Baymule’s 2020 Feeder Pigs

[baymule]

Here we go! Got two guilts today, Hampshire and Yorkshire cross. I’ve been looking, people sure are proud of their pigs this year. Finally found these an hour and half away and we went and got them.

Sentry is in a pasture, not against the new Pigs, but he knew he didn’t like them. He barked st them. I didn’t want a night of him hating and barking at the pigs all night, so I put him on a leash and we went to meet the pigs.

He snarled. I shushed him. He was on full alert, deeply growling. I kept talking to him, reassuring him, telling him, MY PIGS, NO. MINE. The pigs of course, were scared and slowly grunted their way toward us. Closer. Closer. Sentry boomed a BIG BARK and lunged st them. Pigs ran, I pulled Sentry back. Over and over, but at least he’s met the pigs and knows what they are. They will never be friends but maybe he won’t bark all night at the pig monsters.

@frustratedearthmother he reminded me so much of Cowboy and your AGH pigs. I was smiling, watching my defensive body guard protecting me from pig monsters and thinking about you.

The girls.

Sentry guarding me.

 

[baymule]

I haven’t seen the piggies drink from the hog nipple. When I depress the nipple to make water run out, they don’t get excited or act thirsty, so I guess they have figured it out. Likewise on the bin feeder. So last night I arranged some leaves on top of the pellets, this morning they were moved and there is a little dirt on the pellets too. Now I have my proof they are eating.

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I took a can of acorns and gave them some. One nibbled at my boot, not too tasty.

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We are keeping our little granddaughters for the weekend, they are excited to see the pigs. I told them they each got to name one. #2 DGD said she was gonna name hers Picklehead. #3 DGD said she would name hers Tickle Potty, which her Mom immediately squelched. So we’ll see what they come up with!​

 

[Mini Horses]

He snarled. I shushed him. He was on full alert, deeply growling. I kept talking to him, reassuring him, telling him, MY PIGS, NO. MINE.

So -- when he got his "puzzled thinking face" you thought he was trying to figure out those things in that pen.

Well, he was also thinking "WHY?? Why would she even WANT THOSE things???" Those things aren't cute & fuzzy like the lambs...not quiet either. Yep, Sentry is sure wondering if YOU are well, mentally aware.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Ok, they may have some smell. Mine will waft their "perfume" on the air to the house, but it is not terrible. Their pen is large enough that their poop doesn't get mixed up in the mud, stay wet, and stink. They grunt, it is cute. They may squeal at times, but not that much. They are not a lot of work. They don't really have predators and don't need lots of extra care.

So...…..when are you getting a pig? 🐷🐷🐷

No pig, no cat, no goat, no sheep. I value marital harmony. But, I really DO like my hubby!

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Lazy Gardener My DH has laid down the law also - no pigs, no goats. After last weeks argument about his "he does not really like pork", which explains why he gets so made when I buy it, I will never get to raise pigs. Funny though, he loves bacon, pork sausage and Sunday ham...

 

[baymule]

The pigs now have names. The white one is Elsa, the black and white one is Carrot. These names are Mom approved. I gave them some kitchen scraps today, they tore up a leftover pancake, broccoli trimmings, carrot trimmings and egg shells.

 

[baymule]

I let him next to their fence with us yesterday while we fenced off the area around the "window" we feed them through. The horses fiddled with the top of the bin feeder until they got it open and helped themselves. While we put up a wire gap and wire at the other end to block the horses off, Sentry was allowed to be with us and he was not agressive towards the pigs, nor did he bark at them.

 

[baymule]

We got the Pig Palace ready this morning. We set up the bin feeder and put 50 pounds of Feed in it. Checked water barrel, added water and secured the trough.

To help the pigs find Feed, I put a little in a plastic tub and they found it. Behind them you can see the bin feeder where I propped up a lid with a pine cone. They found the Feed but were afraid of the bin monster. Wait until they try to get Feed and that lid shuts on them! Haha, it won’t last long, food is a motivator.

 

[baymule]

They are a few months old, their pen is made from a 200' roll of wire, plus a 12' gate and their Pig Palace, so they have plenty of room. I hate seeing pigs in tiny little pens. Most pigs will use a poop corner, given the choice. No electric fencing, the water barrel needs filling every few days in HOT weather when the pigs are bigger and drink more, the feed bin holds 100 pounds of feed. 50 pounds will last a week now, as they grow, they will go through 50 pounds in a few days. Slaughter at 6-8 months. I don't worry about feed conversion, last two hogs we raised, one was hanging weight at 188 pounds, the other hanging weight was 178 pounds. No access to scrap feed.

I give them unlimited free feed pellets. Then I start them on soured corn also. I add milk to the soured corn and give them boiled eggs for a treat and for the lysine in them. 6 weeks before slaughter date, I stop the pellets and they only get the soured corn. The meat is delicious.

time spent on the pigs, Probably more than I need to. I check them every morning and evening. If it is hot, I spray them 3 times a day with the water hose. Since we have sand, they don't have mud to wallow in, so I water them down to cool them off.

Corn out of the bag is hard for pigs to digest and most will go right through them. Soured corn is sorta pre-digested, breaking down from the beneficial bacteria and I never find corn kernels in their poop. I keep several buckets of corn going, pouring water/milk from the bucket I feed that day into the bucket I start to replace it. The pigs love the juice from the soured corn and will suck it up first. This year, I am going to add watered down keifer to their corn.

We load pigs in the trailer using boiled eggs. I don't feed them the day before, so they are hungry. I smash a boiled egg and drop a trail of boiled eggs to the front of the trailer, they hop in, follow the trail and we shut the gate.

 

[baymule]

You're not helping me here! You are supposed to be telling me that they are stinky, noisy, and too much work.

Ok, they may have some smell. Mine will waft their "perfume" on the air to the house, but it is not terrible. Their pen is large enough that their poop doesn't get mixed up in the mud, stay wet, and stink. They grunt, it is cute. They may squeal at times, but not that much. They are not a lot of work. They don't really have predators and don't need lots of extra care.

So...…..when are you getting a pig? 🐷🐷🐷