• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • r ranson
  • Anne Miller
  • paul wheaton
stewards:
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Nicole Alderman
  • Beau M. Davidson
master gardeners:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Nancy Reading
  • Jay Angler
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • AndrĂ©s Bernal
  • Cat Knight

sow help needed

 
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
im looking to expand my homestead by getting a sow and was wondering if this sow is a good one as I say please help if you can
sow.jpg
[Thumbnail for sow.jpg]
2 year old berkshire sow
 
gardener
Posts: 1948
Location: PNW Oregon
38
hugelkultur forest garden duck trees books chicken food preservation
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hey Hunter - not sure what 'help' you are asking for..... but if you will give the age & breed of this sow, plus your goals for a pig purchase I'm sure Permies People would be happy to share their views.
 
hunter holman
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
i just want to know if she is in good condition shes 2 years old
 
Posts: 7
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
dog duck chicken
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Looks like a young berk sow. There is no way we can accurately judge a pig from a picture especially when there's only one.
Questions you need to ask ...

Why is she for sale?
How many litters has she had?
How many piglets does she wean per litter?
How many teats and how many of those are functional?
Is she careful with the piglets and what are her nesting and farrowing instincts like?
How well does she maintain weight while raising a litter?
Her current condition is a very small piece of the bigger picture IMO

You can google sow condition charts but she looks ok from what I can see in the picture but there is very little reference.
 
Brianna LaRose
Posts: 7
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
dog duck chicken
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
And did I see on another post you are in Nova Scotia? If so where are you buying the sow from?
 
hunter holman
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
yes im ns and im buying her and a boar from a person in mahone bay
 
Posts: 67
1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

another thing to consider, are they being raised (food, fence and housing) the way you plan on operating.
 
hunter holman
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
That is the beautiful thing she and now him who I bought to where being raised on woods and pasture how I want to raise mine
 
gardener
Posts: 6807
Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5
1597
hugelkultur dog forest garden duck fish fungi hunting books chicken writing homestead
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
be sure the boar and sow are from different parents and grand parents so you won't have inbreeding problem.

a Vet check is the best method for knowing the condition of both sow and boar, cheap insurance to know for certain their health status.

We raise our Guinea Hogs on pasture with feed only for bred sows and in the winter, otherwise they are on pasture that has a wide variety of plants.
Our girls are currently gestating so later this year we have plans on getting a second boar so we can keep our stock going without any inbreeding issues.
 
hunter holman
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
the boar came from Manitoba and sow from my friends farm so no relation at all
 
Bryant RedHawk
gardener
Posts: 6807
Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5
1597
hugelkultur dog forest garden duck fish fungi hunting books chicken writing homestead
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
sweet! I don't see you having any real problems then. I'm in the process of building a new pasture for our hogs.
I'm planting Tall Fescue, Bermuda, Rye grass, Rape, Alfalfa, Seven top and purple turnip, carrots, kale, comfrey, side oats, barley, brassicas to start the pasture.
This will give our hogs a wide variety of food stuffs that have plenty of nutrient value for them.
I will be using a product called Sea-90 for mineral supplement on a free choice basis. (we also use this in the gardens and orchards because everything just taste so much better because of it)

Most all the pigs and hogs I've seen (we have several farms here) adapt to pasture raising pretty well. One guy just got away from pens and his hogs had never seen pasture previously, they adapted so quickly I figured he had started them on grasses prior to his tearing down his pen barn.
He informed me that was not the case, he had just decided he wasn't going to fix the tornado damage to his barn after the 2014 event and finally got around to taking it down last year. He has Berkshires and Spots (around 300 total) and they are all happy eating pasture.
 
hunter holman
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I only have these 2 but great news yesterday they bred and she stood hoping for piglets
 
Bryant RedHawk
gardener
Posts: 6807
Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5
1597
hugelkultur dog forest garden duck fish fungi hunting books chicken writing homestead
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
That is great! 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days is the normal gestation period.
You're off to a good start, it is always best to start small and grow as you become accustomed to the animals.
Don't be surprised if they breed a few more times, usually the sows are in heat for 3 days and the boar will service her as often as she will let him during that period.

We should have upwards of 20 new piglets around the end of June.
Our gilts were two months apart when born which we did on purpose so we would not have two giving birth at the same time.
Our boar has done his job for this season.
We don't plan on letting them breed again until next year.
We are AGHA registered breeders and this is our start up.

Good luck to you.
 
hunter holman
Posts: 100
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I think if this litter has a good gilt in it il breed her to him I read that is alright in hogs is this true
 
If you look closely at this tiny ad, you will see five bicycles and a naked woman:
kickstarter is live now! Low Tech Laboratory 2!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/low-tech-0
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic