Okay smart pig people I have a question....

[rebecca100]

Well it is my first time to have pigs, but not my dh's, but he doesn't really worry about it. He just looks in at them and says "Yup, there still pigs." Anyway, they are 2 gilts, I think about 5 months old and I think they are Yorkshire(guess). We keep them on a large stock trailer where we can wash out the poo and they don't smell as bad. they look to be in good shape and are getting tall and long, but when I taped them they only weighed about 80 lbs. Isn't that really really small for a pig that age? They don't look skinny at all, maybe they aren't growing? I feed commercial pig grower and scraps from the grocery store. Are they just small or does it sound like they are average? (btw they don't LOOK small to me, but I'm not an expert by any means)

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

we've noticed that pigs (just like all other babies) tend to grow in fits and starts. when we got to a point where their growth leveled off, we just poured on the protein.

you can feed them COOKED eggs, milk etc. you can also add some Calf Manna or get a bag of pig starter (higher protein than pig grower).

do you have pix?

i'm trying to think of what ours were at that age.... i think ours were bigger at that point. have you wormed them?

 

[big brown horse]

Are you sure your "tape" is accurate?

How tall are they? Up to you knee etc. Typically they should be gaining 2 lbs per day. A five month old should be well over 80 lbs, right?

Sounds like you are doing all the right things, I'll bet your tape is off.

Pix would really help!

 

[rebecca100]

Well, my ds had to do the taping with me watching. We did the girthxgirthxlength/400 to come up with the weight since we don't have a swine tape and I really think it didn't come up right. We did it twice though. Yes they are up to my knee, actually over-halfway up to my hip at the butt. And I have dewormed them once. That should be enough I would think since they are on a floor and not on the ground right? I don't feel any bones to make me think they were skinny. I'll try some pix later.

 

[eggs4sale]

We have 4 pigs (well, we're eating one, does he count?) and the fact that you could
1. get in there and grab a pig without being squished and carried off to the hospital,
2. make one stay still long enough to actually get the tape around it's waist, and
3. avoid being eaten by them,

tells me there is something amiss. Are you sure they're not Guinea Pigs?

We don't go by weight any longer. Ever since they tore up my bath mat and chewed on the toilet seat, I keep them in their pen. I swear they act just like pigs. Now we look at their butt. When it looks more like Anna Nicole (pre-crack) and jiggles when they walk, I start thinking of Bacon Martinis, and honestly I have no idea why.

They are a year old this month. The biggest looked edible last month. (Well, if you have a vivid imagination.) The one we're currently eating we had butchered early, at 7 months, even though we knew he wasn't big enough at only 220 lbs. He was male, need I say more?

I don't need to include a picture of mine. Just picture three hairy dirt clods with beady eyes.

 

[rebecca100]

Piggy and Lou

 

[big brown horse]

Eggs, you are too funny!

Rebecca, the big white one is even taller than mine and mine weighs about 130#s.

 

[rebecca100]

Sorry about the pic. I guess I need to go hose out their house. Sorry about that. Anyway mine are pretty gentle. We can pet them. They by no means stood still for the tape. We had to put out feed for them while ds measured them. The big one is really sweet. The little curious looking one wrinkles her nose at me when I try to mess with her too much, so I usually leave her alone. Of course they are still young yet. They still have time to turn. They do try to bite our clothes, shoes, buckets and water hoses whenever we go in with them.

 

[miron27]

i have three Yorkshire pigs they are about 5 months old they are around 150 pounds.

if they are 80 pounds at 5 months old then they are growing slow are they the runts?

how long ago did you worm them and what type of wormer did you use?

and how much are you feeding them a day?

the more you feed them the faster they will grow i feed my pigs with a pig finisher which is about 13% protein once my pigs get over 125 pounds i drop the protein. i feed my pigs about 2 5gallon buckets of feed a day i try to give them as much as they can eat. and they are growing like crazy right now. at around 7 months old i like to have mine slaughtered if they get over a year old the meat is not as tender. this is what i think but some people my think different