Vaccine/Antibiotics/Wormers/Meds

[WorthItFarms]

Okay, so the title sounds confusing, but my basic question is what to use on "natural" pigs?

Background:
We raised and showed pygmy goats for 12 year or so. Lots of meds went into them. Including some that make them unsafe for human consumption. Which is fine since I only sold to pet/show homes. We NOW have 5 Spanish goats, no vaccinations, only worming when needed (as determined by fecal float and FAMANCHA), and basically no fuss/fluff. They get grass/hay and sweet feed as a treat, that's it. I do put some ACV in their water. These are goats designed to live over 100 years ago before Ivermectin, etc came around and unavailable in the wild.

So, I want to raise heritage hogs in a similar method.
-Do heritage pig breeders vaccinate? If so, for what?
-Do they deworm? Why or Why not?
-Do they employ other methods to keep exposure to a minimum?
-What about antibiotics? All typically materials tell me to start young and keep it up for months. I hate the idea of sub-therapeutic anti.
-I though hogs were hardy, do they really need all of this "fuss"?

We have about a pen that is roughly 150ft X 50ft OR 7500 sq ft. Half wooded, half pasture. We will free-feed All Stock Feed and supplement with whey, milk, veggies, bread, lots of eggs, and leftover meat/bone scraps from the rabbits/ducks.

I plan to raise their "feeding station" up on a platform (to get them used to going up there for loading).It should helps keep the "mess" down.

Any ideas,advice is welcome.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

So, I want to raise heritage hogs in a similar method.
-Do heritage pig breeders vaccinate? If so, for what?
-Do they deworm? Why or Why not?
-Do they employ other methods to keep exposure to a minimum?
-What about antibiotics? All typically materials tell me to start young and keep it up for months. I hate the idea of sub-therapeutic anti.
-I though hogs were hardy, do they really need all of this "fuss"?

We have about a pen that is roughly 150ft X 50ft OR 7500 sq ft. Half wooded, half pasture. We will free-feed All Stock Feed and supplement with whey, milk, veggies, bread, lots of eggs, and leftover meat/bone scraps from the rabbits/ducks.

I plan to raise their "feeding station" up on a platform (to get them used to going up there for loading).It should helps keep the "mess" down.

Any ideas,advice is welcome.

Good questions! Now I am going to ask you a question back Are you planning on just raising heritage hogs for meat or are you planning on breeding them?

Heritage hogs do not grow like the regular "commercial" breeds. Free feeding heritage hogs is a bad idea because they grow much slower so if you free feed them you will end up with fat pigs that grow too heavy too fast & will not breed well & in fact we have seen some that just go lame. It is very sad. I would not even recommend free feeding your feeders but obviously they could have more than your breeders.

Onto your other questions:

Do heritage pig breeders vaccinate?

Here on the farm we raise Large Blacks - have also raised GOS & Red Wattles in the past. We also raise other heritage breeds. We do not vaccinate.

Do they deworm? Why or Why not?

The only time we routinely deworm is at weaning. We use Dectomax & do this because the majority of our business is selling quality breeding stock & so the piglets leave here shortly after weaning. We do not want that piglet to take any nasties with it be it lice or worms. And I am not saying here that our pigs are full of worms & lice - they are not but we just take that precaution. If the customer does not want us to deworm then we respect their decision but they take full responsibility for that.

Do they employ other methods to keep exposure to a minimum?

We do watch our pigs pretty closely so if we saw a problem we would act. Pumpkins are a good natural dewormer in the Fall so if you can plant some or get some then that is a good idea. The pigs love them. Some breeders also swear by DE (Food grade Diatemaceous (sp?) Earth). We try to have that available to the pigs at all times but don't always. Rotating pastures is also a good idea but it just not practical for us as we run SO many boars & different lines so moving 10 pastures every week is not going to happen!

What about antibiotics? All typically materials tell me to start young and keep it up for months. I hate the idea of sub-therapeutic anti.

We do not feed any medicated feed here & only give antibiotics if a pig is really sick & we think the antibiotics will help it recover.

I though hogs were hardy, do they really need all of this "fuss"?

Heritage hogs on the whole are hardy. We get the odd one get sick & die but that happens with all animals so we do not fret about it much. Our pigs do well out on pasture with a supplemental diet. Their digestive system is very much like ours so they need a variety of food. Hard for them to do well on just grass although some folks have done it.

 

[DKRabbitry]

I don't have much hog-keeping experience yet, so I can't really help with what my practices are in terms of vaccinating/worming/antibiotics. I just thought I would point out something that was just recently pointed out to me while I was reading Storey's Guide to Raising Pigs. He mentions in there the fact that many of today's hog bloodlines are bred for confinement and simply can't survive an outdoor, antibiotic/vaccination free lifestyle. I am looking into getting American Guinea Hogs, and I have been doing a lot of research as of late. I am noticing you sort of have to read between the lines in terms of what kind of hogs what you are reading is talking about. Much of the information, while still applicable in many areas, is geared towards confinement-reared hogs. This could be why they are talking about the medicated feeds and fussing over them, because they simply are not bred to be able to thrive on their own anymore. I suggest you find a breeder who raises their hogs in a similar fashion you want to, that way you know those lines are already prepared for it. Otherwise you re going to be doing a LOT of breeding/culling/replacing if you start with confinement-bred animals and it could take a while to get them to where you want them health-wise.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

He mentions in there the fact that many of today's hog bloodlines are bred for confinement and simply can't survive an outdoor, antibiotic/vaccination free lifestyle.

This is SO true. It is absolutely vital, if you are wanting to pasture raise any animal, that you purchase from stock that is already pastured. This applies to heritage breeds as well. Do not just assume, that because what you are purchasing is a heritage breed that it will do well on pasture. It can be bred out of them. Research the farm where you are buying from. We never cease to be amazed when we move our weaned piglets to a new area of grass - they are SO excited. Forget the grain, all they want is the grass.

Sadly there are very few, if any, books out there on pasture raising hogs. If anyone knows of any I would love to know.

Liz