Can anyone give me any suggestions or ideas on raising pigs? I currently have 2 sows and 1 boar, plan on killing 1 sow in next few months. Then I want to keep other sow and breed the two. Any suggestions or what I need to plan on? I am curious when babies are due, what all I need to plan and expect to do? Thanks for the help in this matter.
Just getting into the pigs business
- Thread starter COWBOY21
- Start date
animalsRawsome
Chillin' with the herd
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
- Messages
- 57
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 29
You probably will need farrowing crates, otherwise the mother will likely axcidentaly crush her babies. My friend tried not using them, and she didn't have near the success rate as she did with crates (she probably only had 4 sows at the time). Have you ever raised pigs before?
fair weather chicken
Chillin' with the herd
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2011
- Messages
- 62
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 31
first it seems kind of expensive to keep one boar for just one sow. we have 3 sows for our boar. crates may work if your house is set up for those. we use a simple corner of the farrowing stall to give the piglets some where to go , it also helps to have a warming lite there to help keep the cosy. didn't say where you are at, but straw or hay bedding helps to make them more comfortable. our farrowing stall is 6ft by 8ft. we give an iron shot and anti-biotic, clip the wolf teeth. then at about two weeks or 25 lbs. we castrate the boars. piggys usually come at night in the worst weather. is the sow a first time mother? the timing is 114 days from breeding. that said just like most babies they come when they are ready. hope there has been some useful information.
Cornish Heritage
Ridin' The Range
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2011
- Messages
- 817
- Reaction score
- 6
- Points
- 74
I apologize in advance if my reply comes through twice as I wrote a lengthy reply earlier this evening but it seems to have disappeared! SO will try again!
Iron shots are not necessary if out on pasture with access to grass & soil so it really depends on your set up.
Teeth clipping is also not necessary IMO but I know there are a lot of different opinion out there on this! Nor is tail docking necessary.
If I was you I would do everything as naturally as possible the first time round & then learn from that. Do not waste alot of money on things you may never need. Also a gilt can be very unpredictable - some make excellent mothers the first time round, others do not. Here on the farm we give our gilts/sows two chances. If they fail as a gilt, abandon the litter etc then they get another chance. If they do it again then they are sausage! Doesn't happen very often but it does happen & once again we do not want to breed from those kind of genetics.
Keeping a boar does not need to be expensive. Many breeders WAY overfeed their breeding stock. Please don't yell at me as I have seen this numerous times & it is SO sad not to mention a waste of money. Your breeding stock should be slimmer than the stock you are fattening up to eat. No, you do not want skeletons but nor do you want boars that are SO fat they can hardly do their job. Keeping your breeding stock in good shape, is admittedly easier on pasture as they have more exercise but you can also do it in pens. Having a boar is normally much easier & predictable than AI. The boar knows exactly the right time to mate. Some pigs do not have strong heats so it is nearly impossible to tell when they are ready. Others do so yet again it depends on your pig & also the time you have available for AI etc. Personal preference.
Liz
We have never used farrowing crates here on the farm & nor do we ever intend to. When we purchased our breeding stock we researched breeds very carefully & bought breeds that were known to be good mothers. We now raise exclusively Large Blacks but have also raised GOS & Red Wattles. Very rarely have we seen a squishing. Now admittedly piglets will die but it is not normally from the mother sitting on them. Even our boars are very gentle when they lie down if piglets are around. If we had a sow that consistently squished her piglets she would be sausage as we do not want to breed those genetics - plenty of good pigs out there.
Iron shots are not necessary if out on pasture with access to grass & soil so it really depends on your set up.
Teeth clipping is also not necessary IMO but I know there are a lot of different opinion out there on this! Nor is tail docking necessary.
If I was you I would do everything as naturally as possible the first time round & then learn from that. Do not waste alot of money on things you may never need. Also a gilt can be very unpredictable - some make excellent mothers the first time round, others do not. Here on the farm we give our gilts/sows two chances. If they fail as a gilt, abandon the litter etc then they get another chance. If they do it again then they are sausage! Doesn't happen very often but it does happen & once again we do not want to breed from those kind of genetics.
Keeping a boar does not need to be expensive. Many breeders WAY overfeed their breeding stock. Please don't yell at me as I have seen this numerous times & it is SO sad not to mention a waste of money. Your breeding stock should be slimmer than the stock you are fattening up to eat. No, you do not want skeletons but nor do you want boars that are SO fat they can hardly do their job. Keeping your breeding stock in good shape, is admittedly easier on pasture as they have more exercise but you can also do it in pens. Having a boar is normally much easier & predictable than AI. The boar knows exactly the right time to mate. Some pigs do not have strong heats so it is nearly impossible to tell when they are ready. Others do so yet again it depends on your pig & also the time you have available for AI etc. Personal preference.
Liz
- Thread starter
- #5
Yes first time raising pigs, and first time mom will have babies as well. Thanks for all the suggestions, and please post anymore you may have. Right now I have 2 stalls, thinking about maybe closing one up some, and making a farrow so mom can come and babies will be able to nurse? Your thoughts?When the baby are born they will be under a heat lamp and place they can come as well.
- Thread starter
- #6
Cornish Heritage
Ridin' The Range
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2011
- Messages
- 817
- Reaction score
- 6
- Points
- 74
What I would suggest is putting two pieces of wood across one corner of your stall that is high enough off the ground for the piglets to get under but also strong enough that mama cannot break it. Then put your heat lamp in there. We did this when we were in Montana & the winters were SO frigid. I would not make your stall any smaller as that will just cause squishing issues. You have to make sure that mama does not pile the straw up against the "triangle" thus preventing the piglets from getting to the heat lamp.
It may take them a couple days to find the heat lamp on their own so will need some training but once they have found it they will stay there whilst mama goes out through the day & when she comes back in they will yell at her for milk. She will keep checking on them if she is a good sow. I would not shut her in - she needs her space, just like any mother does!
They will probably start going out with her at 7-10 days old - that is when most of our sows bring their piglets up etc & by that age they are much stronger & healthier.
Once they are about 2 weeks old, if the temps are not frigid they may not need the heat lamp but you can judge that for yourselves. That triangle in the barn can also be used for creep feed which they need from about 2 weeks old so it has a multipurpose.
Liz
It may take them a couple days to find the heat lamp on their own so will need some training but once they have found it they will stay there whilst mama goes out through the day & when she comes back in they will yell at her for milk. She will keep checking on them if she is a good sow. I would not shut her in - she needs her space, just like any mother does!
They will probably start going out with her at 7-10 days old - that is when most of our sows bring their piglets up etc & by that age they are much stronger & healthier.
Once they are about 2 weeks old, if the temps are not frigid they may not need the heat lamp but you can judge that for yourselves. That triangle in the barn can also be used for creep feed which they need from about 2 weeks old so it has a multipurpose.
Liz
