Somebody today offered us $10/pig to house them while they are finished. I will be asking him many questions, but I wanted to get some other views too. He will provide the feed, I would need to give them food and water. We have a retired pig farm, so it shouldnt be too hard to get ready. I'm not sure if our feeders work though, we tried one and it sounded like it got stuck. He said he would do any training thats neccessary. I think it would be great, $2000, and it would mostly cost me sweat. Problem is I have a PT job, I will be taking 15 or so credits in college, plus we have our own animals, not too many yet. I really think I could learn a lot with it, plus pick up quite a bit of money. From the table posted in the thread it sounds like 5 lbs per day per pig is about how much feed they eat (looking towards the top of the table). So that would be 1000 lbs of food per day total. If I can get the feeders working, no dout I would do it. 1000 lbs per day is a lot, but today I loaded/unloaded/stacked about 100 bales. This would be at least 4000 lbs per time. What do you all think about it? Water would be comming out of a hose in that building, so that wouldnt be a problem.
Ten dollars a pig!?! Run, run as fast as you can! Do you have any idea how much waste comes from 200 pigs? Even if you have proper containment with manure pits, someone has to pump them and properly dispose of the waste. That would be my first concern. The second concern I'd have would be, who is responsible for problems. What if something happens to your water system? Pigs can't be without water even for a short time without major problems. Who will be responsible for keeping the automatic feeders working and how about all the electricity you'll be consuming. How about all the vetting that needs done? loading the hoppers? You are talking about three or four months of work and that's mostly full time even with automation. I'd offer to lease the guy the building for 2000 and let him do all the work.
If the pigs are there for 3 months.... $2000 divided by 90 days is $22.22 per day. And pig smell permeates everything - skin, hair, etc. Nope, not for me - I'd rather flip burgers for a little extra money.
It's just finishing, so I think it will just be a few weeks. I'm thinking, besides what you mentioned, I could spend the time much better around here. I think I would learn a lot but, I would learn a lot if I got some pigs of my own, not that many, more like 4, but... I don't think it would be too much work, but that building still stinks, and it would have to be cleaned out, and I would need to get the feeders to work, etc. I would rather spend that time and sweat working on the main barn. If I want something else to do, and I want to learn, I could probably work for one of the pig farmers and end up with $2000 at $5/hr in 400 hr of work. Thanks though
Holy cow. What else could you do for $22 bucks a day? Just about anything, and that's what I'd do. Just about anything else.
Sounds easy enough to you now , but wait. Feeders break, hose breaks, pigs get out not to mention having to clean up after them. Cleaning would be half a days work with shovel and wheel barrel. Who supplys bedding? how about your power from lights and running water? What if they get sick? Who pays the Vet and are you liable if one dies? Not to mention if a pig turns nasty. I have 5 pigs now and have had alot more at a time. I like raising them on pasture no fuss no mess and if the get out I can shoot them outside! Did I mention the flys and the stink??????????????? Let us know if you do it and how it turns out afterwards.~ Patty
I think you are taking the right step in growing a few of your own. Finishing hogs takes way more than a few weeks. Typically, at least on containment hogs, there are three feeding stages. Weiners, growers up to about 50 pounds and then finishing to market weight, typically 235 pounds. As far as a stinky building...well, hog barns stink! It'll always stink, no matter how clean you get it. Not that hygene is unimportant, it is very important, especially with confined hogs. You still might consider offering use of your building for the hogger to finish in. Many facilities are only used for one stage of growth, gestation, growing and finishing. Different locations breaks up potential problems with disease. It's kind of a shame to leave a building in dis-use. Most benefit from being used and it could amount to a tidy sum in your pocket. You could write your lease making the tenant responsible for cleaning before during and after, and make them responsible for putting the equipment back in good repair, in lieu of some of the rent.
