OK, I am probably stupid, but I brought home 4 piglets last night

[secuono]

Since pigs eat eggs and other human food left overs, why not mix the good stuff thoroughly with the pellets?
I do the same with my dogs or birds when giving them good stuff, but still want them to eat their pellets.



LOVE the piggie on the goat, way too cute!

 

[Cornish Heritage]

We pour milk & eggs etc on our pigs pellets each morning. This way it also makes less sloppy mess as the liquid soaks into the grain.

Liz

 

[mama24]

Hey! Just thought I'd update this since it's been a long time. Miss Pig (we quit calling her Bacon) is still growing and thriving. We keep separating her from the goats, but she finds a way out of everything we've tried so far. My husband finally finished a pallet pen yesterday, but she tore down the gate within an hour and was back with her goat mama. Hubby told me the gate hinges I got weren't big/strong enough, and he was right. She has started hunting and eating my chickens so we really need to get her out of there since we can't keep the chickens out. She's getting really big. I would guess she's probably over 100lbs now. She's still quit a bit shorter than her goat mama, but is a solid hunk of muscle. And SMART. Between her and the goats, they keep figuring out way to open different gates to get out of the pasture into our yard. The pig seems to really like acorns and the goats love oak leaves. If they would stay in our yard, and out of the neighbor's, I would just let them out, but they are bad and go over there. My chickens, too! 42 acres on this property and they won't stay out of the neighbor's yard!!! My kids are so tired of her eating our chickens they've been asking me to just kill her and eat her already. My husband and I are feeling the same way, but we're holding out for more bacon. lol. She plowed up our whole back yard last week. I can hear goats on my front porch right now, so I guarantee she is out front rooting up the lawn there and probably eating acorns. We have a LOT of oak trees around the house. My hubby is going to get stronger gate hinges today, and I have plans to work on the gate latches. lol

I did manage to separate her from goat mama for a couple weeks before she grew enough to tear the welded wire fencing down to get back to her. She was really tearing up the poor goat's teats. But she was out of there long enough to be weaned, and mama's nipples healed and her milk dried up. Mama goat is still very protective of her and will come running if she hears her squealing and will butt the dog, etc. I still can't get over the goat adopting the pig, and I can't believe she's still being a protective mama long after weaning!

Here's a bad picture of her and my son with mama goat. They are always together. This was a few weeks ago. She's even bigger now. It seemed like she was growing really slow for a long long time, and then suddenly she just started growing HUGE amazingly fast!

 

[Bossroo]

With all of the dammage this pig is causing, she will be the most expensive bacon in the country. I would no longer bother in keeping this pig out in the pasture , but send her to freezer camp POST HASTE !!!

 

[Cricket]

Have you tried running a strand of electric fence around the bottom? She's still to cute to look like food yet!

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Once they start eating chickens there is VERY little you can do to stop them! We had some Hamps here once that did that. The only option is to enjoy them as sausage & bacon - it is not worth waiting to get her bigger as you will have no chickens left. ALSO once they start to learn that they can get out there is very little you can do to stop them. Even electric wire is unlikely to work at this stage - she has not been trained to it & will likely just bolt through it.

Get the sausage grinder out 100lbs is a good size - meat will be good.

Liz

 

[mama24]

LOL. Well, my parents are coming down in a few weeks, I think they're staying for Thanksgiving. I guess we'll do it then when they're here to help. I'll get some more piglets, but they will be in the pallet pen from day 1 for sure! I never would have put her with the goats if I'd had any reason to think one would adopt her! LOL

 

[mama24]

She hasn't eaten any of my big chickens, just an entire order of 2 month old chicks just in the last few weeks. I started out with 31, have 4 left! If the stupid things would just stay out of the goat pen, they'd all still be alive! But it's even easier for them to slip through the gate than it is for my big chickens to fly over the fence.

Oh, and she is electric fence trained. Before we fenced off the big pasture, all of the goats and the pig were confined to a smaller electrified paddock, about an acre. My husband also elctrified where she was reaching through the fence to snatch them even if they were on the wrong side, but I took it down after a few were fried. She stayed away for a good week after I took the wire down. Our fence charger is super strong and can't be turned down. lol

 

[Cornish Heritage]

I'll get some more piglets, but they will be in the pallet pen from day 1 for sure!

Oh don't do that. Not all breeds of pigs eat chickens. Our Large Blacks do not eat chicks when with their mamas. Of course a pen full of little chicks with no protection would be way too much of a temptation! Just like a newborn slimy lamb! OR a dog with a chick - lost so many that way with one of our dogs we used to have. You need to keep them away but a well trained pig behind electric wire is much better behaved than a goat & will respect it better. Do some research on which breeds are better on grass as well. You do not want a rototiller - Hampshires are both rototillers & chicken eaters - no longer welcome here.

Liz

 

[Royd Wood]

Yikes - dont box your next guys in just some elec fence will do.

lol Cornish - our remaining Hamp is a 8 furrow turn over plough