3 Little Piggies Coming in 3 days. HELP!

[Healthy Skeptic]

Wow! Wow!

This stuff is nuts.

What words did you use for food?

I just don’t want to get attached.

Lambs...I hated them so to the slaughter with a kick! Chickens too dumb to care. Goats I cried like a baby. Pigs?! Hope I don’t get attached.

 

[Ridgetop]

Make sure to give them names like Pork Chop, BBQ, or Ham. Then you will be reminding yourself each time what they are designed for. Call them by their names when you feed them or just call "Pig, pig, pig" like you call your chickens when scattering scratch. It doesn't matter what you call them, they will associate your voice with their dinner time and come running.

A hot wire is just a name for an electrically charged wire that gives the animal (or you) a small shock when it is touched. Make sure to get an intermittent charger if you are running it through high grass or brush to avoid a continuous charge that can start fires. Most modern chargers are intermittent. You need set offs to run the wire on. The set offs are non conducting things that attach to your fence and keep the wire hot without electrifying either the entire fence, or causing the charge to go to ground and lose the ability to produce the shock. There are several styles of these set offs depending on what type of fence posts and fencing material you have.

Tractor Supply will probably have everything you need, and usually someone there will know how to put it up. Another source is to go on line and look up Premier Fencing. They sell a complete line of electrical fencing, chargers, etc., and also have diagrams on how to run the wires for both field fencing and a cautionary hot wire against predators (or pigs). They have a lot of good information in their catalog about how the hot wires work. You can use either a plug in charger if you have an outlet close by, or a solar charger with a marine battery to run the hot wire. It depends how far you are from the electrical source. A straight marine battery without a solar charger will work too, but you will need two batteries - one on the charger and one on the fence. Otherwise, as the current gets weak, the pigs will know and just push through. We used to keep our horses inside a hot wire on our property and they always knew when the charger died - usually at 2 in the morning!

Keeping any livestock is a learning experience at first. But since you have kept other animals, you will understand that the more ready you are with housing and fencing in the beginning, the easier it will be as they get larger. The end of November sounds about right to go to slaughter. But although 3 months is a really short time, those hogs grow fast. They are probably only about 50 lbs. right now, but in 3 months will put on 200 lbs. of pure muscle!

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

Thanks

 

[Mini Horses]

It doesn't matter what you call them, they will associate your voice with their dinner time and come running

Exactly! I've had black angus & black pigs...etc., if you go out at night they are "no see" but, call them as usual and they come. It's like the "magic bucket" -- shake some feed and they come to dinner. Saves a lot of herding if they know to come to you.

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

My other concern is they will be surrounded by a hayfield. Will they try to break out to eat the hay

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You've gotten some great advice! And, as you see there are lots of different ways to do things. Basically - your pigs will teach you what you need to do, lol. Fences aren't strong enough - they'll tell you! Water buckets aren't secure enough - they'll let you know. Feeder isn't sturdy enough - they'll dump it over and/or destroy it.

Basic needs are food, water, shade and mud. Mine don't root unless I try to confine them. They have the run of the pastures and a couple of ponds to hang out in/around and live a pretty happy piggy life. But, when I try to separate and/or contain them they let me know that they respect nothing but hot wire. They have never tested the perimeter fence, (which is not hot wired for pigs), but try to separate them from their 'family' and you will see the need.

I have LGD's so it's safe to let them have the run of the place.

Hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine!

 

[Baymule]

Raising pigs is very satisfying and a great way to stock the freezer. I always get the heart, kidneys and liver. I chop them up, put in a BIG pot and heat it through, then pack in quart jars and can for the dogs. They love it mixed with their kibble.

I am no pig expert, but I'll post links to my pig raising, I see you found the first one. I have evolved with each batch of feeder pigs and now I am better set up than I have ever been. I echo everyone else on maybe getting a dedicated pig shelter and pen for the piggies. I started with a shelter built on skids that also doubled as a lamb shelter after the pigs were gone.

@Simpleterrier was my inspiration on building what we have now. I am delighted to finally have a dedicated pig pen and Pig Palace. The water barrel sits outside of the pen with a pipe nipple and a hog nipple run into the pen. Hog nipple! Who knew? I sure didn't , but I do now. I had already bought a bin type feeder, I secured it to the wall with a 2x4 frame screwed together. A blue barrel with a hog sized hole cut in it became the soured corn feeder, it is screwed to the wall with a 2x4 on the inside of the barrel. And I can access the feeders from a hole in the wall from the outside.

The Hawg Hut

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/hawg-hut-or-goat-or-sheep-or-dhs-new-digs.32088/#post-403114

Our first feeder pigs. You already found this one. I raised them in the newly fenced garden.

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/feeder-pigs.32154/

Red Wattle pigs, this includes pictures of us slaughtering them ourselves.

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/feeder-pigs-2017.35395/

A deal I found on two hogs. Page 5 has pictures of Simpleterrier's set up.

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/baymules-pigs-2017-2018.36803/

Our latest feeder pigs, just took them to slaughter, got the meat and delivered it. This thread has my newly build Pig Palace in it!

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/baymule’s-pigs-2018-herefords.37448/

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

Thanks I’ll check it out. I already read a bunch of the slather thread too. Great pictures.

 

[Healthy Skeptic]

Pen is all cleaned. Can we wait a week to put up fence? Just keep them in barn for one week?

Straw or chips for pen? I kind of don’t have much choice since the lady says we must get them Sunday or Monday? No way to get fence up that quick.

 

[Latestarter]

Absolutely! You do what you gotta do! They'll be fine for a week or two. It will give you folks some time to get to know them and for them to get to know you. Treats and food conditioning! I think either bedding material should work fine.