Roxanne H - Dunn wrote:I raised about 50 hogs each summer as a kid. Now as a retired adult raising all of our own meat I am at it again. I only do 4 at a time. One for us and the others to sell.
Each summer I have just purchased "feeder" pigs. One year I had Herefords. The other years just mixed breeds. This year I had a hard time finding anything. I ended up with Red Wattle for $100 each which around here is a bit high. The owner said he would deliver and kept having trouble so delivery day was delayed. That's ok with me, as it is less feed I have to give them. Well...when they got here they were 80-100 lbs! Great, you say.
Well I have our locker appointment for October! It can't be moved due to Covid indirectly. The hog processing plants have been closed down here due to Covid, 1000's of hogs being put down because the big producers can't get them processed, and individuals are scrambling to raise their own. So our locker is booked for 18 months and their cancellation wait list is full. So it appears I can't move up my processing day. Before you say it, I'm not in a position to butcher them myself and 3 are sold to others who would not want me processing them.
The problem isn't so much that they will be huge but the amount of feed they are going through. I will be way in the hole if I have to feed them until October.
I have them in pasture/timber and rotate them every week. I feed them a mix of corn, beans, and a commercial premix for hogs all mixed up by the coop elevator in town. I don't have free choice feeders out as they are too hard to move weekly. So I feed them by hand 3 times a day. I give them any scraps and garden waste, but there isn't much of that this early in the growing season. They are eating approx 10 lbs of feed per day!
I have never heard of anyone limiting feed to a feeder pig but am wondering if I should. My neighbor who got 5 from the same guy on the same day as me says his are eating even more than that.
Any thoughts on limiting to around 7 lbs of feed per day per pig?
Thanks in advance for help!
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Roxanne H - Dunn wrote:Skandi - My garden is full but I can squeeze some things in. I plan on feeding them my extras and "waste" from my garden. Would love some extra. I am planning on asking the neighbors to drop theirs off as well. Just trying to think of an easy way both for them and for me. Maybe a bucket at the end of the driveway?
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