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sweetiepie
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Pigs on the Farm

101_1238.JPG
We just picked up some feeder pigs this afternoon. I haven't done anything with pigs since I was a kid. So this is a new addition. Any help would be great.

I will fill in more tomorrow.

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sweetiepie
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So the piglets are doing great. Here are some pictures of there pen.
The bowling balls are just a toy for them to roll around.
The bowling balls are just a toy for them to roll around.
They are mostly shaded but the sun comes in along the edge because that is south facing, if they want sun.
They are mostly shaded but the sun comes in along the edge because that is south facing, if they want sun.
The fence is a little red neck but the pallets are free and my husband is not sure about the whole thing so I wanted the fence to be sturdy but temporary. If he hates it we can take the fence down in a flash and burn it when we have camp fires in the yard. So far, so good on the fence.

They are 6 weeks old and have been weaned one week. We are feeding 4 lbs of grain mix (Barley, wheat, oats, and corn) fermented in water. Plus 1 quart of milk and half a dozen boiled eggs. This is split into two feedings.

They are my 13 year old son's to take care of and helped me with the fence. The girl is called Scaredy Pig and the boy he calls Junior.

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ElizabethB
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Thank you for sharing. Your pigs are cute!

Is your son doing this for a FFA or 4 H project?

:D

puzzlejunky
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Feeder pigs? Does that mean eventually you're going to eat them? But they are so cute...

I'm not a vegetarian but I prefer my meals not to have a name :-()

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applestar
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They look so skinny at that age! You really have this down, it looks like. 8)

I like the way you are setting things up. Lucky you to have access to those free pallets! I have to scrounge for them -- if I lived closer, I'd just ask you to save me some LOL :wink:

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sweetiepie
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Marlingardener wrote: I like your pallet fence--I'm tempted to try that around one of our gardens, but I think the armadillos would go under and the bunnies go through.
You can pick up pallets where the slates are close enough I don't think bunnies can get through. I know almost nothing about armadillos.

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sweetiepie
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ElizabethB wrote:
Is your son doing this for a FFA or 4 H project?

:D
No, nothing special. Just something different and he likes things he can take credit for. Feel good about. Also he has to have chores, and would rather do them for the pigs than the chickens or cows.

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sweetiepie
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puzzlejunky wrote:Feeder pigs? Does that mean eventually you're going to eat them? But they are so cute...

I'm not a vegetarian but I prefer my meals not to have a name :-()
HaHa, my daughter thinks if she can rename the animals on the farm to something cute they will stay. But she always wants another animal and there is only so much room on the farm. So something has to go. It just as well go in the freezer.

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sweetiepie
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Farm 2015 008.JPG
So the pigs are doing well. They are up to 6 quarts of fermented grain a day plus I have them up to 2 gallons of milk since my milk cow is giving between 5 to 6 gallons a day. They also get 6 boiled eggs a day.

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applestar
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Hearing what you feed them, I can see how having ALL these animals go hand-in-hand.

...from my perspective, it's almost hard to believe those daily milk and the eggs are EXTRAS/EXCESSES you have around to feed the piggies with. Plus giving them good food will mean yummy bacon later. I'm picturing giving them extra vegetables and acorn and other stuff too.... Are you growing anything specifically as feed for the animals? Sugar beets kind of thing?

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sweetiepie
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The pigs are doing well. They love their milk and get about 2 gallons a day.
Image

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GardeningCook
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Your piggies are adorable!

There is a large farm just a few miles away from us that raises a large variety of free-range livestock (bison, rabbits, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs) which they butcher & sell from their farm store & at local farmers markets. The pigs are heirloom Tamworths, & every year when they hold an "open house", I can't get enough of watching the tiny little piglets. They're raised loose (with moveable electric fencing) on acres & acres of mature woodland which is not only great for the pigs & the resulting pork (dining on all that vegetation, acorns, & hickory nuts, etc., - although they get fed by the farm as well), but the farm gets more & more of their vast acreage naturally cleared of all the underbrush every year.

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sweetiepie
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I have heard of people putting there pigs out to pasture. I don't have a lot of acres to do that. I need my pasture for the cows but it is a neat idea. They are diggers and have to have many sections that can be rotated and it takes over a year of that section to sit before the grass starts to grow back. We don't have really nut trees here and any trees we do have are planted by houses or tree rows in fields. I would still have to feed grain. Those poor things would need a source of shade or they would burn up. We don't really have underbrush that needs to be cleared either being a prairie state. If they got out of the electric fencing they would be in my neighbors fields and I would be in trouble.

imafan26
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Pigs are intelligent animals. The Vietnamese pot belly pigs are sometimes kept as pets here and can be leash trained and house broken. One city council woman had a pet pig that weighed over 600 lbs in her suburban home. It caused quite a stir at the time since it is unusual to have a pig as a pet.

I know farmers care about their animals even if they are being raised for food and want them to have the best life they can for the time they are around.

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GardeningCook
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sweetiepie wrote:I have heard of people putting there pigs out to pasture. I don't have a lot of acres to do that. I need my pasture for the cows but it is a neat idea. They are diggers and have to have many sections that can be rotated and it takes over a year of that section to sit before the grass starts to grow back. We don't have really nut trees here and any trees we do have are planted by houses or tree rows in fields. I would still have to feed grain. Those poor things would need a source of shade or they would burn up. We don't really have underbrush that needs to be cleared either being a prairie state. If they got out of the electric fencing they would be in my neighbors fields and I would be in trouble.
I agree. Wasn't suggesting that as a method for you, just mentioning how interesting the method is. Oh, & the farm does still feed grain to the pigs. They don't expect them to get all their nourishment from the land.

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GardeningCook
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imafan26 wrote:Pigs are intelligent animals. The Vietnamese pot belly pigs are sometimes kept as pets here and can be leash trained and house broken. One city council woman had a pet pig that weighed over 600 lbs in her suburban home. It caused quite a stir at the time since it is unusual to have a pig as a pet.
Yes, pigs are extremely intelligent. In fact, many years ago one young woman from Long Island, NY, entered her pet pig in a dog show obedience class for fun & it beat the pants off of every dog.

But oh brother - don't get me started on the Vietnamese Potbellied Pig debacle. Those poor things. What most people who buy them without researching first don't understand is that nine times out of ten they do NOT remain cute little tiny things. They can top out at 250+ pounds. And if intact, can mature with nasty temperaments.

A few miles away from us there used to be a "Pig Sanctuary" that took in abandoned "pet" pigs - farm types, Vietnamese Potbellies, & Micro Pigs - & it was a very sad sight. We visited during one "open house" they held, & while the pigs were relatively well-cared for, the sheer number of abandoned former pig "pets" was extremely sad to view.

Once again another admonishment to NOT take on any pet - livestock or otherwise - unless you've done serious research, know what you'll be up against, & can commit to lifetime care.

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sweetiepie
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I have heard of that happening to more backyard chickens too. They get old and quit laying and people don't know what to do with them.

My kids said in Hawaii when they visited that there were chickens running around all over because of that. I don't know for sure. It is sad. One doesn't see things like that in ND, that I am aware of. It is so much a farming community that if someone doesn't want an animal, usually a rancher or farmer will take it in.

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GardeningCook
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Yes - it is true that parts of Hawaii do suffer from a feral chicken problem.

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sweetiepie
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LMFAO Marlingardener, LMFAO , sorry I keep telling my daughter that her horse would be better as a mule as least it could pull my milking wagon.

I agree on the chickens, I have heard some horror stories and for that reason, I don't give mine away either. Mine might carry something that doesn't bother them but kill off someone elses. I don't want to worry about that.

imafan26
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Most of the 'abandoned' chickens were not the layers, but the fighting chickens. In Hawaii it is illegal to fight them but not to own them. Sometimes the owners let them go rather than be confiscated. Sometimes they let them go because they are too small to fight, other times they just let them go period. There are a lot of them around. Many of the chickens are abandoned with the cats in feral colonies and people come and feed both the chickens and the cats. It is not a good situation for any of them.

Back to the pigs. You are right if anyone adopts any pet , they need to be committed to taking care of them once they are no longer in the cute stage. BTW the council woman kept her pet until she died of old age.



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