If you'd like to enjoy pork that costs only pennies (not dollars!) a pound and tastes far better than the plastic-wrapped meat you buy in a supermarket, you ought to consider raising pigs of your own. Just one of the chunky critters can produce a great deal of premium, low-priced meat for a homesteading family . . . and the four-legged garbage disposals can be fattened on a diet that consists of little more than garden by-products and kitchen leftovers!
What's more, if you begin—as many folks do—with already weaned piglets, you'll bypass the somewhat difficult task of hog breeding . . . and find that simply rearing the animals is downright easy. In fact, in the short space of the article you're reading right now, I'll provide you with all the basic information you'll need to produce healthy—and meaty—porkers from purchased, pint-sized piglets.
Recognize Your Market
You should be aware — right from the start — that
the best "marketplace" for your home grown pork will be your
own dinner table. Of course, if you eventually "harvest"
more meat than you can use, many folks will be willing to
buy (or trade for) some of your fine-flavored victuals . .
. but there's a world of difference between bartering off a
little extra bacon and competing in the commercial
pig-raising business.
A four- to eight-week-old piglet should weigh anywhere from
20 to 50 pounds and will probably cost you around $35.
(Note: This price is a very rough estimate.) If you
caretake the animal for about five months (until it weighs
200 to 220 pounds), the butchering-size critter will yield
approximately 135 pounds of "retail" meat products . . .
consisting of roughly 24 pounds of ham, 20 pounds of bacon,
17 pounds of pork roast, 18 pounds of picnic shoulder, 7
pounds of pork chops, 8 pounds of sausage, 7 pounds of
"miscellaneous" cuts, 6 pounds of salt pork, and 31 pounds
of lard. (You may also want to utilize some of the "extra"
pig parts in the form of scrapple, sweetbreads,
chitterlings, or "mountain oysters.")
Be careful, though, not to raise your animal to
beyond that prime butchering weight of 200-220
pounds. Why? Because such a "market size" hog has reached
the optimum stage of growth: Let the curly-tailed critter
get any bigger and the animal's further poundage gains will
be expensive (in terms of the feed required) and will
consist of little more than extra fat.
By the way, each porker you raise to maturity will produce
a large supply of manure ( about 1.6 pounds per 100 pounds
of pig per day) for your garden, too. Of course, that kind
of productivity can be a drawback for a few would-be swine
raisers . . . because some communities have local
ordinances against the ever-present "essence" associated
with pig manure. (On the other hand, folks with their minds
on their gardens—and wallets—become almost
partial to piggly aromas.)
Build Your Animals House Well
There's only one really difficult chore associated with
raising weaned piglets . . . keeping the mobile pork chops
at home. Restricting a small swine's whereabouts may sound
like a simple enough task, but Mother Nature provides each
pig with a snout that's perfectly designed for assaulting
barricades. Any pig fence you build will have to be strung
tighter than the fifth string on a banjo—especially
where the barrier is closest to the ground—if you
expect to keep your porkies from prying their way between
the stays.
You can construct a taut welded-wire fence, a sturdy wooden
enclosure, or a two-stranded electric fence consisting of a
bottom cable six to eight inches above the turf with a
second line eight inches above that. (None of your
restrainers will need to be more than 32 inches tall,
though, because pigs can't jump very high.) You might also
want to dig a trench under your barricade and fill that
ditch with old logs or rocks . . . to discourage any
porcine tunneler's "Great Escape" plans.
My own experience has convinced me that creating a truly
hog-tight fence is no easy endeavor. In fact, I spent one
entire summer chasing a batch of root-loving runaways out
of my vegetable garden. I finally gave up and bought
commercial hog panels to keep the piglets where I wanted
them. (The 16-foot, quarter-inch steel grid segments have
done the trick for me, but — at around a dollar per
running foot — such pig-stopping walls are pretty dang
expensive.)
In addition to fencing, you'll need to construct a shelter
for the animals . . . and provide them with a way to cool
themselves off. Just about any three-sided, roofed house
(even an enclosure made from old hay bales, will protect your livestock from storms and winter
winds. But since pigs don't pant very effectively—and
don't sweat at all—you'll need to be absolutely
certain each pork-producer has 15 to 20 square feet of
shade (with the shadow-making object located at least four
feet off the ground). It's also wise to provide a mud
wallow or a sprayer . . . so that any "roasting" pig can
cool off during especially sultry weather.
Buy the Best Animals
If you're not going to try to raise the finest quality pigs
available, you'd be better off — as far as both your
time and your wallet are concerned — not to rear any
swine at all. Of course, it may take a little practice
before you can recognize a premium porker when you see one,
but you can gain any needed instructional experience by
attending county fairs or local livestock shows, and
listening closely when the judges explain why they select
one hog specimen over another.
And once you learn how to pick out the
best-looking pigs in a litter, do so! NEVER buy the runts
of a piglet crop — even if the offered purchase price sounds
like a bargain deal — because too many "tail enders" never
grow worth a hoot.
You'll probably find that the best time to acquire a young
barrow or gilt is at the beginning of your garden's growing
season. You'll have plenty of leftover crop pickings for
the hog around then, and in most cases you'll be able
to expect to end up with a ready-to-eat adult pig by fall
or early winter (which, conveniently enough, is the time of
year that provides the best butchering weather).
Feed Your Critters Well
Water is the most important food you can give to your
porkers (or, for that matter, to any of your livestock). A
fattening pig guzzles as much as three gallons of liquid
per day. . . and the bacon bearers will consume a lot of
solid foods, as well. Fortunately, since the living garbage
recyclers will pack away almost anything (including
vegetables, fruits, milk, meat scraps, spoiled eggs, garden
clippings, weeds, and more), the critters can pretty well
balance their diets by themselves.
Still, a 160-pound shoat can handle around 60 pounds of
such "garbage" a day, so you'll probably need to supplement
your swill-swigger's diet with grain or a commercial ration
containing 20 to 25% protein (the grain also helps the pig
reduce paunchiness and produce firmer, leaner pork). In
addition, you may want to keep a steady supply of vitamin
and mineral supplements available.
hi i m from Nepal and i m willing to establish pig farm which can produce pigs and meat also......i need some help about the Capital...How Many Pigs At First Start..u Can Mail Me At Prashun_Stha@yahoo.com
I would like to know from piglet to butcher size, what's the cost of raising the pig even if I raise it from June to November so that the raising coincides with my vegetable garden? If they eat 30 lbs a day, that has got to be a significant amount of money. Butchering here costs around $150 to $200 for a 200 to 220 lb pig.
i live in kenya and i am interested in pig farming. could you kindly furnish me with all the info to start the endeavour
How much food do you feed your pigs each day at different pounds...example 6o lb pig eats 30 pounds of food a day? Please help...I'm trying to learn everything I can before I purchase our pigs.Thanks
I will like to inquire on how to improve on my pigs.I ve a little pig farm and would want to make it bigger,so i would like to know details on proper medication,feeding,housing e.t.c . Thanks in anticipation for your reply Emueze Henry Eket Nigeria