farmerjan
Herd Master
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2016
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- Location
- Shenandoah Valley Virginia
I have never had pot belly pigs, so can't say with them... but ANY AGGRESSIVE behavior by a hog unless it is a sow defending her young against another ANIMAL, is just not wise. They can bite, fast and hard and once there is blood, they are worse than sharks. NO JOKE !!!! Ran a dozen sows , raised feeder pigs to sell, and the minute one even got a little aggressive to me, her days were numbered in how soon I could get the pigs weaned and her to the slaughter plant. YOU ARE NOT THEIR COMPETITION, NOR THEIR ENEMY, and a 4 year old boar is too old to try to change his mind.
We had a duroc boar that we used to breed some hampshire and duroc cross sows with. He belonged to a friend since we only had 2 or 3 sows at the time. After using him, he went back home and had 10 - 20 sows to breed, and then in 5-6 months we borrowed him back. He had a SUPER disposition and his pigs all did too, as we kept several gilts to use as future breeders. We called him george, and then when he had gotten pretty big the owner said whenever we got done with him that time to take him to the stockyard. My son was 8 or 9 years old, tall for his age, and he would go call george into his pen when I was hand milking my cows and I never saw him even grunt at Michael. He was gentle with the sows and when we did finally ship him he weighed 905 lbs and both of us cried because he had become such a part of the farm. Any animal, any time, can turn on you, but if ever you could trust a hog, he was it. I had one first time gilt that wanted to go after me when she had her first (AND ONLY) litter of pigs.( not his daughter). Used a 2x4 when she came after me and that was only after I hollered and tried a couple of lesser tactics. And I knew of an old man who raised hogs for years, and a sow got after him, drew blood and several went nuts and they actually tore him up and killed him. These were hogs he'd had for years. I still love hogs, don't have a place for them right now, but they can be dangerous.
Around here pot belly pigs are not worth anything as they say the meat is very fatty with not much actual meat. They nearly give them away at the stockyards, and so many people that get them raise them as pets and they often get spoiled dispositions. I have known some people that raise/keep them like dogs so that's okay for them; but there is no salvage value except your own freezer around here. Best of luck but for your first time with pigs you really ought to just raise a few castrated males (barrows) for the freezer as they are the least likely to get moody, the females will come in heat and show their less than stellar dispositions sometimes....PMS!!! and yes I can say that being female myself!! Get a feel for them and then decide if breeding is what you want to do, and if so, get some that have value so that you can make the litters pay for themselves so your meat is "free" so to speak.
We had a duroc boar that we used to breed some hampshire and duroc cross sows with. He belonged to a friend since we only had 2 or 3 sows at the time. After using him, he went back home and had 10 - 20 sows to breed, and then in 5-6 months we borrowed him back. He had a SUPER disposition and his pigs all did too, as we kept several gilts to use as future breeders. We called him george, and then when he had gotten pretty big the owner said whenever we got done with him that time to take him to the stockyard. My son was 8 or 9 years old, tall for his age, and he would go call george into his pen when I was hand milking my cows and I never saw him even grunt at Michael. He was gentle with the sows and when we did finally ship him he weighed 905 lbs and both of us cried because he had become such a part of the farm. Any animal, any time, can turn on you, but if ever you could trust a hog, he was it. I had one first time gilt that wanted to go after me when she had her first (AND ONLY) litter of pigs.( not his daughter). Used a 2x4 when she came after me and that was only after I hollered and tried a couple of lesser tactics. And I knew of an old man who raised hogs for years, and a sow got after him, drew blood and several went nuts and they actually tore him up and killed him. These were hogs he'd had for years. I still love hogs, don't have a place for them right now, but they can be dangerous.
Around here pot belly pigs are not worth anything as they say the meat is very fatty with not much actual meat. They nearly give them away at the stockyards, and so many people that get them raise them as pets and they often get spoiled dispositions. I have known some people that raise/keep them like dogs so that's okay for them; but there is no salvage value except your own freezer around here. Best of luck but for your first time with pigs you really ought to just raise a few castrated males (barrows) for the freezer as they are the least likely to get moody, the females will come in heat and show their less than stellar dispositions sometimes....PMS!!! and yes I can say that being female myself!! Get a feel for them and then decide if breeding is what you want to do, and if so, get some that have value so that you can make the litters pay for themselves so your meat is "free" so to speak.
