Pigs are referred to by many names — pig , swine and porkers , to name a few — but one of the more endearing terms dates back to the 1800s : mortgage weightlifter . Before industrial husbandry and its gravid - intensity production grade , pig delivered notably high earnings margin for sodbuster , making it potential for agrarians to cover farm toll and pay the mortgage .
When Fannie Merritt Farmer friends call for my married woman and me if we wanted two pigs — they had too many — I belike recalled this sometime - timey terminology . Because why else would we , hold on by to bid adieu as we will suburban area for our new country life in Kentucky , jibe to a six - time of day drive with two crate Berkshire in our SUV ? We did n’t necessarily want to be hog farmers , but “ mortgage lifter ” holds a certain prayer .
We grow out that pair and enjoyed a successful market place season with the meat , then cut across down a local stock breeder and buy five more . After a few seasonal visit to the breeder , we decided to procure our own training pair and conjure up porc from birth to market . lately , my wife turned to me and said , “ I think we’rehog farmers . ”
So , it seems , we are .
I do n’t assume our story is alone , though there are for sure other paths to an interest in sloven . However you arrived at this point where reading an article about set up pork feel correct , cognize that grunter husbandry leaves some room for personal preference . For us , we have intercourse we need to elevate hog outside , on a six- to eight - month develop - out schedule to meet mart needs . The following sections detail how we farm cop in this way .
Birth
Piglets are born in bedding material of varying sizes . The largest bedding material we ever have was 14 ; the modest , four . While a sow ’s breed can have some bearing on litter size , most informant indicate 10 to 12 piglet as a honest average .
Upon detect that asowhas entered labor — which occurs about 114 twenty-four hours from conception — prepare for the coming piglet . In your farrowing barn , erect a blockade with a distance piglets can go through but your sow ca n’t : a simple tabloid of plywood with a small “ door ” thin into it will suffice . This frame-up create a space where shote can separate from the sow , providing a safe harbour against crushing , though it wo n’t foreclose it entirely .
Piglets ca n’t regularize body temperature until 48 hour after birth . Birthing removes the animate being from an surround of just over 100 degree F , triggering an straightaway loss in consistence temperature that can prove fatal . If you have an close in farrow b , crank up the hotness ; if not , set up heating lamp on the piglet side of the sectionalisation for easygoing access to warmth . At parturition , it might be necessary for a farmer to aid by pass over shoat free of the giving birth fluid and placing them under the lamp to regain soundbox estrus . Some piglets even get adhere in the afterbirth sack and need to be loose . We ’ve experienced piglets that scrambled from mama straight to the mamilla , as well as ace that needed some serious blarney . As a oecumenical convention , endeavor to be present in cause help is needed ; mind your schedule , and watch for signs of childbed .
Lee/Flickr
Within the first 12 hours of life , notch shote ’ ears for identification , and deal omphalus with wounding nebulizer to prevent infection . Commercial farmers also dock tails during this clip to preclude copper raised in plastered spaces from ennui - induce tail - biting . Because our sloven are raise outside , we do n’t dock ; that decision is up to you . Lee / Flickr
Suckling To Weaning
InStorey ’s Guide to raise Pigs(2009 ) , an all - inclusive resourcefulness for anyone considering hog , author Kelly Klober notes that traditional hog farmers used to wean piglets at 56 days , a number drastically cut by yield farm that sometimes wean as early as 10 days old . Most small - scale Fannie Farmer ablactate allot to a docket of their own determination . We aim for six week but know our sow well enough to note when she ’s getting annoyed with nursing , and sometimes we wean in the beginning .
But before weaning , most farmers cut piglets ’ beast teeth ; this happens during the first 24 time of day . Wolf teeth are a solidifying of eight needlelike teeth that piglets have at birth that can cause a sow such painfulness upon nursing that she deny to feed her baby ; shote will also use beast tooth to fight down each other for tit , put less resilient piglets in severe peril of starvation . The operation is simple enough — with a pair of lowly clippers or side cutters , snip off the teeth right at the gumline , but be careful not to shatter a tooth , which can lead to infection . ( Full disclosure : We did this once and never again . We ’re told we ’re jerky to get around this step , and I wo n’t reason that , but we have n’t noticed a difference . )
A small amount of high-pitched - protein provender ( 18 to 20 percentage ) should be made uncommitted to piglets at around 3 week of age and keep separate from the sow ’s ration , as well as a small pan of water . Piglets initially respond to feed with curiosity , often playing in it instead of eat , but they ’ll begin to gradually consume food and water . This is called “ creep alimentation , ” and it relieves the sow from some of her Milk River - product duties , as well as prepares shoat for weaning . yield farmers have strict schedules for creep feeding , but hobby farms can take a casual approach to this process .
Lee/Flickr
When six week have passed — or your sow loses sake in nursing — piglets will have taken to the feed and water system and gained necessary nutrition from ration , and you may part the bedding material from the mother . On our farm , this means letting piglets onto a fresh pasture that ’s fenced off from the sow ; putting some space between the pastureland is advisable , as “ out of passel , out of intellect ” discourages attempts to reunite . Once disunite , change piglets from creep feed to a grower mix with about 16 percent protein .
Castration
expurgation can be a controversial topic among sustainable farmers . I acknowledge it ’s an unpleasant labor , but on our farm , we opt to slew manlike piglets , believing that the benefits outweigh the momentary discomfort . barrowful ( castrated males ) can be raised from birth to processing alongside gilts ( unbred females ) without risk of mating , avoid grievous inter - herd Sus scrofa aggression and decimate the risk of “ Sus scrofa taint , ” a strong olfactory sensation and unpleasant taste that can cheapen the meat of intact boars . raise wild boar for meat is a practicable option , but it requires some risk and sustainment . It ’s your call .
The how - tos of castration can deviate ; farmers incline to resolve on what make for for them . We ( it ’s a two - person line of work for my wife and myself ) castrate early on , as shote are stronger than their tiny soma suggest — generally at 2 to 3 weeks honest-to-god . We set two clean pet carriers and debase the males into one , then remove ourselves from earshot of the sow ; our mamma is extremely protective and unresistant to visit wrong upon try squeals .
Our technique calls for the stronger farmer to seat on a low surface , with the piglet place upright , secured by its back legs between the farmer ’s legs and control close to the consistency ; this situation allows well-fixed access to the testicles and maximum strength to counter contend . Once the brute is restrained and suppress , the other sodbuster douses the scrotal region and castration tongue ( a operative instrument uncommitted at farm - supply stores ) in atomic number 53 , then realise a small , top - to - bottom incision on one side of the scrotum . The bollock is then squeeze out by applying insistency to both sides of the scratch — defend tight here , because shoat will fight at this point — and cut free . echo for the rest bollock , which is more difficult to pull without pressing from a second gonad , bathe the wounds in tincture of iodine and rate the cut piglet in the clean favourite aircraft carrier . With some practice , the routine accept only a issue of minutes .
Nicholas Erwin/Flickr
When piggy are return to the female parent , monitor wound to ensure infection does n’t set in ; wound spray can ordinarily remedy anything that does n’t attend right . And piggy will draw a blank the incident almost now ; the experience lingers longer with granger than their patients . Nicholas Erwin / Flickr
Pasture
Sunlight and smart tune is central to the direction we elevate cop , and we care to permit our piglets out of the b as too soon as possible . Some crop pig James Leonard Farmer encourage outside births , so this could be immediately .
There is some benefit to keeping piglets in the barn with the sow for a week or two to supervise health during those crucial early solar day , but we launch the room access and let everyone outside long before weaning . Our pasture are palisade with electrified telegram , and the little animal ’ first mean solar day out of doors can get brassy with squeals as piglets read their boundaries . It ’s difficult to mind to , but they learn quickly . And while the sight of tiny wight frolicking in the open air can produce scare in new farmers , it ’s best to get them trained outside while they ’re still nursing , as the sow ’s presence both protect them and discourages escape .
Raising Pigs
Weaned pigs are fairly depressed - maintenance . Rotate to impertinent pastures or dry hatful before their rooting induce too much soil equipment casualty — determine this based on available grass , but generally seek to debar letting pastures turn to mud — and provide introductory shelter from sunlight and rain . you could either make provender constantly available or shew eating fourth dimension to deliver feed : After about a yr of the former , we tack to twice - a - Clarence Day eating to reduce provender personnel casualty due to moisture , infestation and waste . Monitor water levels closely : A hog will drink 2 to 5 gallon of water per day , and inadequate water supplying can result in dehydration fatalities .
raise pigs is a pretty hands - off try , but farmers should monitor the herd for malady . Signs of unwellness admit unhurriedness to rise , going off feed , vomiting , diarrhea and coughing . If a copper evince any of these signal , deliberate contacting a veterinarian ; if numerous pig show signs of sickness , call a veterinary surgeon straight off .
leech are also of concern . sign of internal leech infestation include coughing , slowness to grow — these pigs are cognise as “ wretched doers”—and wiry - looking hair . Dewormer be purchased at local farm - supplying stores in a multifariousness of forms and are easily administered either as a preventative measure or to treat eccentric of obvious plague . Discuss deworming with your processor to ensure medicament is clear from the fauna before it ’s twist into nutrient for the dinner party tabular array , though deworming is normally only perform on grower pigs that consider less than 125 pounds .
outside parasites include mange mite and lice , both of which are of capital concern for outside pigs in winter ; they ’ll cover themselves in clay to prevent plague during warmer months . If your pigs seem especially itchy , analyse skin for parasites and treat infestations with the parasite control of your choosing . Farm - supplying stock sell a mixed bag of effective mathematical product that improve on the honest-to-goodness method of hand - washing copper and applying a mixture of lard , potassium hydroxide and sulfur . ( This grant to The Biggle Swine Book , by noted husbandman / author Jacob Biggle and first publish in 1898 ! )
Grown Pigs
Pigs matter 125 pounds or more are considered grown and interchange to a finishing feed of around 14 percentage protein . And though roughly two months continue before the animals attain “ top pig ” ( a prime processing weight between 250 and 300 pounds ; growth beyond 300 pounds convert feed to meat much less efficiently ) , you should schedule your mainframe date at this point , if not originally , to ensure your beast is process at the right prison term .
While there exist a salmagundi of slaughterhouse options , market place farmers should seek out a processing facility with USDA certification ; the highest level of approval , these facilities redeem a product that can be sold at grocery , to grocer and restaurants , and across country lines . select a facility that delivers the kind of divine service you want — constitutional and humanist are important qualifiers for many — and be prepared to do some driving to deliver your animals and nibble up marrow when it ’s ready . There just are n’t that many processors around any longer .
To Market, To Market
ultimately , apply to a local Farmer food market , and inquire about and fulfill your state ’s requirements for sell inwardness . When all the forms are make full out and approved , and you roll up to your assigned spot with deep freezer full of pork on opening 24-hour interval , be prepared to do a pile of talking about your product . An informed pridefulness in the pork barrel you raised from birth to market will be met with gratitude and , hopefully , enough net profit to feed the bedding material for next class ’s freezers . If you ’re lucky , you might even lift that mortgage a bit .
This story first appeared in the July / August issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
