Hand feeding numerous feeder pigs?

blucoondawg

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Hi everyone, I'm new here but have been reading on this site quite a bit. I'm in northern Wisconsin and this year we have decided to get some feeder pigs from the wife's co worker they will be Tamworth/mulefoot cross. We were gonna get 3 maybe 4 but by the time we were done we had many more people requesting a pig so ended up with 7. Quite a few for the first year but we will deal with it.
The main question I have is about free feeding, these pigs are all litter mates so obviously the same age yet there will be size differences between gilts, barrows, maybe a runt. I am currently planning to hand feed rather than go free choice, I have read the recommended feed amount goes by weight of the pig, would it be OK to just go with the weight of the largest pig multiply that by 7 and feed that out daily or would you figure feed for each of by its individual weight.
 

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Greetings and welcome to BYH. I don't have pigs, but a couple of things come to mind... first is are you going to neuter the boy(s) or separate them from the girls? Second, It seems to me the bigger ones will "hog" the food, just keeping the little ones littler, holding them back... Aside from that, I must defer to those w/more experience... @Ferguson K @jk47 @Baymule @jhm47 @frustratedearthmother
 

blucoondawg

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They aren't piglets they're 50lb feeder pigs the breeder already did all the neutering. I'm sure the bigger ones will try to get more food but if the feeder is big enough I should hope they could work it out, I don't know. I just don't want to jump into free feeding with this many pigs and have them go crazy on the feed bill if there is another way that will work.
 

blucoondawg

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Because with doing 7 my first time out that's a good amount of feed and I've been told, and read, that over feeding them doesn't do much but add fat and waste feed. Just being my first time I don't know how much I trust a 7 pigs not to be extreme pigs lol
 

blucoondawg

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I also figured not overfeeding may cut down on some of the byproduct of pigs, what comes out the backside
 

Baymule

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Hi @blucoondawg I just hauled 3 to slaughter today.

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/feeder-pigs.32154/

I fed mine twice a day, what they would clean up or have a little left over. Since you have 7 pigs, have 2-3 feeders so they don't fight over the feed and there is plenty of room for them to eat. since I fed mine through the winter, I raked up acorns and pecans for mine and they got a treat every day. If you have garden space, raise some veggies for them. They will appreciate fresh food over the dry pellets. Do you have chickens? Hard boiled eggs in the shell make a good treat too, plus eggs have lysine, an important nutrient for pigs. Pelleted feed has lysine too, but just pointing out that the eggs (not raw) are good for the pigs. Put out several water tubs for them, a thirsty pig will not eat.

Keep us posted on how this goes for you. And post pictures! What breed are your pigs?
 

blucoondawg

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They are Tamworth mulefoot cross. I've got 2 nipple waters I'm gonna hook up and I have some of the small rubber tubs I can use for water dishes that holds a few gallons each. One it gets to where it's staying warm I was going to put a kids pool in for them to puddle around in and drink from if they want. O do have chickens already planned on feeding some eggs when we get to many which is most the time lately. I am planning to grow some stuff too but haven't decided what I actually have a decent sized garden I was thinking various squash and pumpkins for sure but those won't be ready for a while. Maybe turnips, peas, beans, I don't know be nice to have some stuff to feed them before fall. Our gardening season here isn't the longest especially on a cold year
 

blucoondawg

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I'm picking them up tomorrow afternoon will try to get pictures once they're settled in
 

Baymule

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They will turn over the kids pool, just so ya' know....... They will need a mudhole to stay cool. This is going to be fun... :thumbsup
 

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