Soon to be new pig owner!!!

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I'VE GOT THE OK!!!! To get some piggies!!!! Yay!

We want to raise a couple the first year for meat, after that I want to get into a heritage breed.

Couple questions;

What breed(s) should I be looking at for a couple quick growing meat pigs?

What age should they be butchered?

How many should I get for two families of two- three?

How much do they eat?

Will horse corral wrapped with field fence work to keep them contained? (That's what I use for my goats).

They'll be dry-lotted so should I supplement them with alfalfa or bermuda or something?

Will they be ok on sloping hilly land?

What kind of heritage breed will do well in the hot dry deserts of San Diego?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions later...

Thanks in advance!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I would like to also get heritage pigs...but they are usually smaller and or grow slower....just something to think about.

We just butchered Wilbur, a blue butt/hampshire cross I think. The year before we had a spot/duroc cross Ally. Both of them were average commercial mixed breed pigs. We raised them each til about 8-9 months which is a little longer than most people in our area (central california). Both were estimated at a live weight around 350 lbs, around 260 lbs of meat returned if I remember correctly. Most of our meat was pretty lean and was enough to feed our family of 6 (4 teens and 2 adults) for about 8-9 months. ( the usual butcher weight is between 225 and 250 for our area, after that you lose food to meat conversion. Usually 6 months or so is an average.

We were only able to contain Wilbur because he was happy...he would literally get so excited when he saw us that he would lift his fencing panels off the ground out of excitement....Ally would not be contained by chain link and kept getting out of her pen to ransack my feed in the garage so she had to go.

They only eat a few pounds of pig food a day, but ours also had leftover eggs, chicken wings husband would bring home from work for him, veggie and leftover kitchen scraps of all kinds, fallen fruit from our trees........not totally healthy, but still worth it because they lived happy pig lives...lotsa mud and scratches and exercise when the husband and DD were outside to play with them.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Royd Wood]

I'VE GOT THE OK!!!! To get some piggies!!!! Yay!

We want to raise a couple the first year for meat, after that I want to get into a heritage breed.

Couple questions;

What breed(s) should I be looking at for a couple quick growing meat pigs? For your first pigs go with some pinkies or whatever is around your neck of the woods

What age should they be butchered? More to do with weight - aim for 300lb liveweight and expect 8 to 10 months

How many should I get for two families of two- three? Two works well

How much do they eat? Lots but try feeding a good quality grower feed 3lb, plenty of greens, veg, fruit, milk and eggs NO raw potatoes though

Will horse corral wrapped with field fence work to keep them contained? (That's what I use for my goats). NO wont work - They will take out feild fence with one lift, what will work is 2 or 3 strands of electric fence, Pigs are so strong and can dig a tunnel in no time under a panel but they dont dig under electric fence

They'll be dry-lotted so should I supplement them with alfalfa or bermuda or something? That would be good

Will they be ok on sloping hilly land? yes

What kind of heritage breed will do well in the hot dry deserts of San Diego? Ontario was a hot dry desert this summer and my Large Blacks did fine. They dont get sunburn but need a wallow to cool off in and some shade

I'm sure I'll think of more questions later...

Thanks in advance!

 

[secuono]

Just gonna skip your Qs, sorry, and just say this, pigs are escape artists, will become your best friend if you have food and when it rains, they will root everything up to bits.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Just gonna skip your Qs, sorry, and just say this, pigs are escape artists, will become your best friend if you have food and when it rains, they will root everything up to bits.

Hehe thank you! I don't really have to worry about rain... we get sooooooo little here.

Looks like I'll have to use horse corral wrapped in field wire wrapped in electric.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

when it rains, they will root everything up to bits.

Wrong! It all depends on the breed. Commercial breeds are the worst rooters, heritage breeds are not as bad.

Royd did a great job in answering your questions & he is absolutely right about fencing - get some electric wire running at nose height (will have to be moved as they grow) to keep them off your main fence. Once they are trained to electric fence properly rarely will they go through it.

Large Blacks adjust to all climates - they are being raised from Alaska to Florida & we did fly some out to CA this year.

If you are wanting to raise a couple of feeders to see if you want to breed pigs in the long run then I suggest you purchase some feeders of the breed you like the sound of to see if you really like the breed enough to invest in some breeding stock. If, however, you are just wanting to raise a couple feeders to eat & then buy a couple more to eat then go with whatever. Pig breeds do have different temperaments & growing abilities. Heritage breeds tend to grow slower but they do not eat as much per day so it all even outs. Heritage breeds will enjoy some hay to eat whereas most commercial breeds have had the grass genetics bred out of them so will not know what to do with it. I know some folks raise commercial pigs on grass/hay but they are few & far between.

For a fast growing feeder pig you really need a cross which can be an F1 or an F2. Both of these crosses give you what is known as Hybrid Vigor meaning they grow faster than their pure bred parents. An F1 is a cross between two pure bred pigs of different breeds. An F2 which has the most Hybrid vigor is an F1 mated to a purebred. It has been proven that crossing further does not give you any greater growth rate & that is why an F2 is also known as a Terminal Cross & should not be used for breeding.

Liz

 

[Bossroo]

Hmmmm ! "... most commercial breeds have the grass genetics bred out of them so will not know what to do with it." Here in my area of Cal. where my ranch is located, there are now quite a few commercial type sows being highjacked from their owners by wild boars that destroy their pens. Now the new ferral pig population and their piglets ( Hampshire and/ or spotted markings) are becomming quite large. Pig hunts are becomming more and more common as those ranchers, where these newly wild pigs are located, are charging big $$$s to hunt their cattle ranch lands. I hear tell that this similar thing is happeneing in Hawaii, Texas, Florida and elsewhere. How is this possible ?

 

[Cornish Heritage]

We do not have feral pigs here yet and although they are not far away we have not had any experience with them at this point in our lives

I have heard that feral pigs are very destructive - digging up the land. Hampshires would fit in wonderfully. In our experience they don't appreciate good grass just like to dig to up!

For those of you dealing with the real issue of feral pigs, build strong, strong electric fences. As we replace our perimeter fence which will more than likely take us years we are putting in Woven Hi-Tensile. (Internal is already 5 strand Hi-Tensile) Hopefully that will keep out the feral pigs if they ever come this close. When we lived in MT the state vet was absolutely terrified that we were bringing in feral pigs. We were in fact bringing in registered Large Blacks but he was not happy until the local Brand Inspector had come out to check our fences. The Brand Inspector had done his research before he came & so knew Large Blacks were not feral. Later we learned why all the paranoia. Apparently some "kind" person had at one time brought in some feral pigs, let them out on local ranches which up there are huge (thousands & thousands of acres) & then when the rancher started having a problem with feral pigs, the same gentleman approached the rancher offering to take care of his problem for big bucks! Corruption everywhere!

Liz

 

[Oakroot]

Hmmmm ! "... most commercial breeds have the grass genetics bred out of them so will not know what to do with it." Here in my area of Cal. where my ranch is located, there are now quite a few commercial type sows being highjacked from their owners by wild boars that destroy their pens. Now the new ferral pig population and their piglets ( Hampshire and/ or spotted markings) are becomming quite large. Pig hunts are becomming more and more common as those ranchers, where these newly wild pigs are located, are charging big $$$s to hunt their cattle ranch lands. I hear tell that this similar thing is happeneing in Hawaii, Texas, Florida and elsewhere. How is this possible ?

I don't think this disproves their point. Pigs will eat just about anything. A feral pig is not likely to be eating moch grass in CA. With so much in the way or roots, critters, acorns, roadkill etc they can certainly fine plenty to eat with out having to touch the grass. Those that can't survive free range would die regardless if they where stolen by a boar or not. No creature goes "wild" faster then a pig. Doesn't mean commercial breeds would do well in a pasture situation or on hay though.

 

[that's*satyrical]

We have a 6 joule electric for the pigs. That thing will zap the crap outta you. I've gotten zapped a few times & it literally disorients you. The pigs DO NOT mess with it at all. Even when it's turned off for me to fill water pails and even when I accidentally forgot to turn it back on for almost a whole day. That is the only fence they have and it works. Not only that when we expanded their area it took them like 3 days to venture into the new for fear of getting zapped. Love that fence!! Well, except when I accidentally touch it .....