Farmer Connie
True BYH Addict
It sounds like profit was put in front of quality, as far as the seller is concerned. And or inexperience in breeding swine. I don't wish to speculate or cast stones, but it was an early ween regardless. Negligence of the seller's behalf. Also the seller should have wormed the pigs if the were concerned with the well being of their stock. We worm all of our offspring. A pig cannot grow if it is channeling all of it's white blood cells to fight off infections.
We breed Hampshire/Duroc/Old Spot/Berkshires. We are never in a hurry to ween. They are ween when the sow says they are ready. They will eat along side her(s) and slowly transition diet change. First milk, then milk with gradual grain feeding. then more and more grain until the sow says.."enough is enough".. that's my feed GO AWAY. When the mother stops sharing her food is when we snatch them out. We have gone a few times as much as 8 to 9 weeks (30#) nursing/grain transition. It kick starts the growth spurt big time. Then there is almost no interruption in growth once removed from the sow.
Our last 2 feeder pigs we processed were brought up to just under 300# in barely 5 months. Pumped full of nutrition from mother's milk as long as possible.
You may consider iron, nutri-drench and vitamins and electrolytes.
You could possibly stunt the growth rate of your pig if it doesn't become active and healthy soon.
Just for future reference, pigs are very social animals. Companionship keeps them active and vibrant. Having a play mate and a buddy around lifts their spirits and playfulness. It is always better to buy feeder pigs in pairs. Another benefit of having a pair is, they compete for the food. Meaning they will grow faster. Having 1 pig and a bowl of food allows the pig to nibble when it feels like a bite or two. But pigs are greedy with food. They compete. They will eat everything down much much faster if they are worried their buddy is going to get more than their share.
I wish you the best.. I'm following your thread now. I have my fingers crossed..
We breed Hampshire/Duroc/Old Spot/Berkshires. We are never in a hurry to ween. They are ween when the sow says they are ready. They will eat along side her(s) and slowly transition diet change. First milk, then milk with gradual grain feeding. then more and more grain until the sow says.."enough is enough".. that's my feed GO AWAY. When the mother stops sharing her food is when we snatch them out. We have gone a few times as much as 8 to 9 weeks (30#) nursing/grain transition. It kick starts the growth spurt big time. Then there is almost no interruption in growth once removed from the sow.
Our last 2 feeder pigs we processed were brought up to just under 300# in barely 5 months. Pumped full of nutrition from mother's milk as long as possible.
You may consider iron, nutri-drench and vitamins and electrolytes.
You could possibly stunt the growth rate of your pig if it doesn't become active and healthy soon.
Just for future reference, pigs are very social animals. Companionship keeps them active and vibrant. Having a play mate and a buddy around lifts their spirits and playfulness. It is always better to buy feeder pigs in pairs. Another benefit of having a pair is, they compete for the food. Meaning they will grow faster. Having 1 pig and a bowl of food allows the pig to nibble when it feels like a bite or two. But pigs are greedy with food. They compete. They will eat everything down much much faster if they are worried their buddy is going to get more than their share.
I wish you the best.. I'm following your thread now. I have my fingers crossed..
playing with the ducks she loves to chase the ducks... we are horrible at raising animals for meat we get so attached but that's ok we can at least say we saved her.
