Pig Production Basics

by Natalie S. Knudsen of Hartsville, TN

There are two basic ways to raise pigs: buy feeder pigs or keep a few sows and a boar to produce litters of pigs.

Feeder pigs require fewer facilities and less labor. They need feed, water, basic shelter and a good fence. A 40lb pig will grow to market weight in approximately five months, providing they are fed a good quality corn/ soybean ration. Adding a packaged swine premix (which includes the essential amino acids lysine, threonine, tryptophan and methionine) to your grain mixture provides the nutrients needed for health and growth.

Pelleted complete growing feeds are convenient but pricier than grinding your own feed. For small scale grinding and mixing of swine rations, we use a 13 gallon electric grain grinder equipped with a 1/4 inch screen. After grinding each ingredient, they’re combined in a small cement mixer for blending, then bagged.

Growing Pig Ration
70% corn
13% soybean meal
7% oats
2-5% packaged swine premix (based on label recommendations)

Quality feeder pigs can be hard to locate. The best places to find them are through social media or word of mouth. Before purchasing feeder pigs, ask a few questions to determine the breed, age and if they have they received any treatments or vaccinations. Most feeder pigs will be a cross between two breeds.

Pigs to Pork

Once your pigs reach approximately 250 lbs, it’s time to turn them into pork chops, roasts and bacon. Unfortunately, the number of local processing facilities or lockers have been disappearing at a rapid rate due to increased government regulations and the loss of local small-scale livestock producers who rely on their services. These facilities are the most efficient method for small producers to turn their livestock into packaged meat for their own use.

In the past, neighbors would hold “hog killings” in the Fall. Several families would get together to kill, scald, scrape, chill and cut up three or four pigs to provide meat, lard and soap for the year.

The fat was processed into soap and lard. My grandmother remembers frying pork chops and then layering them with lard in giant crocks to keep them over winter. She grew up in northern Iowa and the crocks were stored in the basement. The rest of the meat was cooked and pressure canned in glass jars. Today both of these methods would definitely be deemed unsafe for food consumption. In southern states, salt curing and smoking was employed to preserve pork.

I still request the fat from the locker when we have pigs processed. It is very easy to render it into lard using a slow cooker and is superior to lard purchased in a grocery store (if you can find it), and it makes the most wonderful pie crust.

Basics for a Breeding Operation

If you need a steady supply of quality pigs, a breeding operation is the way to go. Crossbred pigs grow better and generally have superior meat quality. Common crosses include Hampshire/Yorkshire; Duroc/Chester White; other breeds you might encounter include Berkshire, Red Wattle, Mule Foot, Spotted Poland and Landrace. It’s generally preferred to cross a meat-type pig Hampshire, Duroc, Berkshire with a maternal type Yorkshire, Chester White, Landrace. Sows should be the maternal type and boars the meat type.

Beware of buying pigs for breeding purposes from farms that exhibit extensively at swine expos, large fairs, etc. The swine business has developed a unique line of pigs for the show ring. They are very heavily muscled, close to the ground and thick across the back. While they might make a good “locker pig,” they will definitely not be breeding material.

Gilts (female pigs that have never farrowed) should be bred at approximately 8 months of age. They will begin estrus at approximately 5 months of age and cycle every 21 days until bred and settled (fertilized) by the boar. You will know she’s bred if she doesn’t cycle 21-23 days after exposure to the boar.

Allowing a boar continuous access to your gilts or sows will result in widely spaced farrowing dates. When gilts and sows are housed in close proximity, over time they will begin to come into estrus relatively close together.

Once you select a preferred farrowing date, you can work backwards to your breeding date. The gestation length of a pig is 115 days – 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. Plan to turn your boar in with your sows and leave him there four to six weeks.

Once the females are bred and begin their gestation period, they need a feed that meets their reproductive needs. When I started raising pigs several decades ago, it was very common to feed sows shelled corn and a mineral cube or pellet. This was an easy way to feed outdoor sows. We can’t find “sow cubes” any longer so we now feed a ground ration. Hand or limited feed for gestating sows is important, you want to meet their dietaiy’ needs but not put on extra fat. A fat sow will likely have difficulty farrowing.

A good gestation ration sets the stage for a healthy litter of piglets and a sow that milks well after farrowing. A basic ration for outdoor sows includes corn, soybean meal, oats, alfalfa pellets and calcium. A packaged swine premix added to your grain mixture includes the essential amino acids (lysine, threonine, tryptophan and methionine).

Gestation Ration
74% corn
9% soybean meal
7% oats
7% alfalfa pellets
1.5 % calcium
2-5% packaged swine premix (based on label recommendations)

You’ll notice alfalfa pellets in the ration, this is to prevent constipation – a problem for bred sows on limited feed.

Each sow should receive approximately six pounds of feed twice per day. Of course pigs are like people, some get fat living on air while others can eat forever and not gain a pound. Monitoring the body condition of each sow is very important to their overall health and productivity.

Once bred, gilts and sows can free range outdoors as long as they have access to adequate shelter for your environment and fresh water along with their daily feed. In many areas, it’s common to pasture them in harvested corn or small grain fields during the fall and winter.

Next issue we’ll look at housing and preparations for farrowing.

Pig Tale: The first time I toured a large swine breeding barn, I encountered a 400lb vasectomized boar attached to a leash being led in front of the sow crates where he served to alert his handler to a sow in estrus. The scene was so humorous, I promptly named him and his handler “Dope on a Rope.”

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Pig Breeds

Today many breeds of pigs are included in the term “heritage” breed. These pigs have been granted a special designation by their breed association and it is used to promote the marketing of pork cuts. Nearly all purebred swine breeds are now considered “heritage.”

Meat Type Breeds

• Berkshire – known for their highly marbled, flavorful meat. Black with white marking on the face and feet, erect ears.
• Duroc – heavily muscled. Red to darkish red solid color, droopy ears.
• Hampshire – heavily muscled. Black with white belt encircling the body, erect ears.
• Spotted Poland China – muscular, aggressive pig. Black with large white spots over their entire body, tipped ears.

Maternal Breeds

• Chester White – long and deep body, fairly calm, produce large litters. Solid white with droopy ears. While calm with people, they do fight among themselves vigorously.
• Landrace – very loose-bodied long sow, produce large litters. Solid white with large, sloped ears.
• Yorkshire – long, lean sow, can be nervous. Solid white with erect ears.

Lesser Known Breeds

• Tamworth – small, lean, athletic pig. Red with small black spots.
• Mulefoot – all black with hard, long toes.
• Hereford – meat type pig. Red with white face.
• Red Wattle – small meat type pig. Red with two pieces of flesh – wattles – on each side of the jaw line.