Comments on: Raising Pigs – Barn Yard Beauties

By: Adrian

Adrian — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:26:33 +0000

Me and a friend have the run of two acres. We’d like to keep pigs for home and profit, i’d like to know how many to a pen, how many to a pig hut, what food should we feed them (i’ve been told pig nuts), but we also have plenty of waste veg from a veg supplier. Any other help would be greatly taken on board, thankyou Adrian and Jonathan

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:23:47 +0000

They’re not destructive if they’re on concrete (though their urine will eventually eat through it, but it’ll take a few years!). If you put them on earth, they’ll dig it over with impressive speed, removing anything that’s growing there.

As for the timber – I’d go with the recommended thickness, pigs are really strong!

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:21:53 +0000

OK – a few questions there, Ryan. This is my take:

1. Type of pig is entirely up to you, though the market for ‘rare breeds’ is good at the moment and they command a high price. Rare breeds include Tamworth, Oxford Sandy & Black, British Saddleback, Berkshire and the like.

2. Pigs thrive on pig food, and they don’t eat that much of it (1lb per day per month old up to 6lb per day max). Your cattle feed supplier should have pig feed, and it comes in at around £7.50 per 20Kg. Giving them cattle feed may present problems due to protein imbalances etc. – it certainly wouldn’t be as cost effective.

3. I keep goats and pigs and generally they get along marvellously. Pigs and horses, however, is different, and they tend to hate each other!

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:17:29 +0000

Slaughter them whenever you want. You could go for anything from a suckling pig (pre-weaned) to a fat old baconer. It depends what you want to use the meat for. Generally I slaughter my British Saddlebacks when they reach just over 60 kgs (which is around 5 months old).

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:15:01 +0000

For most normal-sized breeds (such as British Saddleback, Berkshire, Tamworth) the feed is worked out by age. One pound per day per month old – to a maximum of 6 lbs per day. This will be different for a breeding sow, but it’s a good general rule-of-thumb.

By: ryan

ryan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:01:13 +0000

ok im getting a couple pigs soon and i want to know what kind of pig should i get? and i want to sell it for money.and what kind of food should i give it i live on a beef cattle farm so will cattle feed work ? and big question do you think pig will get along with goats? plzz answer back id realy appreciate it thank you

By: Gideon

Gideon — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:19:35 +0000

Hi i live in Kenya …and i would like to start a small pig farm…. could u please give me some advice… i would really appreciate it

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:37:34 +0000

Can you make the pen out of 1in. to 1 1/8in plywood? Or even smaller? Another thing is my land lord doesn’t want us to get pigs because he says they are distructive. What do I say to that?

By: Annette

Annette — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:33:01 +0000

I have a Kune Kune, at present she is in the stable, due to farrow, but is normally on grass, i feed her scrap everything except meat, but fruit veg, boiled potatoes, however being as she is in and due to farrow anytime, how much feed in wieght should she have or how many cups of nuts she seems starving, but obviously greedy, regards Annette

By: lori

lori — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:47:47 +0000

What determines slaughter time, weight or age, or both. what would the age and/or weight be?

By: laura

laura — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:45:06 +0000

Lee Ann: That depends completely on how old they are, whether you are keeping them for breeding, if you’re finishing them off for the freezer soon, and how much they currently weigh. Also of consideration is whether you are keeping them on pasture or in a pen.

Cheers, Laura

By: Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:30:02 +0000

How much food should i be giving my full grown pigs?