Feeder pigs can be purchased from a local small farmer, online ads or an auction. Pigs are one of the best choices for raising your own meat. Another aspect of price to consider is that pigs are herd animals and like to have company of other pigs. Feeder pigs sell at livestock auctions.
If you want a pet pig that will stay smaller get a pot bellied pig or smaller yet a mini pig. Honestly, it's not that hard. The tractor is needed because you will be butchering the pig when it is 250 pounds you will need a way to lift up the carcass. This is an average number, so specialty breeds will vary with a fatter pig will yielding less and a wider, meatier pig will yield more. Yes but be aware that the adult size of a farm pig is 500 plus pounds. Feeder pigs are fed a ground feed containing corn, soybean meal and a premix supplement that contains all of the minerals and nutrients they need to grow at the optimal rate for their size. Feeder pigs can be purchased at the farm where they were born or at a livestock auction. Free choice feeding gets your feeder pigs to market weight the fastest. Your pigs should have feed and water at all times. I just sold a few market hogs that were over 300 pounds, 305 to be exact. This is for an three month old or so cross bred pig. Fair pig buyers tend to raise the prices of all feeder pigs at the auction simply because of increased demand equals a higher price. Buy at least two feeder pigs.
We have weekly livestock auctions in our area so this is the easiest choice for us. My husband is a deer hunter and we had been processing our own poultry for years, so this was the next big step for us. Get cross breed feeder pigs. If you can't attend the auction and are not overly picky about what you get, the auction has a buyer that can bid for you. Have these pigs been outside or kept inside? As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. The more time you waste, the more the skin cools, the harder it is to get off!
Check out the local auction reports for the current prices in your area so you can know what to expect to pay. Those pigs were purposely feed longer than normal to have more body fat at butchering because, at least around here, people like to have a fat hog to grind in with their deer. Pigs love snacks like hay and garden scraps. They should be spunky, well grown and not have any obvious health problems. Be sure to listen to the announcements at the beginning of the sale. Which breed of feeder pig is best? The best breed of feeder pig is a hot topic. Consider reading my article The Cheapest Meat Animal To Raise where I list out a comparison of common meat animals and see how a feeder pigs compares on total cost and price per pound of meat. Prices will change, sometimes drastically change, with the seasons and the current demand. Purchasing your first feeder pigs from the farmer will give you a good idea of how he raises his pigs so you will know what your pig is used to. First off, I doubt they have feeder pigs available for sale to the public and secondly, these are not the type of pigs you are looking for. You determine the ideal finishing weight. Most people will start their pigs out on an 16% protein feed then as the pigs get older you can go to a lower protein (less expensive) feed.
Once you start cutting up the carcass into freezer ready pieces you will lose a bit more weight in trim and oddments that you don't want to keep, resulting in 120 pounds of meat. If you go to a farm for your pig expect to pay a bit more per pig. If the only pig farms in your area are CAFO's (confinement farms), not those. Just read the labels to match the feed with the size of your pigs. Feed for your feeder pigs will be available at most any farm store. Comfortable pigs will gain weight faster.
If you decide to go to an auction get there early so you have time to look around. The skinning, if you are doing it, needs to be done immediately. When I write local pig farm, I mean hands on family farmer, not an industrial pork production facility that happens to be close to your house. Now that we have home butchered both pigs and cattle, we are wondering why it took us this long to try this at home!
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