help we have a pig!!

[clare]

We have rescued a pig about 12 weeks old.We have sorted a pen ,built a straw bale/corregated shelter and have reinforced the fences(2 sides are brick walls),borrowed a trough for water and food,bought a sack of food,got a defra holding number and herd number(all since Sunday).We need to tag his ear as he will go off for slaughter but how will we know when?Can anyone help as we have chickens and I have kept horses in the past but the pig thing is new.It was part of our plans,just a bit sooner than we envisaged!He's 3 months now so I have had mixed advice,some say at 6 months he'll be big enough but others say 8 months and some say you can use a weighing tape to check if he's 60 kilos which is ok for the amount of meat it will produce.I am feeding pig food morning and evening and scraps during the day.
Hope someone can help...
Clare

[MandyWB]

River Cottage do an online pig course. Not a freebie but maybe worth the £20 fee?

http://www.rivercottage.net/shop/produc ... rk-course/

[oldjerry]

Hi Clare, You've done all the right stuff so far re the DEFRA s--t and well done for that,it's all b------ks ,but needs to be done.
Generally speaking I would look to slaughter a weaner (especially an uncastrated male @ 24 to 25 weeks when he should be circa 55 kilos on bought food. (Of course all the scraps you are feeding havent come from a kitchen as that would be illegal and thats really bad,isn't it ?)
It's not ideal to have a solo pig (but this isn't your fault) so spend as much time with him as you without getting too attached. Bottom line is you give them the best life you can.
Best wishes,pm me if I can help.

[clare]

Hi Old Jerry,Gald I am doing it right,of course I peel any veg I feed to the pig outside!!He is an uncastrated male so we have 12-13 weeks to fatten him up then!I have a lab puppy aged 9 months who seems to really like the pig and keeps getting in to play with him(sneakily) and I am at home nearly all day .alot of time outside with chickens/dog and veggie patch so he won't be that lonely.
I am feeding 1 kilo a day plus scraps and he clears up the half kilo in about 20 mins do I take it if he woof it quicker I need to up that?
Thanks alot
Clare

[darkbrowneggs]

I usually go for the time when the back leg looks about the size of ham I was looking for, or they have just become so boisterous I can't take it any longer. Whichever comes first.

I think if they have cleared the food in less than 15 -20 mins and are still "looking" hungry then give them some extra in the future. If any is left, then you know you are overdoing it.

All the best
Sue

[clare]

Thanks Sue,I am a little worried as I am now told he is a little underweight for his size so have been feeding 600g morning and evening but he seems to want food all the time!He oinks hysterically when he sees me and goes to the trough,I have been feeding veggies in between and I am told they will try to get food all day?I did think he could be bored on his own and maybe that is why he wants food.I am also told he will get the runs if I over feed so I suppose it is trial and error.Anyone else have any ideas?

[oldjerry]

Pigs ARE greedy (thats why they're called pigs !!)
It sounds like you could probably feed him some more.One thought this 'bag of food',what % protein is it? I like about 17.If in doubt buy a small bag of soya flour and add a cup full or so to each bucket of feed.I really like to feed wet to pigs,they seem to digest so much better,and you can always add a cup or two of milk powder or similar,in fact it's easier to mix in whatever you have. Best Wishes.

[devolutionary]

Welcome to pigland. I read somewhere, if there's food left after 15 mins you're feeding to much and if it's gone by 15 mins, you're not feeding enough. But either way, it seems pigs will squeal and come running whenever they see you, on the offchance you're bringing more food. We've had them for a few years now and apart from the occasional escape (solar-powered fence), they're really easy. We tend to keep them until they're in the 100 kg+ area, or about a year, depending on the breed. Our current pigs can be kept for another year and hit the 200 kg mark, but that's too big for me to butcher in our small kitchen.

Other advice we've heard is not to keep one pig on its own. Having tried three, then four, this year we've gone for two castrated (for the first time) males. So it could be your noisy pig could be just happy to see you. I always feel a bit guilty leaving a pig on its own, but yours is a rescue so it's better off already. We feed morning and evening, vegetable scraps, maize from a local farm and rolled barley from our agricultural food place. We do follow the no-meat rule, and I heard recently that pigs who get the taste for meat can get a bit out of control.

Highly recommend stonehead's blog (name of croft, not type of person) for all things pig.

[boboff]

I love pigs.

I was in a co-op last year.

Not sure if to do it again or do it at home.

I would like to breed Kune Kune, but its a bit scary.

oh well, best of luck. Love pigs.

[cocobelle]

I too love pigs, I find that out of all livestock they are so easy to get attached to, as they are smart and have interesting characters. I once had two pigs who played football (with their snouts of course) with eachother. Try not to get too attached yourself (or the puppy) if he's destined for food. And good luck :)

[darkbrowneggs]

Thanks Sue,I am a little worried as I am now told he is a little underweight for his size so have been feeding 600g morning and evening but he seems to want food all the time!He oinks hysterically when he sees me and goes to the trough,I have been feeding veggies in between and I am told they will try to get food all day?I did think he could be bored on his own and maybe that is why he wants food.I am also told he will get the runs if I over feed so I suppose it is trial and error.Anyone else have any ideas?

Sorry for the delayed reply - had a badish fall and then because I am not really mobile have managed another 4

Anyway - this is just a thought, as it was a rescue, and is thin and always hungry it might need worming. I never had to worm any of mine, but it might be worth looking into. Just about everything seems to get worms, and being thin and hungry (plus having no sheen to the coat -even pigs have a healthy glow if they are well ) are often a sign of worms

All the best
Sue

PS if you really think it is just boredom (again I have never kept a pig on its own) try throwing his pig nuts amonst some nice clean straw bedding so he has to hunt for them, or hang something on a rope that he can play with, or a ball or something similar he can roll about. I must say he sounds more hungry to me, and I have never had a pig get ill from overeating, When they have had enough they just stop.

[Stonehead]

Completely agree about the worming.

As for the time to slaughter, it depends on the breed. Modern commercial hybrids can be ready in 18-20 weeks, faster growing traditional breeds like the Berkshire can be ready at 22-24 weeks and slower growing traditional breeds like the Tamworth can be 28 weeks plus. If you're unsure about the breed, or it's a cross, or you want to be tolerably precise then a weighing tape is very useful. You can also use a piece of string, measure it and do a calculation but I can't remember it off the top of my head.

On the food front, we feed the equivalent of 1.6-1.8kg a day of 15% protein sow rolls to our Berkshires from 14 weeks. (Equivalent because I use combination of sow rolls, rolled barley, rolled peas, neeps, broken tatties, carrots, beets, mangels and jerusalem artichoke.) Don't be tempted to overfeed. I tell all our first-time customers this but time and time again they decide to give more feed to the poor starving little piggie. Then they compare their 90-130kg monsters to our 60kg or 80kg beast and smile smugly. Until the carcasses come back and they discover theirs have four inches of fat!

Porkers are usually 55-60kg liveweight, cutters 80kg (for pork and bacon), and baconers can be 100kg plus. However, a lot of abattoirs don't take larger pigs any more so find out what weight they will accept early on. Our last abattoir had a weight limit of 100kg, the new one prefers 90-100kg.

[clare]

Well he's gone off for slaughter!!I could stand it no longer.He was escaping and trashing everything!!He weighed about 80 kilos as he left and he's at the butchers now we get him back soon.I am looking forward to our own bacon,ham, sausages,chops and joint.I am interested to see how much we get with him being smaller than usual......

[oldjerry]

By our standards he aint small,how much do they charge for killing round your way?

[clare]

Slaughter is £17 and butchery £35.I am busy emptying the freezer,green beans with everything......