HELP my 1st Pig

CrealCritter

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Well I found a pig on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. It's was in a big mud hole. One to not overlook a opportunity. I pulled over and called my FIL and he showed up about 10 mins later. I took a strap out of the back of the truck but he wouldn't have nothing to do with it.

Another guy pulled up and got out of the truck. I said would you like to help me wrangle this pig? He said sure... So all three of us managed to get him cornered and I grabbed it around the belly and picked it up. All while he was screaming bloody murder. I got him in the back of my truck and my father in law held him in the back of the truck while I drove it him home.

i picked it up and carried it into the chicken yard nursery pen. He's a good 90 lbs I know I carried him twice.

Now I need help raising him to butcher. What do I need to do, what breed is it? I'm so full of questions...

It's hot to day so I made a mud hole for him and he seems happy for now.

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NH Homesteader

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What Sumi said- yes you do need a weight. When she gets to the point when you can't pick her up (or if you want to save your back), this is how to estimate a pig's weight. Might not be totally accurate with a pot belly because... Well because of that belly!
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CrealCritter

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This is so complicated... I worm my chickens by dumping a bunch of habenero flakes over top of their feed. Easy smeazy... I'll have my DW help me weigh Miss Pork Chop tomorrow and get the dosing right then give her the first round.

On a side note my daughter in law informed me today that Pork Chop enjoys having "her cute nose" scratched. She said when she pulled up Pork Chop ran up to the fence and grunted at her and stuck her nose out of the fence to get scratched. I just shook my head when she told me this then I walked away wondering just how she figured this out - without first scratching her nose? Hum.?.?.?....

She's my favorite daughter in law, I even call her Fav. So if she wants to scratch a pigs nose that's been rooting around in God only knows what - she can have at it I guess...

She was in the living room tonight trying to get something away from my youngest granddaughter who is a hot mess. My granddaughter wouldn't give it up. So I grabbed my chicken magazine and showed my granddaughter, she dropped the thing her mom was trying to get from her and took the magazine from.my hand and stopped crying and started smiling looking at the magazine. My daughter in law said dad your so good with kids. I said the ole switch-a-roo has never failed me yet :) <--- what this has to with anything IDK but I just put some more ammonia on my chiggers bites so maybe I'm a bit punchy...
 
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baymule

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The ledgend of Mr. Porkchop lives on... Today while my 3 1/2 year old going on 15 was eating lunch. She just out of the blue said "paw paw did you eat Mr. Porkchop" you know that caught me by surprise. So I thought about my answer and all I could come up with was "Yes hunny i sure did' she then said "did he make you big and strong?". I said yep just look at your paw paw ain't he big and strong? She said "yes you are paw paw'. I said well if you want to be big and strong lile paw paw then eat your ham sandwich . She said "ok paw paw, Mr. Pork chop sure tastes good".

Shes only 3 1/2 years old and already knows what took me a big part of my life to learn.

Adorable. You are giving your grand kids a great gift. They will grow up knowing where vegetables and meat really comes from, and it ain't the grocery store. Knowing that you raise an animal, slaughter it, cook and eat it is almost unknown today. It might have taken you most of your life to get here, but look what you have done for your grand daughter!

Our 3 year old grand daughter loves pigs. She is just fine with eating them too. Our 10 year old loves to hug the baby lambs, but loves lamb meat. She also loves to cuddle baby chicks, but when she's sick, she wants Mamaw's chicken broth. The 18 month old is all about the sheep, she wades right in amongst them, they bump into her, she gets up and chases them.

While your kids and our kids are working to make a living, us grand parents are doing our part to make sure that our grand kids know what real living is all about.
 
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