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Post by tenbusybees on Oct 4, 2015 11:31:42 GMT
I have wanted pigs forever and now we have 3 of them!!! Gilts (is that the right terminology for 3-4 month old females?). Two berk-crosses and a chester white. Two are definitely freezer bound in the upcoming months. We haven't decided yet if want to get into breeding or not. I'm really leaning, as of right now, towards just buying a few young pigs each year for the freezer. But we shall see.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Oct 4, 2015 15:42:02 GMT
Congratulations! Yes, that's the right term.
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Post by Otter on Oct 5, 2015 14:56:29 GMT
Congrats!
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Post by tenbusybees on Oct 7, 2015 13:30:48 GMT
The Dinner-Belle Girls --Maybelle, Annabelle, and Isabelle-- are all happily settled in to their permanent pen. So, I now have a couple of questions (for now ) about feeding. What can they absolutely not be fed? I'm reading conflicting info. I was hoping to be able to feed them plate scrappings, leftovers, and scraps along with hog feed. NO raw meat. Some sites say yes and others say it must be a completely vegetarian diet. What do your piggies eat and how much/often?
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Post by Otter on Oct 9, 2015 4:02:46 GMT
If the meat is for sale, vegetarian. Because people are weird. For you, feed them everything. My pigs get 2 lbs of corn (they are young yet) each and 1/2 to 1 gallon of milk that they share, along with forage, table and garden scraps, the egg my incredibly foolish hen lays on their bed daily, whatever hay they'd rather eat than nest in and whatever else I rustle up for them.
When I raise for sale, it is milk, grain, pasture and fruit in season, if I can get it.
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Post by tenbusybees on Oct 9, 2015 4:24:59 GMT
Thanks, Otter!
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Post by nyhunter on Oct 10, 2015 2:45:16 GMT
There isnt much pigs wont eat and as omnivores meats a natural part of thier diet. As Otter said some ppl just dont want to buy pigs that are fed scraps. This time of year my pigs are on a steady diet of apples, squash, pumpkins and acorns all of which are plentyfull this year.
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Post by tenbusybees on Oct 10, 2015 2:53:58 GMT
Thanks, Nyhunter! I have found they do have a fondness for apples.
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Post by Otter on Oct 10, 2015 13:43:49 GMT
Since pumpkins were mentioned, I have heard that too much pumpkin will flavor the meat. Does anyone have experience with this? I've heard it from several people. "Too much" was never defined for me, but as I've noticed pigs will eat pretty much as much pumpkin as you give them, I'd guess when it replaces most of their diet.
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Post by nyhunter on Oct 12, 2015 14:04:50 GMT
I have no experience with finishing pigs on pumpkins but would guess that it could change the flavor. I allready butchered 2 pigs for the year so im just feeding the breeders. As a side note I was told pumpkin seeds act as a nateral wormer though i dont know if its true or not.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2015 4:07:50 GMT
Congratulations on your piggies! They are so much fun We have been raising hogs for the past three years and love it! We have 2 breeding sows and a breeding boar so the offspring go to the freezer or for sale as breeders (they are heritage breeds). Ours forage alfalfa, barley and clover and we supplement that with a fermented mixture of feed (goats' milk, non-gmo-cracked corn, black oil sunflower seed,and feed). Fermenting the feed helps them to digest the food better and makes a big difference in their droppings, more firm. We also give them produce scraps and hard-boiled eggs. We personally do not like them to have table scraps or meat. If we are going to spend time investing in raising for meat then we want good meat. Yes to the apples, squash and nuts!
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