a week and fill my car up with the old produce they are throwing out and my pigs love their special day and not to mention the more they eat the fatter they get.... good luck with your adventure into the pig world...


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## lnm03 (Jul 8, 2010)

I found a 150 pound hampshire barrow what would you pay for him?  The guy wantes me to name a price and I have NO clue?


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## ohiofarmgirl (Jul 8, 2010)

a great resource is Storey's Guide to raising pigs! 

around here feeder pigs go from $50 - $100. but i have to tell you - a 150lb pig is kinda big. are you sure you are ready for that?

do you have shelter? fencing? neighbors? kids? what are your goals for the pig - food? do you have pasture that they can demolish or will you raise in a shelter on cement? will you butcher at home? how will you transport it? are you hoping to save money by raising your own meat?

here's my take on it:

1. i hate pigs
2. i love bacon
3. i endure their piggy awfulness so i can enjoy butchering them and frying them up in a pan

all kidding aside - hogs can be big, mean, and can be extremely dangerous. some of the old timer hog farmers lay down the law that no kid under 16 can get near the hogs - with good reason. i never go near our pigs without a stock cane and two big dogs. the dogs have saved me several times.

good fencing is a must. today i spent over 4 grueling hours refencing our hog lot because our two feeders totally ignored the electric (a 50 mile charger!) and broke out and darn near destroyed my goat/hen yard. they terrorized the goats and caused damage to the yard. and the season just started. 

do your research so you know exactly what you are getting into - can you visit his farm? why is he selling?

good luck!


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## chunkydunk (Jul 8, 2010)

I make it a rule of thumb that for every pound they weigh they can move twice that. I weigh in at 380 pounds and am a ex football player and power lifter. Ive got a 300 pound boar that can rum me over like a freight train. With that one being at 150 lbs. hes already set in his ways. So only if hes gonna be food and you got one heck of a fence set up with a loading chute or are planning to shoot him in the head before getting in I wouldnt get him.It does take them awhile to get used to a new place.The best thing you can do is get them as a little feeder like 8-10 weeks old and mess with them evry day. This way they will be used to you and can become very freindly.


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## DixiePride (Jul 9, 2010)

I agree with the others, that pig is way too big for a newby to get... I would start small with 1 or 2 baby's and get familiar with them and learn their ways and this also gives you time to research as you go along and learn.


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## karl e. lutz the great (Jul 9, 2010)

Hog wrangler
That is the truth. You need to be prepared for the despairities of the hog.
One of anything doesn't do well anyway, so go to the local sale barn and get 2 little guys to feed out.
 We did 2 feeder pigs this year. 1 for a hog roast and one for freezer meat. The last one took 3 hours to get in the trailer.
Like chunky duck said they are strong. We had gates set up to direct him in and he put his nose under one picked up 3 and carried them across the pasture like it wasn't there.So get your prep's done befor you go to the sale.


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## ohiofarmgirl (Jul 9, 2010)

all good advice here, lnm03. 

and i think its important that you understand we arent telling you NOT to get pigs... just make sure you are set up and know what you are getting into. 

if you arent ready, one suggestion is to buy pork "on the hoof" - you might find someone who will grow it out for you, transport it to the butcher, then you pay the farmer and the butcher separately. you might even find someone who will mentor you - allow you to visit to farm, learn from them, etc.. 

the good thing about buying small feeders is that your experience will grow with them. and we sure wouldnt want you or anyone to get hurt (all of us roll up sleeves, pant legs and show scars). 

it would be a shame if you had a bad experience - or didnt find way for raising hogs to pay for itself. for instance we use our goat milk, eggs (always hard boiled), and everything out of the garden to feed our hogs out. and we have relationships with farms around here to go and 'glean' in their fields for free food. and we butcher our pigs at home - which saves money. our neighbors fed only hog chow and took theirs to be butchered and found out they didnt really save any money and had to run 2 freezers to store the meat. for them it didnt work out - for us, its makes sense ....and cents.


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## pigfreak59 (Jul 24, 2010)

I paid $60 for my 6 week old Landrace piglet, which may seem a little high, but her parents are registered at Virginia Tech. I found piglets as low as $30. a lot of people will ask you what you want the pigs for and some would not sell if you wanted to use them for meat. So good luck!! I love mine, and will be breeding her in the spring.

(I have not had any problem with her getting out of the pen, I used cow panel and oak, 16x8 pen with raised bedding area.)


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## dkluzier (Jul 30, 2010)

We paid $20 each for some yorkshire piglets last year weighing in around 15-20 lbs . we butchered them 6 months later and they weighed in at 300 lbs each and I am with everyone else - BEWARE!  The fellow we got them from said that their skull grows and their brain gets squashed and they get mean.  He wasn't kidding.  The biggest boar would try to knock you over as soon as you entered the fence, and nip at your legs and feet. They are stubborn and hard to handle and they got loose once and dug up all my garlic and royally ticked me off. 

We have since put the money into Large Black Hogs and they are not aggressive at all.  I call them my "kobe" pigs because they love attention and I get into their fence daily and they all get a quick massage.  They are also a slower growing breed and at 1 year of age weigh around 300 each.  They are also a rarer hog and we paid $300 each for them as piglets.


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## Oreo (Sep 8, 2010)

Just to clarify what somebody said-- "Heritage Breeds" are actually not the common ones like Yorkshire, Duroc and Hampshire. Heritage breeds are the more rare ones that are rarely if ever raised commercially anymore, such as Tamworth, Large Black, and Mulefoot. Either are fine to raise, or more likely you'll find cross bred pigs for sale. For your first time I wouldn't buy anything over 50 lbs, preferably more like 30 or  so.

We just bought two little crossbred pigs, a guilt and a barrow, and they are around 15-20 lbs. I fenced in my garden and put them in there, but they kept getting out so I built an 8x8 pen for them out of 2' high OSB (I ripped two sheets down the middle for four pieces 2'x8', and nailed them at the corners with 2x4 pieces). The little twerps haven't gotten out since then. I have a little plastic dog house I use for their shelter, and give them hay to burrow in. When they get bigger I'll let them out in the garden and let them till it all winter.


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## DoubleVLegacyFarms (Oct 10, 2010)

There are agressive breeds, like Duroc, for example. and there are very gentle, docile breeds as well. We raise cross-bred Hampshires and they are very friendly and gentle. The only issue to remember is a boar around a cycling gilt/sow will become more agressive simply because of the breeding cycle. Be aware of this and spend lots of time handling the hogs and they will look forward to your company and attention every time you are around. Our boar is around 500 lbs and is extremly gentle, You can see pictures of him with my little ones at www.doublevlegacyfarms.com.

Our fence for their pasture areas is only electric fence and we have no issues with them escaping. we use @"pvc pipe with drilled holes and threaded high tensile wire on the bottom, at 6:, and poly fence wire every 12" from there for a total of 4 strands. works great.

on our farm our pigs are the favorites and everyone enjoys going down to feed, handle and work with the pigs. dont be afraid of pigs, respect their size and handle them often and you should be able to do fine. If you get an agressive one I suggest sending it on down the road to the butcher and trying again for a more gentle herd.


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