best season to raise pigs

[burntmuch]

This is my first year with pigs. Another mth or so & my freezer will be full . Im wondering if I should try raising a couple pigs in the fall as opposed to the spring. What are some of the pros & cons of each season. Sand fleas were a problem for me this year, also when it gets into the 80s the pigs dont seem to eat as much. What say you.

 

[jeremypmc]

Hi Burntmuch,

I am also raising pigs for the first time this year, so most of what I know came from a couple of books or this site. Depending on where in the country you are, on of the biggest costs to raising through the winter would be the additional cost of food because the pigs burn more energy trying to stay warm.

Do you have an automatic feeder for them? Have you noticed when its really warm outside that they sleep during the day and are more active at night?

 

[burntmuch]

I havnt noticed their more active at night when it warm out. They could be though, its been real hot 85-90 degrees twice so far this spring. It seemed they didnt eat as much. Each time I wet there pen down real good so the would have some mud to wallow in. Then they would eat. I dont have an automatic feeder yet. Maybe for my next batch of pigs. I already spent too much this year on the pen.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

so i'm guessing the reason you didnt get a ton of responses is that it probably depends:

* what you're gonna do with them
* where you live

if you are gonna home butcher - which just about anyone can do. its best to have them finished while the weather is still cold (needs to be below 40* at nite). if you take them to a butcher then i'm not sure it makes any difference unless you have extreme weather. but with the right tools pigs can make it thru just about any weather.

i know folks to overwinter pigs - but then you have the additional cost of feed and such b/c you cant pasture them. they time it so they can have easter hams.

so i dunno... maybe more info?

 

[burntmuch]

What Im doing is rasing 2 pigs. Im selling 3 halfs to friends. That will give me my half a pig for free. Just my time & energy. Im looking to do that every year. Along with the chickens & venison, My freezer will be stocked year round. With farm raised or wild meat. My first 2 pigs will be ready to butcher early July hopefully. At 5 & half mths I m hoping for 220lb pigs. We,ll see.. If I was to do them in the fall I wouldnt have them for the really cold part of winter. Maybe late Augest to November. One of my goals is to not have meat chickens or pigs in July or August. My family is out of town quite a bit thru those mths. So all I have to do is have my neighbor check up on my laying hens, Top off food & water, & gather eggs once a day. Im in Michigan so its hard to predict weather in the spring or fall. This spring has been tuff 50 degrees one day 90 degrees the next.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

you should be fine - if you have a barn you're golden for the winter months and you'll be loaded with the best darn compost EVER when spring shows up.

if you have them outside you can reinforce their shelter by stacking straw bales around it - and you'd do best with a heated waterer....or plan on tromping out there with warm water at least 2x per day.

if you arent home butchering the you'll just need to load them on the truck/trailer and thats not really dependent on the weather.

the only thing i would say is not to get babies in extreme weather - and of course several at a time will do better in colder weather so they can snuggle together. when they are deeply bedded in straw they will just dig down into it. it might cost more to feed them but i'm sure the easter ham will be worth it
;-)

we didnt butcher until Dec last time and we went out a couple times to find "frost on the hog!" but they grow their coats out and just like everything - keep them out of the wind and keep them dry and they will be fine.


ps so are we all invited for the july BBQ?

 

[burntmuch]

Yep all are welcome to the bbq

One advantage to the fall ,would be extras from the garden.

 

[lcertuche]

The one year I raised pigs I got them in the fall and kept them in my garden all winter. I had a crude roofed shelter and put a round hay bale in it. They stayed warm under the hay but they did make a mess of my garden. The smell wasn't bad because it was winter and a very cold winter at that. I had an automatic feeder. They also got table scraps and of course cleaned our garden of all the produce and plants. I've tried chickens and pigs both in my garden during the winter and given a choice I would stick with chickens. I think pastured pigs are best but I don't have a place for that. I think about getting pigs again because I have a pen that could easily be turned into a pig pen so I might do that this year. Most of our neighbors eat wild pigs but we don't hunt.

 

[lcertuche]

I just noticed how old this forum is, lol. Oh well!

 

[OneFineAcre]

I just noticed how old this forum is, lol. Oh well!

I've got 3 feeder pigs right now.
They are doing really well.
Probably going to the butcher pretty soon.