weaning age

[bigdadychef]

my berkshire had her first litter she had 8 and all survived they are 4 weeks old what age does everybody wean at thx jim

[HardBall]

I wean at 3 weeks. The industry as a whole is 3-4 weeks average. Some show pig producers go up to 6 weeks. It really depends on your preference on breeding back. You can move sow breed back dates just by weaning early or late. Much past 4-6 weeks and it may be a little hard on your sow.

[Lazy J]

Originally Posted by bigdadychef

my berkshire had her first litter she had 8 and all survived they are 4 weeks old what age does everybody wean at thx jim

Weaning ages range from 17 days to 5 weeks.

[Ed Norman]

We offer feed and water the from the first week and they pretty much wean themselves by 3 weeks.

[Reed77]

Why are pigs weaned at such a young age?

[Ed Norman]

So the sow can be bred back and have another litter.

Like I said, ours wean themselves. They could stay around longer, but they don't.

[Allen W]

I would go with 6 week of age weaning. The extra time on the sow will be good for the pigs and you will still be on track for a twice a year farrowing schedule.

[Mare Owner]

I wean between 8 and 12 weeks. As long as the sow is keeping her weight there's no need to wean early, unless you want to get her bred back right away and she isn't showing heat with piglets at side.

I wish mine would wean themselves!

[RW kansas hogs]

We wean ours at 4-5 weeks, And that depends on if the piglets are eating & drinking water. I was watching our new liter of berkshires and they are drinking water and eating weeds,grass and what ever mom eats.
When a liter hits 3 wks old i put a hog panel in the pen with them that is shaped like a sqaure and it has holes in it big enough for them to get thru but not moma sow, We put ground corn and water in it so they get use to eating it and not being around moma sow when they eat.

[happymainepigs]

4 weeks give or take a couple days

[HeritagePigs]

Always watch the piglets for at least a week after "weaning". "Weaned" does not mean eating stuff and drinking water; it means gaining weight without milk. We never remove our piglets from the sow before six weeks and never ship them, or allow them to be picked up, until they are gaining weight on their own, usually at eight weeks.

[DWH Farm]

6-7 weeks works well for us. I guess if the sows started looking bad I might move them sooner but I have not had that problem.

[Allen W]

Originally Posted by HeritagePigs

Always watch the piglets for at least a week after "weaning". "Weaned" does not mean eating stuff and drinking water; it means gaining weight without milk. We never remove our piglets from the sow before six weeks and never ship them, or allow them to be picked up, until they are gaining weight on their own, usually at eight weeks.

A very good explanation Brian.

[HeritagePigs]

I wish I could wean earlier...

I spent most of the morning chasing piglets...got about eighty right now on the farm...little guys can really scoot...

[Pam in KY]

Originally Posted by HeritagePigs

I wish I could wean earlier...

I spent most of the morning chasing piglets...got about eighty right now on the farm...little guys can really scoot...

I want to demand video, but I think you might be a bit on the busy side right now. lol

[bigdadychef]

thxs everbody sow is doing really well still producing good milk the little guys have been eating food for about 2 weeks with mom and now i put food just for them also water and they go right to both placers for food i thinl around the six weeks might be good thanks for all the great response

[highlands]

We generally wean at about 4 to 6 weeks but it varies with the season. By adjusting weaning we can control rebreeding to some degree with most sows.