The wife finally got me to buy some pigs

Brettshomestead

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Well, today I finally made the leap and bought some pigs. The wife has been begging for a couple for a while and we finally found a couple for 70 dollars at 50lb. They're Hereford crosses? Is that a pretty good deal?

We're going to be feeding a mix of cracked corn and soybean most likely fermented. Is that acceptable or am I going to kill my new pigs? Any tips are appreciated.
 

OneFineAcre

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Pricing is a very local thing and can change from week to week.
We bought 50lb feeders here in December for $50 ea.
But, I do remember last year when the were selling for more.

As to the feed if you buy a pig feed the two main ingredients in the feed is corn and soy meal. You just have to have in the right proportion to get the proper amount of protein.
Mixed pig feed also has supplements they need like Lysine.
However, I think you can get the proper amount of Lysine by feeding certain other foods.
 

Baymule

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We just slaughtered our Red Wattle hogs. Yes! It is so worth it! Call a slaughterhouse and book a date NOW. I cannot stress this enough. Set it anywhere from the pigs age, 6 to 9 months old. Most places are booked solid months ahead. If you wait until they are slaughter age, you will either be looking at those pigs a LOOOONG time or you will learn how to do it yourself. I called the first of May and the closest date I could get was August 29!!! Since they were community pigs, we had a community hog slaughter and 3 families now have full freezers.

Post pictures of your pigs! Do you know how old they are? Herefords are some pretty pigs. What are yours crossed with? @misfitmorgan has some beautiful registered Hereford pigs.

We fed our hogs an all purpose 14% pellet, the same as what we feed our horses. It does not supply lysine. Milk and eggs have lysine in them. We gave them a gallon of milk a week and a dozen boiled eggs, shell and all. Pigs are great at eating kitchen scraps and garden trimmings. I even weeded the garden and tossed them the weeds.

Enjoy your pigs!
 

misfitmorgan

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Here locally for time of the year $70 for a 50lb pig is a good deal. Prices vary a lot depending on time of year as well. Piglets born from january-march are generally the most expensive time of year to buy. Piglets born in november-december or april-may will be about the cheapest you'll find. Generally any piglet under butcher weight being sold in fall will be cheap as well.

There are always exceptions but this is how it works here in michigan and most of the mid-west i believe.

Generally i am very against feeding corn/soy/oats/? mixes you make yourself but since your pigs will be in the freezer in 4 months or less...meh. You won't kill the pigs, pigs are pretty hard to kill on accident once they are weaned.
 
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