Any hog farmers on here?

[Cammy]

Spent grain is readily available from local breweries. Combined with scraps from restaurants and grocery stores, you are set

Have seen spent grain for sale on Market Place and have considered it based on the cheap price for amount you get. I talked with a produce guy years ago about getting expired produce for my compost pile. He told me they couldn't give it away anymore because the pig farmer that used to take it got a batch with broken glass in it and tried to sue the store. I my area, everyone want's to make a buck off of anything that is scrap rather than giving it away.

 

[Nick87]

Have seen spent grain for sale on Market Place and have considered it based on the cheap price for amount you get. I talked with a produce guy years ago about getting expired produce for my compost pile. He told me they couldn't give it away anymore because the pig farmer that used to take it got a batch with broken glass in it and tried to sue the store. I my area, everyone want's to make a buck off of anything that is scrap rather than giving it away.

If you keep them on a regular diet whether it be your peas or corn or spent grain whatever you'll end up with a much better finished product anyway. Scraps and such are still fine to throw in there but I wouldn't base your feed around it.

 

[SilentBirdHunter]

I shoot clay targets at least once a week.
Yesterday I noticed our club clay target cardboard boxes did not
have "Warning: Toxic To Hogs". They used to when I started fourty years ago...
those older style clay pigeons made with a petroleum based tar pitch were toxic to swine.

Are current clay targets for shotgun sports no longer toxic to hogs?

 

[Nick87]

@Cammy what are you planning on using for a feeder?

 

[Nick87]

I shoot clay targets at least once a week.
Yesterday I noticed our club clay target cardboard boxes did not
have "Warning: Toxic To Hogs". They used to when I started fourty years ago...
those older style clay pigeons made with a petroleum based tar pitch were toxic to swine.

Are current clay targets for shotgun sports no longer toxic to hogs?

They were as of about 15 years ago. I know that for sure. Found out the hard way.

 

[Dan-06]

I find it best to have a neighbor grow them out. This way when they get out and into the garden it’s not mine.

 

[Cammy]

@Cammy what are you planning on using for a feeder?

The neighbor kid who raised fair pigs has all the equipment I will need. He has the feed bin as well as "slop bowls" and the watering equipment. When I asked to borrow it he gave it to me as he has "aged out" of the fair circuit. I will be returning it to him when we are done though as I don't really want to store it and he may need it again later in life.

 

[Cammy]

I find it best to have a neighbor grow them out. This way when they get out and into the garden it’s not mine.

As a teenager my cousin was raising a steer. It kept getting out and eating the neighbors garden. He was arrested for failure to control a domesticated animal after the umpteenth time it happened. When my Uncle went to get him out of jail, my cousin asked my Uncle to come back after dinner as he heard they were having spaghetti.

 

[Nick87]

@Cammy you get the hogs yet? Picking up a few tomorrow.

 

[Cammy]

Still in stand-by mode waiting for a call from the breeder. Have the pen and shelter built and the wood chips spread for bedding. Installed the in ground wallow pool yesterday.

 

[Cammy]

@Cammy you get the hogs yet? Picking up a few tomorrow.

Do you work with a breeder? When is your butcher date? do you do them yourself?

 

[Nick87]

Do you work with a breeder? When is your butcher date? do you do them yourself?

An old boss of mine breeds and sells show pigs I buy whatever doesn't sell for 4h. My pigs are born late January kill date Sept. 10th. We take them in.

 

[bucdoego]

Looked at buying a stainless "pruning blade" for a sawzall back when I had a cow elk tag. Never got the elk so no need for the blade. Might just revisit that idea. I have seen recommendations to wrap a plastic bag around the end of the saw to improve cleanliness and reduce clean-up.

We've used a Ryobi battery operated version sawzall for deer butchery for years. Had a local butcher comment with surprise at how well we did splitting a half-of-deer being delivered for them to process. Stated that we did it as well as his crew. Works with the same batteries as our other tools, so we always have fresh, charged power.

 

[shannerdrake]

We've used a Ryobi battery operated version sawzall for deer butchery for years. Had a local butcher comment with surprise at how well we did splitting a half-of-deer being delivered for them to process. Stated that we did it as well as his crew. Works with the same batteries as our other tools, so we always have fresh, charged power.

I take my deer and elk to a commercial butcher in Colorado and he only has cordless sawzalls and fresh blades for his splitting and rough bone work. He has two Dewalts. One is over 10 years old and he said he’s yet to have one quit and they are plenty fast enough for what he does.

I have an older oversized corded sawzall that my late father in law left me. With a fresh blade I swear it cuts better than my Stihl 170 (although that’s not saying much). That thing will melt through deer bone and skull. I used it over the weekend to make dog bone crosscuts on an elk femur bone in the freezer. Almost as good as band saw .

 

[Cammy]

An old boss of mine breeds and sells show pigs I buy whatever doesn't sell for 4h. My pigs are born late January kill date Sept. 10th. We take them in.

We will butcher ourselves and wanting it to be cold when we do. We are looking for a butcher date of mid December.

 

[Cammy]

I swear it cuts better than my Stihl 170

Speaking of chainsaws and butchering.... The same cousin that was arrested for the cow eating the neighbors garden was assisting in the butchering of a sheep. When the bone saw couldn't be located to split the carcass, said cousin fired up his chainsaw (which he kept in his bedroom closet) and sawed the carcass in half. Chainsaw was returned to its storage location without a deep clean. Needless to say, a few days later the hunt was on for the dead animal smell in the house. Just to be clear, "I'm Rednecker than any of you."

 

[Dan-06]

Speaking of chainsaws and butchering.... The same cousin that was arrested for the cow eating the neighbors garden was assisting in the butchering of a sheep. When the bone saw couldn't be located to split the carcass, said cousin fired up his chainsaw (which he kept in his bedroom closet) and sawed the carcass in half. Chainsaw was returned to its storage location without a deep clean. Needless to say, a few days later the hunt was on for the dead animal smell in the house. Just to be clear, "I'm Rednecker than any of you."

I thought that it is normal to do that.

 

[Sask hunter]

Sawzalls work good for splitting but I find it a bit rough to do on a moose or elk. Usually once you hit the shoulders I have a hard time getting blades long enough to go through. My skinning pole setup I’m going to buy a corded chainsaw for splitting only

 

[Nick87]

Sawzalls work good for splitting but I find it a bit rough to do on a moose or elk. Usually once you hit the shoulders I have a hard time getting blades long enough to go through. My skinning pole setup I’m going to buy a corded chainsaw for splitting only

Probably sell those at the gas station too I suppose? Lol

 

[Cammy]

Got tired of waiting on the breeder I had been in contact with and started looking at Craigslist. Found a farm that was selling pure bred Berkshire hogs. Will pick them up Wednesday morning.

Have been looking all over the place for soy free feed and had come to the conclusion that I would need to mix my own. That is, until a phone call changed all of that. I had talked to a feed mill late last year who would sell me the individual components and I reached out to them to see if I needed to set up a will call order. Speaking with the clerk I mentioned that I was looking for soy free hog rations and was having trouble finding them. Turns out the mill makes a organic livestock mix that is the same protein percentage that I was looking to create (15%), has nearly the same ingredients and is only 2.5 cents more per pound than I was estimating. Best part is that it is pelletized and has all the supplements I would have had to buy (for less than 3 cents per pound) already in the mix. The reason I didn't see it on the web-site was that it is listed as "Dairy Feed" as they have some growers who get all freaky if the feed for their cows doesn't say dairy.

Fence is tight, water supply set, feeder set. I think we are ready for pigs!