Meat or Breed?

So our Herefords are pure bred and we were told heritage (I don't really know what that means, lol) and the parents they came from are registered but for us to register either of ours it would cost money. Our original plan was to raise just one for meat but I talked hubby into two so we could sell one to help pay for processing the other, among other reasons. So now for my question... Hubby has been contemplating about keeping the gilt to breed her and just process the barrow for meat at the end of summer. This is the first time for the kids and I having pigs so I have noooo idea what goes into breeding them. The feed store we buy our feed and hay from, the owner raises pigs, one breed being Herefords so hubby figured maybe we could work something out with her. Anyways, would breeding be worth it? And I'm not sure if we could afford raising piggies, we live on a low fixed income. Our LSG had puppies last year before we could get her neutered and it about killed us financially, lol. I may have just answered my own question, or have I?

If you breed the 2 you have, then process the boar this coming fall, let the gilt deliver then sell the litter as slaughter hogs only, not for breeding after weaning? I don't know, not experienced with pigs, but I DO know I love pork in all its glorious forms

Latestarter said:

If you breed the 2 you have, then process the boar this coming fall, let the gilt deliver then sell the litter as slaughter hogs only, not for breeding after weaning? I don't know, not experienced with pigs, but I DO know I love pork in all its glorious forms

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My comment didn't show up, lol.

Our male is cut so we'd have to breed with another.

A non-heritage breed is one that has been bred specifically for desired traits from many breeds. Although they may be faster growing and tolerate confinement, they often have more health issues than heritage. Not always. A comparison I like is cornish cross chickens are extremely fast growing, have large breast for breast meat, and are not foragers, but suffer heart attacks and broken legs as well as gastric diseases due to their growth rate. Again, not being heritage isn't a BAD thing, but check out the health concerns for that breed.

You pay a lot to breed pigs before you get any money out of it. You have to feed a gilt and a boar and continue feeding them throughout three months of pregnancy, pay for their housing, if needed, and heat for the gilt and her piglets, and essentially wait for the piglets to be of age to sell to other farms or sell as breeders/meat to others. In the long run it's worth the price, but you need a lot of money in the beginning to wait for them to pay for themselves.

arrowti said:

A non-heritage breed is one that has been bred specifically for desired traits from many breeds. Although they may be faster growing and tolerate confinement, they often have more health issues than heritage. Not always. A comparison I like is cornish cross chickens are extremely fast growing, have large breast for breast meat, and are not foragers, but suffer heart attacks and broken legs as well as gastric diseases due to their growth rate. Again, not being heritage isn't a BAD thing, but check out the health concerns for that breed.

You pay a lot to breed pigs before you get any money out of it. You have to feed a gilt and a boar and continue feeding them throughout three months of pregnancy, pay for their housing, if needed, and heat for the gilt and her piglets, and essentially wait for the piglets to be of age to sell to other farms or sell as breeders/meat to others. In the long run it's worth the price, but you need a lot of money in the beginning to wait for them to pay for themselves.

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How much heat does she need? What kind of source? We had a garage when we had goats but don't have one yet where we're living now. It's in the works but not sure when we'll have it built. Could she have just a shelter with a heat lamp?

How many pounds of feed per month would you guess we'd need for a gilt and then babies? I'm not sure if we'd use someone else's boar or get one to stud. Our girl is so well tempered we've, not exactly gotten attached but would hate to process such a good animal, lol.

A lactating sow gets unlimited feed: our 500 pound mulefoot gets 3 (3 quart) scoops twice a day. Our 700+ pound gets 6 scoops twice a day, because that's what they eat. If they ate it all they'd get more. The piglets don't need feed until they're a few weeks old. At 5-6 weeks, when the milk begins to drop down low so piglets begin to ween, we had 2-3 extra scoops. There is usual some left over for grazing. You can measure your full scoop to determine how many pounds each scoop ways specifically, then can determine the cost. Pigs are fed based on their weight, usually - more food for bigger pigs, less for smaller pigs. Some breeds may have specifics so depending on which breed you may want to look up its recommendations.

We don't actually use supplemental heat for our pigs/piglets unless it is winter and they are showing signs of cold stress (shivering, not feeding). Generally, a heat lamp is just fine for the piglets, and a shelter where the wind is either blocked by walls or by the sow/bedding. We've only used heat lamps for one out of 5 litters born here. So a shelter with a heat lamp, as long as it is well insulated for cold, windy nights, should be sufficient. (Again, everything depends on the hardiness of the breed).

If you are using a heat lamp for a shelter, the shelter MUST be high enough that the heat lamp does not set fire to the bedding. I don't know the specifics for that but I'm sure you can check for your specific heat lamp wattage how high it needs to be. We have two rounded A-frames for shelters, as well as various other buildings. Wilma gave birth in one of these A-frames (it is a wire mesh with a wooden back, with tarp over the wire, and plywood over the tarp to discourage the pigs from ripping it off. It also has plywood covering a lot of the front so there is a single, small opening to help block the wind. Ginger also gave birth in mid-winter in one of these shelters, and her piglets needed no heat. They aren't tall enough for heat lamps as it is, so plan ahead for that.

Other people may have other recommendations. We are relatively new at farming pigs.