[mzgarden]

Edited: I mis-typed the title, they are 20 weeks, not 24 weeks. :facepalm:

Our first pigs (plain old pinks) are 20 weeks and 130 pounds. We have a processing appointment 24th of October (28 weeks) and hoping for 200-220# live weight.
1) Do you think another 8 weeks will get them over the 200# target?
2) Do we need to worm them a month before processing?

They are fed commercial pig ration twice a day (3# each *2 = 6#/day) and frequently leave some behind. They also get buckets of garden scraps mostly tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cabbage leaves plus a wheel barrow full of weeds (which is their favorite food) almost every day.

We have started offering them mangels and regular beets - which they refuse to eat. Curshaw winter squash and pumpkins which they do eat if we split them open. And adding flakes of hay every day. We will be cutting and tossing in the sunflower stalks.

Thanks.

 

[loggerbud]

I would think your a little behind I have some that are 14 wks old and 4 males probably go 105lbs and one gilt that's probably 95lbs. Maybe your giving them to much garden stuff they need protein to make muscle aka meat. I would post pone the butcher date and fatten them up. You may need to worm them that's y there not gaining.

 

[loggerbud]

They should be over 200lbs at the age they are

 

[mzgarden]

I should fix my typing mistake in the title, - they are 20 weeks at 130 pounds, not the 24 weeks I wrongly typed into the title, sorry.
However, I hear your points.
I have now wormed them with Ivermectin 1% orally in a PB sandwich. The feed we are using is from our local feed mill - and is a hog grower, so that's probably ok. Likely, as you indicate, we are over-feeding the garden and greens, so that's easy to cut back on. We have been offering alfalfa hay so we'll keep that in there and we can add eggs.

Appreciate the input.

 

[loggerbud]

If you wants them to grow real quick make or buy a gravity feeder so they have access to feed 24/7 then they will take off and grow and you have very little waste. Do you have gilts or barrows.

 

[mzgarden]

they are gilts. the hog grower we get at the feed mill is not pelletized, it looks more like rolled oats. We were told they would eat it best if mixed with water to a thick oatmeal like consistency so we hadn't considered a gravity feeder. Maybe we need to switch to a pelletized feed and then we could use a continuous feeder.

 

[Lazy J]

For a comparison, in the commercial barns my customers operate allpigs are slaughtered by 26 weeks of age and all 1,200 pigs in that barn will average about 280#.

 

[loggerbud]

I feed a mash with my feeder works just fine. My feed is ground not rolled

 

[mzgarden]

We also had a brand new 14# bag of Pedigree large breed dog food given to us, but we have no dog shrug. I was planning to take it up to the local shelter, but wondered if it's something that could be soaked and added to their grower feed?

 

[loggerbud]

I am sure you could feed that to them i personally stick to the mash and fruits and veggies for treats

 

[gerold]

https://extension.usu.edu/cache/files/uploads/Project_Pig_Planner.pdf

 

[mzgarden]

Excellent, I had just now found that pig planner too. Good to know it's trustworthy. According to that chart, at 20 weeks and 130 pounds, it looks like we are about 27# behind :Bawling:. Hopefully the combination of worming tonight, upping the protein and making feed available 24/7 will help them get back on track.
Again, appreciate all the help.

 

[Lazy J]

Please do not take the publication from the University of Missouri as gospel. The growth rates and feed conversions shown are quite low. Also the nutritional guidelines are outdated, antiquated in fact.

A modern pig fed with free choice access to a quality pig feed should be market weight at 24 weeks of age.

To illustrate, my daughters Spot breeding gilt weighed 294# when weighed at our county fair, she was exactly 24 weeks of age. Another one of her pigs, a cross bred, weighed 263 at 21.5 weeks of age.

 

[gerold]

Please do not take the publication from the University of Missouri as gospel. The growth rates and feed conversions shown are quite low. Also the nutritional guidelines are outdated, antiquated in fact.

A modern pig fed with free choice access to a quality pig feed should be market weight at 24 weeks of age.

To illustrate, my daughters Spot breeding gilt weighed 294# when weighed at our county fair, she was exactly 24 weeks of age. Another one of her pigs, a cross bred, weighed 263 at 21.5 weeks of age.

Could you post a more up to date chart.
Also what protein percent the feed should be at different ages, in the new chart.
And what the content of the feed is. This would be a big help.
I have looked for a good up to date feed mix and chart but can't fine one.

 

[Philosaw]

Please do not take the publication from the University of Missouri as gospel. The growth rates and feed conversions shown are quite low. Also the nutritional guidelines are outdated, antiquated in fact.

A modern pig fed with free choice access to a quality pig feed should be market weight at 24 weeks of age.

To illustrate, my daughters Spot breeding gilt weighed 294# when weighed at our county fair, she was exactly 24 weeks of age. Another one of her pigs, a cross bred, weighed 263 at 21.5 weeks of age.

Our market pigs make weight in 120 days from weening. We've hit 220 at 90 days a bunch of times, but it depends on the breed. That's free fed 16% grower and still a lean pig. That was back in the day, now we're after a slower growth pattern for a higher quality meat. The last batch of growers we did took 5 months to 330. Our Mangalitsas are more like 18 months to 300+.

 

[gerold]

Our market pigs make weight in 120 days from weening. We've hit 220 at 90 days a bunch of times, but it depends on the breed. That's free fed 16% grower and still a lean pig. That was back in the day, now we're after a slower growth pattern for a higher quality meat. The last batch of growers we did took 5 months to 330. Our Mangalitsas are more like 18 months to 300+.

It is possible to fast grow with a straight 16-18 percent protein fast grower. SHow pigs. Nice . However so lean (Yorkshire,etc) less favor in the meat. I do prefer a hog (Berkshire,Hereford,LB etc.) with 14 percent protein (corn based) and pasture. More fat in the meat and much more flavor in the meat. 6 months at 250-300 lbs. Depending on the breed.

With the Mangalitsas crossed with LB would you get a faster growth rate and still retain the very good favor. Have you tried Mangalitsas crossed with other breeds.

 

[Philosaw]

I totally agree with you Gerold. I was all into fast growth when I first started out thinking that was the way to go. Since then we have gone to slower rates, less commercial feed and pasture with much better pork as a result. I do plan on trying crosses with our Mangalitsas. We have three growers right now that are crossed with a really nice Tamworth cross.

 

[mzgarden]

This discussion is very interesting and helpful. It would be great if someone could point me to a chart that shows the more current information Gerold has identified in his post. Since this first time around, we're growing 'mutt pinks' it sounds like they ought to be very different from Mangalitsas (for example.)

So much to learn - appreciate all the information.

 

[gerold]

This discussion is very interesting and helpful. It would be great if someone could point me to a chart that shows the more current information Gerold has identified in his post. Since this first time around, we're growing 'mutt pinks' it sounds like they ought to be very different from Mangalitsas (for example.)

So much to learn - appreciate all the information.

The pig site in UK has a chart. It is more up to date. It is in KG but easy to covert to lbs. It is almost the same as one i posted above. Also one from Ill and one from another northern state. All seem to be about the same. The content in the feed has changed a bit more suited for factory hogs.

1kg=2.20462 lbs.

100 kg pig =221 lb pig.

 

[mzgarden]

Just a quick update. We wormed the pigs right away and stopped feeding such a large proportion of the garden scraps & weeds. We went back to our feed mill and bought their 'gold' Swine feed which is 18% protein and we are offering more alfalfa hay and continuous feed. They always had fresh water, so no change there. They were active and happy pigs - came for scratches, etc. No visible signs of illness, lethargy, good color and activity levels but clearly, being our first time, we did not recognize the slower than expected growth. Hopefully we are on the right track now and will check back in after some time has passed - hopefully reporting improvements. Everyone's help has been much appreciated.