# Feeder Pig



## 35 Whelen Jr (Dec 8, 2013)

Anyone here raise their own feeder pigs for meat?

Thinking of starting them on the homestead. Always looking for tips. Thanks!


----------



## Sugar Plum (Dec 8, 2013)

35 Whelen Jr said:


> Anyone here raise their own feeder pigs for meat?
> 
> Thinking of starting them on the homestead. Always looking for tips. Thanks!



No real tips, but you can check craigslist for supplies and sometimes even animals. We were looking at the "free" section last night and saw an emu, 16 pygmy goats, and roosters galore. If we had the right kind of trailer, we could load em all up to fatten them at home before filling the freezer up. 

Good luck!


----------



## Doc_5729 (Dec 8, 2013)

35 Whelen Jr said:


> Anyone here raise their own feeder pigs for meat?
> 
> Thinking of starting them on the homestead. Always looking for tips. Thanks!



Been there done that. I think it's cheaper to just buy at the livestock sales than to buy feed now days.


----------



## Hogwild80 (Dec 8, 2013)

Its not cheaper than store bought pork u will spend way more for farm raised pork, if you buy feed,you can come out a little better if you buy bulk feed or a commodity feed,but the end results are much better with farm raised animals with no antibiotics and whatever else they put into raising them i still have some in thw freezer from my last ones i had butchered good luck its a learning experience if youve never raised pigs before. Do some research on raising hogs if you have never done it before


----------



## watermedic (Dec 8, 2013)

IGA has bone in loins for $1.59/lb and butts for 1.29/lb

Don't know if you can raise them that cheap


----------



## 35 Whelen Jr (Dec 8, 2013)

It's not that cheap if we include the tax subsidies the farmers get.


----------



## jakebuddy (Dec 14, 2013)

Doing the same thing now here is what I have learned so far: no matter how many people tell you that you can just feed them corn its not enough to put weight on them you want them to grow fast. my pen is one roll of wire 330' square its about the right size for two at the most. I also have one strand of electric wire inside the fence. Its quite an adventure WHEN they get out. they do need to be wormed. raise them in the spring and plant extra in your garden they love vegetables. All in all they are pretty easy and not just about being cheaper.


----------



## brownhounds (Dec 17, 2013)

I have 3 in a pen right now.  I dont recommend that to anybody.  Maybe 1 or 2 at the most, but they dont stop eating.  And if you think you will save money, there is no way.

I am going to the sale this week, and I am going to find out what a grown one is going for.


----------



## shakey gizzard (Dec 17, 2013)

Stale bread and honeybuns!


----------



## 35 Whelen Jr (Dec 17, 2013)

I suppose if it doesn't work out, I'll just use their pen for the goats instead.


----------



## BriarPatch99 (Dec 17, 2013)

We grew hogs here on our farm for many years ... my Dad always told this little story about growing hogs to anybody who would listen ...

There were these to guys who decided to get in the hog business ... they talked about what each could do as their part ... one said ..."hey I'll steal the pigs and you steal the corn" great they said ... on sale day ... they both come out two dollars a head in the hole!


----------



## brownhounds (Dec 17, 2013)

The money is definately not worth it.  But, I am 33 yrs young, and the average farmer is 65 yrs old.  In my opinion, we all need to keep livestock and small farms going no matter how difficult it is.  If we give up, we will all be eating cloned beef and pork, and we will all depend on the government to show us their version of pork, beef, and chicken which is what most people eat already.


----------



## 35 Whelen Jr (Dec 17, 2013)

Very True!


----------



## joey1919 (Dec 17, 2013)

watermedic said:


> IGA has bone in loins for $1.59/lb and butts for 1.29/lb
> 
> Don't know if you can raise them that cheap



you can't. kinda makes you wonder what those pigs are being fed though.

i've got six right now, if you're trying to save money,start clipping coupons for the piggly wiggly. if you like knowing where your food comes from, whats in it,how it lived its life, and like raising animals, it's very rewarding. kinda like a garden.


----------



## Luke0927 (Dec 17, 2013)

Family used to one of my grandpas did some again several years back...I'm going to try and put up 2 this year. You can usually find 25 lbs pigs in spring for cheap.  I'm going to build me a pen off the ground...Like folks said sounds like will cost you more but you know where it comes from.  I also thought about if I don't do one this spring, I have a hammer mill if i had some kind of picker for soybeans I'd plant corn and soybeans and grind my own feed. I'd be in business then...and be real ready following spring.


----------



## brownhounds (Dec 17, 2013)

Where did you get a hammer mill from, and how much do they cost?


----------



## 35 Whelen Jr (Dec 17, 2013)

The pen I was thinking of doing was a raised one, also. I think i'd be easier to clean.


----------



## Luke0927 (Dec 19, 2013)

We've had the hammer mill I have never used it, its converted to PTO for the tractor been sitting by the pasture since getting rid of cows.  Its up at our Blairsville place hopefully bring it home this spring (if I knew hogs would do fine I'd just turn them out up there and pasture them and free feed but I can't always get up there every week) 

Shouldn't take much to get it it running (I hope!) new belts and grease.  I bet if you watch market bulletin or put out an add you might could find a deal on one.

I think a 10x10 pen for 2 would be fine, if you had a hill to put it on would be easy just let it all was down.  I was thinking of digging a trench to let it all run into.

For those that have hogs and if your getting them, are you scrapping them out and curing hams, bacon etc...or are you skinning getting some cuts and making more whole hog sausage.


----------



## brownhounds (Dec 20, 2013)

I am just skinning them and getting cuts of meat/sausage.  I am getting one ready for a hog killin in about a month.  CAnt wait.


----------



## Luke0927 (Dec 20, 2013)

Post up some picture I shouldn't be to far from you hit me up when your planning it if its where I can I'd help you out with it.


----------



## redman2006 (Dec 27, 2013)

I have done it.  I had some help.  Do you know anyone in the food industry?  Schools, restaurants, etc.  If so, talk to them.  I would not suggest you feed table waste except from your own table, but the stuff that they pitch at the end of the night that never hit a table works out well.

If you do that and grower feed until about 30 days before they are ready to slaughter, then take them off the table food and use finisher, you get a really good product cheaply.  

It is illegal in the US to sell hogs raised on waste though.  

Buy your feed in bulk rather than bagged and you will save a bundle.

Two hogs will eat competitively and grow more quickly than a single.

Ring their noses or they will find a way to push out of just about any wire pen eventually.  A hot wire run at about 8-10 inches off the ground will deter that as well.

Nipple type waterers are much better since they love to flip buckets and wade in the water.  You can make your own very cheaply.

Heat is the killer with hogs.  Misters and shade help with feed efficiency.  Never spray them with cold well water on a hot day.

Deworm them a couple of times.

They love acorns.  A good mast crop year, and you can pen them under a big white oak to seriously decrease the feed bill.

If I can help, let me know.  So much more that I learned the hard way.


----------



## rebel bruiser (Dec 27, 2013)

*Feeder Pigs*



35 Whelen Jr said:


> Anyone here raise their own feeder pigs for meat?
> 
> Thinking of starting them on the homestead. Always looking for tips. Thanks!



I have raised them & I have gone to the market & bought---naturally buying is better& easier--I butcher my own, used to scald & scrape--now I skin--I save the, ribs , loin (pork chops), put eveything else in sausage & lean ground pork-- I am now raising Mule Foot Hogs, they are a type of heritage hog--very red lean meat, they won't be cheaper because of feed cost--but at least you know what you have.


----------



## Luke0927 (Dec 29, 2013)

Where you getting the mule foot hogs or you got your on breeders now?


----------

