Our newest homestead sweeties have arrived! We were beyond excited to welcome our three newest piglets. Do you know how to welcome new little piglets to your homestead? Do you know what they need? Well, read on to hear about our experiences and what we’ve learned.
Hard Farm Lessons
Two years ago, we welcomed our first piglet. We were visiting our farmer friend’s new litter of piglets and there was a runt in the corner, on his death bed. Middle prairie boy looked at me with big puppy dog eyes and said “Mom, can we please take him home and see if we can save him?” Honestly, that’s exactly what I was thinking. We were SOOOO NOT ‘farm’ raised… yet. We couldn’t bear just leaving him to die!
This little guy received the STAR TREATMENT. We bottle fed him day and night.
Our friends babysat him.
He even had custom sewn clothes!
He was treated like royalty. And. He. THRIVED! All that love and attention was just what he needed. Soon, he outgrew his indoor dog kennel and headed out to the barn. Before long, he was in our newly created (with random panels we found on our homestead) piglet pen.
He was basically trained like a dog, and even at 200 pounds, would follow us around our homestead and enjoy a nice belly or back rub. It was a VERY HARD DAY when we said goodbye to him as he went off to the meat locker. We had contemplated keeping him as a pet, but once he began eating a 50 pound bag of food per week, we realized it wasn’t realistic to keep him around. That was a hard ‘farm lesson’ to learn, but a good one.
Jumping In
Next thing we knew, we had jumped into hog raising. This was our first introduction to raising our own meat and we really enjoyed the experience. The following year we got two piglets from the same farmer. This time we paid for them because they were healthy, regular ol’ farm piglets. These two grew quickly and were HUGE by fall. The ‘connection’ with these piglets was quite different from the first. We cared for them and treated them well, but they were certainly not pets like the first little guy!
This year, we decided to get three piglets because we have so many friends interested in purchasing the meat. We will keep one hog for ourselves, and then sell the other two. Keeping track of our expenses is NOT our strong point but we need to do better at it! We really have no idea how much we made on the sale of our extra hog last year, if anything!
Arrival
The piglets arrived via dog kennels brought right to us by our farmer friend’s two teenage boys. We have a nice size pen outdoors with a hutch for shelter and shade. The boys brought some hay to put in the shelter because we didn’t have any and it is still quite cold here in Nebraska! The piglets are pretty skittish right now. If you move suddenly or go toward them, they squeal and RUN!
The Setup
In their enclosure, which consists of cattle panels hooked together, we have a ‘hand-me-down’ feeder. It holds a large amount of feed, which is placed in the top bin and then falls down into smaller containers at the bottom. The pigs can access these containers by lifting the lid with their snout. All day AND NIGHT we can hear the sound of the metal lids banging shut! Some homesteaders feed their pigs fermented feed twice a day instead of allowing access to feed at all times. I would love to try that some day, but right now that’s just not feasible for us. We work full-time and don’t want their feed dependent on our schedules.
Inside the enclosure we also have a large plastic barrel with a drinking spout attached at the bottom. This is kept full with fresh water at all times. Did you know pigs can’t sweat? They NEED that water to keep themselves cool. The will drink it (duh!) but they also use the water to make muddy areas to roll around in. It’s quite fascinating really. Such smart little creatures!
Lastly, we have a wooden hutch built with random wood found around our place. It has three sides and a slanted roof. It keeps them protected from the elements. Pigs tend to get sunburned easily so the shelter is a must if they are placed in a sunny area.
Challenges
At this point, the three little ladies seem to be settling in nicely. We have had one challenge pop up though… these piglets aren’t figuring out the feeder! So, I’ve been going out regularly to show them that there is food inside. I squat down, lift the lid, and allow them to eat from the feeder. Once they are eating, I let the lid rest on their shoulders and head… which is what it would do if they had opened it themselves. They don’t seem to mind that… but as soon as the lid shuts completely, they can’t seem to figure out how to open it back up. Pigs are smart, and I know they will pick up on it eventually. They can easily be trained, especially with food! Today it is rainy out, so I haven’t spent much time training them, but I did go out and make sure they had some food to eat in a bowl for now.
Feed
Our piglets are fed a pellet feed that we purchase at a local supply store. However, my goal this summer is to figure out a homemade mixture of organic grains and minerals. This has always been a goal of mine, but purchasing organic feed bags is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE and we work so many hours that it is hard to find time to try things ‘the hard way’. It’s important to me that they eat organically though, so it is on the top of my priority list! Our piglets also eat lots of ‘slop’. I’m sure the chickens are jealous because once the pigs come in the spring, the chickens really don’t get much for leftovers. Pigs and chickens are both like big garbage disposals.
We will update with new photos and info as these little gals grow. Have you ever tried raising pigs on your homestead? Do you have any great tips or tricks to share? Feel free to comment below!
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