This post is all about raising pigs for beginners.
We LOVE our pigs! They are our favorite to raise here on our homestead. They are rugged, fairly easy to raise and tasty! This article covers everything a beginner needs to know to get started raising pigs.
Quick Navigation
- Step 1: Should I Get Pigs
- Step 2: Picking Out Pigs
- Step 3: Housing and Penning Your Pigs
- Step 4: Pasturing Pigs
- Step 5: Feeding Your Pigs
- Step 6: Pig Health
- Step 7: Harvesting Your Pigs
- Common Questions
SHould I Get Pigs?
Before you get pigs it is important to manage expectations. You should know how much meat you want out of these pigs. Do you want lard? How much lard? How much time do you want to commit to raising pigs? Do you want to pasture these pigs or have them forage? Answering these questions will make the rest of the decisions that need to made when raising pigs so much easier.
A Note on Handling Pigs
Some pigs are friendly and easy to work with. Some pigs are cranky though and can and will hurt you if you aren’t careful with them. Pigs are STRONG don’t underestimate them. Be especially careful if you have young children around, pigs have killed kids. Keep this in mind when choosing whether or not to get pigs, what breed you get and where you put them. Some breeds are nicer than others. Working with your pigs when they are young can also help them be easier to work with.
Picking Out Pigs
Pig Raising Timeline
It is best to get pigs in the spring , raise them through the summer and butcher them in the fall. Raising meat pigs in the cold months is hard. They eat more and don’t gain as much weight when they are cold. If you are in a temperate climate plan on getting your pigs in spring just when it is getting above freezing and butchering them 6-8 months later in the fall when it starts getting below freezing again. If you are in a warmer climate consider skewing that 6-8 months of pig raising to the most comfortable temperatures you can. Stressed pigs don’t grow well and extremes of temperature in either direction can cause stress.
What Breed of Pig SHould I get?
There are several kinds of pigs, though not all of them are great meat pigs, teacup pigs being the obvious example. There are two predominant kinds of meat pigs, the more lean types and the lardy types. Some breeds grow slower but eat less, others grow faster but eat more and still others eat more and grow slower. Here is a good article introducing the more traditional pig meat breeds. Aside from the traditional breeds there are the breeds like Kunekune and Idaho Pasture Pigs that are smaller but are still used for meat because they do better on pasture, have a really high quality meat and aren’t as destructive with their rooting.
Certain breeds of pig are more aggressive than others. If you have a large aggressive breed they will try to eat anything including any pet or people that get into their pens. I have had a puppy get eaten by one of my pigs. I have another pig that is SUPER gentle and has never eaten another living thing.
Do your research and find a breed that fits your needs best.
Where do I find piglets?
The best place to find pigs is your local classified or craigslist, there are also online auction sites like this one or actual physical auctions. If you know someone who grows pigs ask them where they get their pigs.
How to Choose a Pig
Try your best to find a trustworthy piglet supplier, one who will be honest about their pigs with you. When you go to pick out your pig look for a healthy alert looking piglet. Make sure none of the pigs are coughing. Get the largest healthy piglet you can. Keep in mind that some pig breeders will put the runt from on older batch in with the younger batch so they will look like they are bigger when they are in fact just older. Despite Charlottes Web’s message, runts are hit and miss when it comes to meat production. Avoid them. Ask the pig breeder if all the pigs are the same age and from the same litter.
When you raise a pig for meat you will want either females or castrated males, males grow faster and larger than females. You can technically raise intact males for meat but be aware the hormones in an intact male pig can lead to funny tastes in the meat called boar taint. Some people can’t taste it others can. If you so choose castration isn’t that hard, piglets recover from it quickly, and many piglet suppliers will do it for you for a small additional cost.
If you choose to castrate your male piglets they may not eat for a day or two afterwards and may be a little sore for a few days. Some pigs you can’t tell you castrated them a minute afterwards. Both reactions are normal. Here is a video on how to castrate a pig yourself if you want to learn.
Weaner? Feeder? What does all this mEan?
When you start looking for pigs you may see the term weaner and feeder pig thrown around a lot. A weaner pig is a piglet that has just been taken from its mother usually weighing 10-25 lbs. A feeder pig is an older pig that is about 40-60 lbs. I find that people use these terms very loosely, so I don’t take them too seriously.
How Many pigs SHould I Start With?
Pigs do so much better if they have a buddy. I would start with two. Three is a lot, two is perfect.
SHould I Breed My Own?
We have loved breeding pigs, but it is a lot to start with. You don’t save money raising your own, and if you do it isn’t enough to compensate for the hassle of raising pigs. If you want to go that route, here is a great article on how to breed your own pigs.
Housing and Penning Your Pigs
If there is a place to go wrong in raising pigs for beginners this is it, housing and penning your pigs.
Is your Pen Pig tight? (Critical FOr Success)
If I were to guess what will be the hardest things for you in raising pigs it would be the fencing. If you can contain your pigs, you are good to go! Most people who struggle with pigs do so because their fencing isn’t good enough. Here is what you need for your fence to work:
- Rigid Fencing Pigs will push hard against fencing and bend it and then go under it. Look for pig panels at your local hardware or feed store, they are usually rigid enough. This is where our pig pens fail the most. make sure you put the hog panel on the inside of the pen with the post on the outside.
- Sturdy Posts Holding it Up Pigs are STRONG. They will push and dig and everything else you don’t want them to do they will do. Don’t skimp on your fence posts. T-bars and a cedar or black locust post have worked well for us. Avoid treated wood as pigs will eat it. If you use T-bars you will need to use more of them because they are not as strong as cedar posts.
- A Sturdy Gate
- No Gaps Under or In the Fence I don’t think I have ever seen a pig go over a fence, but I have seen them go under and through the fence all the time. Make sure you don’t have gaps.
- Secure Fencing Tightly to Posts. If you are using T-bars use a heavy duty wire and tie the panel in four spots to the T-bar. Make sure you tie the very bottom and the very top of the panel. If your using cedar posts install the panels with heavy duty wire and tie the seams with heavy duty wire. Have the edges of all adjoining panels overlap each other one grid square. Have the overlap section line up against a post. Once that’s done, cut a 2×4 the height of the post for every post and sandwich the panels between the post and the 2×4. Screw them together in 4 places with 4-5 inch screws or lag bolts. Put washers on the screws to prevent the screw from getting pulled through the 2×4.
Electric Fence
Electric fence is a great option if you are looking for more flexibility in your pig pen arrangement or are wanting to move your pigs across a pasture. There is a period where you will want your pigs in a physical barrier type fence while you train them to an electric fence, but after that pigs generally do well with an electric fence.
Some people swear that you can keep pigs in with a single strand of electric fencing, that has not been the case in my experience, the pigs go right through it. Then again I trained my pigs a little older, so maybe that was the problem. If a single strand doesn’t do it for you try multiple strands of electric fence or an electric mesh like this.
Here is a good in-depth video on how to pasture pigs and use electric fencing with pigs.
Housing
Housing gives pigs shade and provides a dry spot if it rains. When putting in their shelter, make sure water flows away from their house, so put it on a high spot, you don’t want a puddle. It doesn’t have to be fancy, a simple A-frame will do. If you live in a wet environment some people say it is good for your pigs to be able to get off the ground, but out here in the dessert we don’t need a raised floor. If you are keeping pigs through the cold season make sure their housing isn’t drafty and put straw down to help them stay warm.
In the summer pigs NEED either a wallow or shade. They don’t sweat so they NEED help cooling off.
A Wallow or Shade Or Both?
If you want to make a pigs day put a wallow in their pen. Pigs love water. On the downside wallows are very destructive and will tear up a pig pen and can ruin your fencing. If you don’t have a wallow make sure your pigs have good shade and plenty of water to drink, because pigs get sun stroke.
Pig Feed Trough
Pigs are HARD on troughs. There are a million designs and kinds out there to choose from. When looking for a feed trough choose one that is sturdy and that the pigs won’t flip over. We anchor ours into the ground.
Water
A good pig waterer is hard to come by. The problem with most waterers is that pigs flip them over. You can get the nipple variety that pigs press press on and water comes out. But I had a pig get sun stroke because she couldn’t get enough water out of the nipple and some people have problems with their pigs holding in the nipple and filling their pen with water. Or you can buy an actual pig waterer from your local supply store, like this one from Premier 1.
Smooth sided waterers work better than waterers with a lip, as pigs have a harder time flipping them over. Cementing and staking it into the ground may help, as long as the ground around it doesn’t get wet and the pigs don’t dig around it. Another solution we have thought of but haven’t tried is anchoring a smooth sided trough to a 4’x4′ piece of plywood or something similar that way when the pig tries to flip over the water trough they can’t because it is standing on the plywood.
How Many Acres Do I need to Raise A Pig?
How many acres does it take to raise a pig? It depends. If you plan on doing pastured pigs that is a totally different number than if you want to just raise them in a pig pen.
If penning your pigs conventional wisdom gives the general rule of thumb of 8 square feet per pig. Though I think that’s a little small, my pig pen is 25’X25′ and I think it is perfect for two to four pigs.
A lot more goes into sizing a paddock when pasturing pigs. A good starting place is this video with Joel Salatin where he covers how to pasture pigs. Also Holistic Management by Alan Savory is a must for pasture management. Get your copy here on Amazon.
COncrete?
Many people keep their pigs on concrete. Concrete helps keep the pen from getting muddy and dug up and gives you a place to anchor your water, feeder, and shelter. You can have the best of both worlds by having some of the pen in concrete and some in dirt. Here is an article from someone who has had experience keeping pigs on concrete.
Pasturing Pigs
We tried pasturing our pigs this last year and it has been a great change. Most of the principles stay the same when raising pigs on pasture versus in a pen, the location just changes. Pigs are omnivores so grass and greenery isn’t going to meet all their nutritional needs, so you will still need to feed them. Pasturing pigs leads to healthier pigs and can really help out your pastures too, if properly managed. If you want to know more about pasturing pigs this video with Joel Salatin where he covers how to pasture pigs is a good place to start. Also Holistic Management by Alan Savory is a must for pasture management. Get your copy here on Amazon.
Feeding Your Pigs
What SHould I Feed My Pigs?
What to feed your pigs? Most pigs will do well on a diet of grains and kitchen scraps. We feed our pigs a combination of wheat and barely along with garden extras and kitchen scraps and an occasional flake of hay and weeds. Protein is critical to helping your pigs fatten up. It is recommended that you feed your pigs 18% crude protein diet. There are special pig mashes that you can get at the feed store, but they can be expensive and frequently have GMO ingredients, so bear that in mind when exploring them. A feed I want to explore for my pigs in the future is peas. Peas have the highest non soy source of protein.
Another avenue for feeding your pigs that is more budget friendly is to ask your local grocery store for all their discarded produce and expired foodstuffs. It requires a little more hustle, but can really save your wallet in the end.
How Much should I feed My Pigs?
Pigs typically eat between 5-7 lbs of food a day when they are fattening up. They can live off of less, but they get fat on 5-7 lbs of feed a day. When pigs are on pasture they don’t eat as much feed
How often should I Feed my pigs?
Feed once a day, all the food at once. If you feed multiple times a day and you have multiple pigs the more dominant pig will eat all the food. If you feed once the more dominant pig will get full and leave, allowing the other pigs to eat.
Another option to consider is that some people do a free choice pig feeder that they fill once a week or so. I haven’t personally tried this one, but it might be worth looking into.
Pig Health
Pigs are pretty healthy animals. If their pens are somewhat clean and they have a dry place to go to and they eat well there shouldn’t be too many problems. If you have problems with illness in your pigs, charcoal is the traditional go to remedy for pigs. Pigs LOVE charcoal and it’s pretty cute watching them chomp down on it. It’s a good idea to keep a pan or tray of free choice lump charcoal for your pigs (NOT briquettes). Another supplement to keep in your pigs diet is a mineral or salt block.
Aside from illness, injury is the other problem you may face with your pigs health. A lot of these injuries will go away on their own, but if your pig is having an especially hard time recovering contact your local vet for help.
Harvesting Your Pigs
By this point those cute little weaners you brought home are all grown up into big porkers. There are two options when it comes to harvesting your pigs. You can do it yourself, or you can hire some one else to do it for you.
Hire It Out
This is the most convenient and easy of the options. You can find a local custom butcher or a state abattoir. Some of these places will even come to your property to slaughter your pig there and then take it to their shop to cut it up. However many butchers won’t do this and you will have to bring your pig to them, which if you don’t have a trailer or your pig is not used to being in a trailer can be a pain.
Most of these places will also cut your pig specific to your order. And many will also cure and smoke your hams and bacons.
When choosing a local butcher to do your pigs make sure they have a good reputation. Many butchers will take some of the meat from your pigs for themselves.
Make sure you call your local butcher with plenty of notice, many of these shops are booked months in advance and you don’t want to be on a six month waiting list with a pig that is ready to butcher now.
DO It yourself
If I was raising pigs for the first time I would hire it out. But if you are still interested here are some resources and stay tuned for a future post detailing home pig butchery.
Here is a video that covers the slaughter and butchery process if you are interested in learning more.
Here is another video that covers the butchery more in depth. This video was our lifeline the first time we did it ourselves.
Butchering by Adam Danforth is another amazing resource we HIGHLY recommend if you want to do it yourself. It is in depth and covers everything you need to know to butcher a pig. Plus his amazing pictures are really nice when you are wondering “How does that go again?” You can pick up a copy here on Amazon.
Common Questions
How Long Does it Take to Raise a Pig to Slaughter?
Most people like to raise their pigs to 250-300 lbs live weight and then slaughter them. How long it takes to reach that weight depends on the breed and if the pigs protein and nutritional needs are being met. Google is a great place to get a feel for how long it will take your specific breed of pig to reach butcher weight, though the majority of commercial meat breeds will take 6-8 months to reach that weight.
How much Money Does is Cost to Raise Pigs?
It depends. Once you have a pig pen situated the main cost of keeping a pig will be the price of feed and the price of the piglet. Both of which vary by area. On average a pig will eat 1,260 lbs of feed over it’s life (assuming you are raising it for six months). Below is an equation you can use to guestimate how much it will cost you to raise your pig.
Price of feed per pound X 1,260 = Feed cost
Feed Cost + Price of Piglet + Fencing Costs + Butcher Costs = Cost to Raise Pig
Is it Difficult to Raise Pigs?
On the whole I would say pigs are pretty easy to raise, if you have a good fence and affordable feed prices.
Have any questions or ideas for porker success you want to share? Send me a message or leave a comment.
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