So my friend who we get our pigs from called me the other day and said the piglets were ready. Since we have been having nothing but rain the past month and we haven't had a chance to get the barn built, I had to get our pen we built last year ready for the pigs. We can move them over to the barn when we we get it done
the area was a little overgrown
So I went around and took the electric tape down
and started weed wacking around the area
I decided to let the pasture grow some more to give them some grazing when I finally release them in a couple weeks
the pen itself was way overgrown
so I weed wacked the pen
and went and grabbed some straw for bedding
that should keep them warm, I don't want to deal with pneumonia like I did last year
I mounted the gate and then remembered I had cut the border so the pigs didn't have to step over it last year
so I nailed down a 2x4 to keep them from going under the gate while they were small
the pen is ready
I grabbed the solar fence charger out of the pantry
and wired it back up
and set it on the porch to charge for the next several days
so I called my friend yesterday to see if he was going to be around so I could swing by, he said he would. It was a strange day, the weather was very similar to when we took the animals to the processor last year, I'm not sure if that's a good omen or not.
I drove over to my friends house, he has a great set up, some day I should ask him to do a picture tour of his place, but I digress.
Momma wasn't sure about me
the babies
So my friend set her outside
the other sow came over to see what was up, he breeds them both
the boar really didn't care either way
we picked another male and female this year, the male has different coloring, my wife loves him
I released them into the pen and they went around checking out their new digs
they were a little skittish, but I was able to get them to eat some bread out of my hand this morning, now I just have to get them to give me their belly when I scratch their sides
So I hooked up the solar charger on friday
and ran the electric tape around the bottom of the pen
I hooked up my leads
and waited, here pig pig, sue sue
they each got zapped twice and they were done, the next day I was feeding them and the wind blew the tape against a piece of grass and as soon as the pigs heard the snap of the wire they took off into the pen, they learned quick. So I decided on Sunday to let them out into the pasture area. I went around and weed wacked one more time under the wire
and started running the wire
the pigs are younger this year than last when I let them out so I lowered the bottom tape a little, you want it to hit them in the snout so the back up, if they get hit behind the ears they will surge forward through the tape
I did the same test as last year, I stuck some bread right under the wire to see if they would take it, after it sitting there all day left alone, I felt safe letting them out
they were a little hesitant at first
they quickly headed towards the tall grass and started rooting
My wife wanted to get in and play with the little buggers
she decided she wanted to pick one up so I could take a picture and send one to her mother
yeah they were having none of that
she tried sneaking up on them
fail!
21 Feb ’12
Have you ever tried feeding them along with their feed the crap on top of fresh non-homogenized milk?
When milk is non-homogenized, the fat separates and forms a layer of cream on the top.
When we fed them that cream they started doubling in weight gain. Was no difference though in meat to fat ratio.
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