Any hog farmers on here?

[Cammy]

My BIL brought up the idea of raising a couple hogs as a way to fill a freezer. We have zero experience raising livestock but with both of us being retired, what else do we have to do.

We (I) have identified the breed of hog that we want to raise and have talked to a breeder about getting a couple gilts in May with a planned butcher date of December. We have an area set aside to raise them and have purchased hog panels and will be building a shelter for them next week. Bedding will be woodchips I get from a local tree guy and straw. Feed and water equipment will be borrowed from a kid who used to do FFA hogs (he told me we could have it but I don't want to store it so I told him I would bring it back). Will be buying a small kid pool to create a wallow for them.

My wife wants a soy free diet for the hogs and so I have researched the hell out of swine diets and think I have that figured out. Field peas will be the major source of proteins for their diet along with about 5 other grains to round out the nutrition. Grains will be supplemented with vegetables from the garden.

So I have a plan to house and feed and water them them and keep them comfortable. We will be doing our own butchering. Am I missing anything? Other than the horror stories of escaping pigs. I don't know what I don't know so any input is welcome

 

[Nick87]

Are you putting them on concrete or dirt?
What's your water system?
When were the pigs born?

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Be aware that they can lift very heavy stuff. Don't give them any room to get a snout under anything. I would attach the panels to the concrete.

They are probably the easiest animal to feed out. You can pretty much give them anything to feed them. Just figure the ration based on grain and anything extra like garden scraps is just that...extra. There are plenty of non soy protein ingredients such as distillers and wheat mids that can be figured in.

Good luck

 

[Dakota79]

Any vaccines or medications you need to have on hand?

 

[Nick87]

Also what's the shape of your pen?

 

[WildWill]

I've found a couple electric wires does wonders in keeping pigs in there pen. Do you have a small tractor or something to help with the butchering? Once they're down it can be a job to move them around even with a few guys.

 

[Jwill]

Skinning or scalding?

 

[Mtn-time]

My BIL brought up the idea of raising a couple hogs as a way to fill a freezer. We have zero experience raising livestock but with both of us being retired, what else do we have to do.

We (I) have identified the breed of hog that we want to raise and have talked to a breeder about getting a couple gilts in May with a planned butcher date of December. We have an area set aside to raise them and have purchased hog panels and will be building a shelter for them next week. Bedding will be woodchips I get from a local tree guy and straw. Feed and water equipment will be borrowed from a kid who used to do FFA hogs (he told me we could have it but I don't want to store it so I told him I would bring it back). Will be buying a small kid pool to create a wallow for them.

My wife wants a soy free diet for the hogs and so I have researched the hell out of swine diets and think I have that figured out. Field peas will be the major source of proteins for their diet along with about 5 other grains to round out the nutrition. Grains will be supplemented with vegetables from the garden.

So I have a plan to house and feed and water them them and keep them comfortable. We will be doing our own butchering. Am I missing anything? Other than the horror stories of escaping pigs. I don't know what I don't know so any input is welcome

I would skip buying the kiddy pool as most likely they will destroy it in short order. maybe rig up an automatic waterer

 

[Lota lota]

My BIL brought up the idea of raising a couple hogs as a way to fill a freezer. We have zero experience raising livestock but with both of us being retired, what else do we have to do.

We (I) have identified the breed of hog that we want to raise and have talked to a breeder about getting a couple gilts in May with a planned butcher date of December. We have an area set aside to raise them and have purchased hog panels and will be building a shelter for them next week. Bedding will be woodchips I get from a local tree guy and straw. Feed and water equipment will be borrowed from a kid who used to do FFA hogs (he told me we could have it but I don't want to store it so I told him I would bring it back). Will be buying a small kid pool to create a wallow for them.

My wife wants a soy free diet for the hogs and so I have researched the hell out of swine diets and think I have that figured out. Field peas will be the major source of proteins for their diet along with about 5 other grains to round out the nutrition. Grains will be supplemented with vegetables from the garden.

So I have a plan to house and feed and water them them and keep them comfortable. We will be doing our own butchering. Am I missing anything? Other than the horror stories of escaping pigs. I don't know what I don't know so any input is welcome

I raised them for 10 years. Really easy animal to raise. They're super intelligent and will eventually get so comfortable they're like having a dog. Keep them wormed frequently if they're digging in the mud/dirt. Other than that good luck, they're fun to have. If you butcher yourself, I would get on YouTube and look up the bearded butchers. They have a great tutorial on how to butcher pigs with step by step instructions for all of your major cuts.

 

[Lota lota]

Any vaccines or medications you need to have on hand?

Penicillin and Ivermectin

 

[Steiny77]

My neighbors who are also the same guys that cash rent and farm our ground raise about 8,000 hogs year round. A couple times per year they will call up with a hog or two that has a minor injury, rupture, bum leg, etc. They can't keep them with the healthy hogs and the packers don't want them so it's give them away or dispose of them. Myself and buddies typically take 2-4 per year, process them and share.

We've gotten pretty good at breakfast and Italian sausage. Do all the other standard cuts, whole loins, chops, ribs, etc. Haven't tried to cure or smoke a ham or make bacon yet, but probably should. Only cost we have in it is packaging material and spices, plus it's a fun beer drinking project and everyone goes home with a bunch of good meat.

 

[buckbull]

We had hogs although dairy cows was our primary focus. As mentioned they can be very destructive. If they can get their snoot into a spot they will pry until something breaks loose.

Both cows and hogs got a supplement of soybean meal. I'm not being confrontational but what is the deal with not wanting to feed soy to hogs? Everything we fed to both cows and hogs grain wise contained a majority of corn and soybean meal. Each then got their own specific mineral mixes. Hogs also got tankage.

 

[kwyeewyk]

Second the skip the pool if they're on dirt, it's mud they want and mud they will make so they'll just dump it and destroy it. They destroy everything that isn't solid. If you have enough panels to lay a row on the ground then clamp your fence panels to they won't get out and you can skip electric but it takes twice as many panels. Fairly easy to drag around that way if you have enough room to move them occasionally. Be ready to till and relevel the ground afterwards.

Peas and wheat/barley or similar is great for feed but takes a little more than corn/soy, makes good meat and fat. If you can find someone milling it your costs should be way better than feed store.

What breed?

 

[Cammy]

Are you putting them on concrete or dirt? Dirt
What's your water system? Large blue barrel with the nipple/nibbler for now. Considering direct from spigot mounting.
When were the pigs born? Have not purchased hogs yet. Speaking with breeder, he should have some mid to late May.

 

[Nick87]

if there on dirt. Skip the pool. They'll make a wallow. Also if on dirt run a hot wire. If your only having two and butchering yourself it shouldn't really matter how uour going to build the pen but should you ajve to load them on a trailer for a processor keep on mind you need a way to funnel them down and if they can see through it they're gonna try to push through it. As far as the water goes with only two pigs I'd probably keep your barrel with a spigot. If you run a hose two pigs don't drink enough to keep the line from being scolding on a summer day. Ymmv when you build your pen keep shade in mind.

 

[Cammy]

I'm not being confrontational but what is the deal with not wanting to feed soy to hogs?

My wife is concerned about studies that show Soy isoflavones can bind to estrogen receptors in the body and cause either weak estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity.

 

[Cammy]

Skinning or scalding?

Would like to scald though we have not decided. Being in Northern Commiefornia, the December butcher date was chosen so we would have cooler temps. Have watched several videos on scalding using hot water and towels or blankets rather than immersion.

 

[Cammy]

Also what's the shape of your pen?

16x32 rectangle

 

[Cammy]

Do you have a small tractor or something to help with the butchering?

Tractor on hand

 

[Dave N]

My wife is concerned about studies that show Soy isoflavones can bind to estrogen receptors in the body and cause either weak estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity.

Say what?