Live Pigs Worth
 

How much is a LIVE, nice looking, healthy looking 75lb cut male pig worth? I see them in my area for around $1 per lb live weight on craigslist. I never been to the auction to see what they bring. Thanks

When the market is normal, 1$ a pound live weight is about the going rate. Right now, pork is way down and you should be able to get them cheaper.

The only ones I have seen on CL around here have been barely weaned and around $65-$75 each

Mary

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have seen them from 35-$100 advertised here......

Anyone having pigs in Okla is RARE, and those who do know theres at least 2 BIG places that want them for BBQs, so the price for them is high. BUT then again, since noone raises feed here for them, the feed is high also. Same principal applied by the farmer is also applied against him by the feed man

Are you buying or selling? $1 a pound is probably a good rough estimate, but it is going to vary by what area you live in. A 75 pound pig is pretty little and might bring more than that. The smaller they are, the higher the price per pound.

They are also a bit more expensive per pound if you only buy one at a time. I can get a nice deal on a whole litter of 100 pound pigs, but they sell in uniform groups of 10-20 head. That's a lot of pigs for a single family.

If I were buying one pig for my family, I'd be happy to pay $1 a pound for a good healthy feeder pig already castrated. I'm pretty sure that's what they sell for in my area. But I shop, and if I could get the same quality pig for less, I'd buy that one. The operative word, though, is "same quality". I don't buy substandard animals because they are cheap. That is false economy.

Oops. I just went and looked. Weekly stock report says feeder pigs $70-$80. That is 70-80 cents a pound, to those of you reading who are just starting out. That price would be for groups.

Piglets are about $45 (by the head). That price has dropped in half over the past 6 months.

Still, if I had to buy 10 at the auction to get 70 cent a pound, i would pay $1 a pound for a good healthy, handsome pig from a private party, where I could get all the health background, maybe see the parents, and learn what sort of care.

Note, pigs at the auction are from good local farmers, well matched and correct conformation animals, not culls. Poor quality animals barely sell. That is not true in some locations. Buyer beware at the auctions.

It totally depends on the area, the pig, the season and the feed.

CAFO factory farmed style pigs at auction are the bottom of the list. That's what the "Weekly Stock Reports" are all about.

Pasture raised, dairy fed, humanely handled, naturally grown is worth several times that due to the better flavor. We get $4/lb for pigs of that size hanging - we sell weekly.

A breeder is worth several times that. Being that he's cut he doesn't make that last criteria. :}

The reason for asking is I keep seeing adds on Craigslist for feeder pigs, half grown hogs and have no idea if I am seeing a good price, average or high. With the Wild Hog deal we went through early this year, my Wife and I got the processing "down" and making link sausage. We have not seen any more wild hogs or signs of them. I see these young hogs for sale and think I should buy them---feed them for a few months then process them ourself. I have a 2 acre fenced in area, have a "hog trailer" to haul them. Have a "hog stable" to keep them in when needed and have access to some free food(table scraps etc from several neighbors as well as other free food) I buy my corn by the bushel and grind and make 16% hog feed. I have 2 4 month old pigs now that I bought at 7 weeks old for $25 each. Got two more I am getting wednesday that will be 9 weeks old for $35 ea. I want to raise most of my meat so Looking for some deals on pigs/feeders that people need to get rid of. I seen a add that a Man had a 250lb sow that had 10 6 week old pigs---he wanted $200 NOW needed to get rid of them, costing him to much to feed them. I did not have my fence ready and I did not have a trailer to haul them---So Now I am some what ready. Just need to learn their value. Buy some for our own meat and resell some if I find another good deal. We are raising rabbits, chickens and pigs---should keep us in some meat---I never see and Cows at a deal on Craigslist. Thanks

I would be a little wary of getting too many pigs more than what I could use for myself right now. Corn prices could jack upward and force you to have a lot of extra money tied up in those you would want to sell--just like everybody that's selling out now. But to have enough for your own home use, you will still be paying under--or about, the market price, and if you do your own butchering and processing, you'll make out okay. Twenty bucks beginning price difference on a pig or two won't really be all that much when they get to butcher weight.

geo

Last fall I paid $70 / piglet. We got a boar and four sows [different blood lines]

Now that we have a litter of 9 piglets and I just saw an ad, they have 100 piglets for sell asking $30 each.

We have other sows about ready too.

But no market for them. :)

PD R I never worried about grinding corn when I was young. But now, Im wondering how many lbs im putting out top of the hammermill when I belt up to grind a ton. Dont like to see all that dust blow away. It wasnt dust BEFORE I ground it. It was part and parcel of the ton.

Local sale barn selling 52 to 53 per hundred weight.. so a 250 pound hog would sell around 125 to 135 based on condition. Here it is cheaper to purchase at the sale barn than to raise one to market rate

Yea, seeing that dust blowing away is a feeling of Loosing money.

:pig:Is that 52 a pound Liveweight? Or is that whats called Leanweight / The weight it should dress to?
As for that 250 pound hog around here thats just a shade to big and would be docked some, probably about 25%.
Here they want them 220 pounds with up to 240 acceptable.
Once they hit 300 they get REAL cheap 5 to10 cents a pound.:pig:

I would like some of those 300lb butcher hogs for 10 cents a pound. Any thing that sells that cheap is either lame, maimed or sick. Stinky old boar and 600lb sows bring more than that.

Oregon hog farmer eaten by his hogs.

We have a neighbor who was recently interviewed by a newspaper reporter.

He buys hogs for <50cents/pound at auction. Pumps every antibiotic available into them before they even leave the auction yard.

Brings them home and puts them on powder-milk diets. He swears it makes their meat 'leaner'. In 4 weeks they will have lost 10% of their body weight and he butchers them. He makes a big deal of how much leaner and better the meat is after they have lost all that fat.

They sell the meat cut/wrapped at Farmer's Markets.


I was shocked to read it in the paper.

Okay did a look around

weeks sale, barrows and gilts sold 1.00 to 2.00
higher. Sows sold steady. All prices per cwt.

BARROWS AND GILTS:
49-54% lean 220-270 lbs 57.00-60.00.
45-49% lean 250-300 lbs 53.00-56.50.

SOWS: US 1-3 300-500 lbs 32.00-35.00.
500-700 lbs 33.00-36.50.


GRADED FEEDER PIGS (New Holland Sept 19, 2012) All pigs sold per cwt.
Grade

US 1-2 15-25 lbs 70.00-90.00
25-30 lbs 25.00-30.00
30-40 lbs 50.00-70.00
40-50 lbs 40.00-80.00
60-70 lbs 25.00-35.00

US 2
15-20 lbs 10.00-12.00
20-30 lbs 12.00-35.00
30-40 lbs

Fantasymaker, that would be per hundred weight. You could also call it 52 to 53 cents per pound, live weight. Hogs here are sold by the weight most of the time. On occasion they are sold by the head. Pigs sold by the head are more than likley just weaned or under 20 lbs.. and they bring 10 to 15 dollars each. Most market hogs are sold between 250 and 275 pounds.

Last week at a sale barn near Conway, SC $30 to $40 for a feeder pig, according to neighbor that sold 10 head.

Hey Plowhand. Where is this sale? Is it open to the public or just "meat buyers"? I know of one on 501 between Marion and Aynor. Never checked to see if it was open to the public. If you will find out for me I sure would appreciate it!

Wish it was that way here! To me that seems a better eating size.
and It would be handy for me to be able to have the option to take some up to that weight later in the year fattening up on harvested cornfeilds.

Michigan Auction.
Welcome to David Clark Auction Services

Southeastern livestock auction, take 701 north,turn on 410 just past Tabor City, and it's about 8 or 9 miles down on the left. If you pass the NC forestry comission offices you've went to far. The sale starts around 12:30 pm, or just as soon as they can get it going. They sell hogs,pigs,goats and sheep, then cows and calfs, bulls, and calfs and feeders to follow. Folks sometimes have chickens and puppies on their tailgates, and they have a few horses, mules and donkeys once in a while. I bought a mule there about 5 years ago that nobody wanted for less than $200,and she plows as good as some that cost $2000. There aint no telling what you'll find there.

I am so glad I kept reading the posts! I got nervous reading $1.00 per pound live weight. We have a pig that will be ready next month and we normally pay about $160 for a pig and they seem to be about 250 pounds. I was begining to think I needed to put back more money for it! But, from reading the later posts, that should still be around what we pay.