Keeping Pigs Advise

[Chase Brandt]

Hello

Recently i have been thinking of purchasing and raising some pigs on quite a small scale.
Im really lucking to have access to a recently unused piggery and feed mixing mill which is owned by my family. There is an automatic feed system and water in the building which i will use for water and maybe feed in the future. The pens have indoor and out door parts and have slats where the pigs can sh&%. The sow can presumably farrow in the large pens and i can move the piglets (after 6 weeks) into piglets runs and then into normal pens of about 4 -5 pigs. Would this be an effective system to start with ?

I need to know

• How much feed they need (Of a day) ?
• Is it worth buying boars or buying semen ?
• amount of water a day ?
• Weight you should sell pigs at ?
• Heat (temperature) ?

Thanks you . Chase Brandt

 

[Pan mixer]

Hello

Recently i have been thinking of purchasing and raising some pigs on quite a small scale.
Im really lucking to have access to a recently unused piggery and feed mixing mill which is owned by my family. There is an automatic feed system and water in the building which i will use for water and maybe feed in the future. The pens have indoor and out door parts and have slats where the pigs can sh&%. The sow can presumably farrow in the large pens and i can move the piglets (after 6 weeks) into piglets runs and then into normal pens of about 4 -5 pigs. Would this be an effective system to start with ?

I need to know

• How much feed they need (Of a day) ?
• Is it worth buying boars or buying semen ?
• amount of water a day ?
• Weight you should sell pigs at ?
• Heat (temperature) ?

Thanks you . Chase Brandt

I suggest that you find someone locally to give you advice as you will need lots more knowledge.

To answer your questions so far, sows need from 2.2 to 4 Kg of feed per day depending on condition whilst pregnant, once they have farrowed feed them on the Stotfold Scale (google it)

Boars are almost 100% successful at spotting a sow on heat (you need to do that when you use AI, one boar will serve a couple of sows a week (he may think he can do more). I am not so good at spotting sows on heat and I have looked at thousands - professionals can tell by tasting the sows urine, most of these professionals have 4 legs

Ad lib water through a drinker to prevent wastage and excess slurry production

You sell your pigs at the weight the customers want around 23 weeks old, your customers will then tell you that you pigs are too heavy, too fat, too thin, too light, too much black/blue skin, had something wrong with a leg, skin, shoulder etc. to make sure they don't pay you as much as they said.

By the time you get any pigs ready, even starting now, you will be losing a heap of money.

Only the newborns will need any heat, and not much of that assuming you have loads of straw, otherwise look up critical temperatures for pigs.#

If you have time try to work on a local pig farm - you won't be allowed to oince you have pigs for biosecurity reasons.

 

[Old Tip]

Pigs are the vest way in farming to lose money, like the man says they cost a lot and are difficult to sell. You need a source of cheap feed, plenty of straw and somewhere to get rid of the sh!t. I used to keep a small herd of pigs, just have one sow now because I love keeping pigs but hate losing money.

OT