Pigs

Two feeder pigs bought in April will fill a freezer with pork by fall, and they’ll eat garden surplus, turn over a patch of ground, and generally be good company. The work is daily but simple: feed, water, a dry bed, a fence they respect. The biggest cost is feed, so it’s worth knowing the numbers before you start.

The numbers

Feeder pigs are usually bought weaned, at about 40 pounds, and raised to a market weight around 250 pounds. On good feed they gain 1.5 to 2 pounds a day and need about 2.5 to 3 pounds of feed for every pound of gain ¹. So:

• 250 − 40 = 210 pounds to put on.
• At about 1.75 pounds a day, that’s around 120 days, four months.
• At 2.5–3 pounds of feed per pound of gain, about 525–630 pounds of feed per pig.

Price that much feed locally before you buy pigs. Raise at least two; pigs do better with company.

Feed

Pigs have a simple stomach like ours, not a rumen, so they need concentrates (grain and protein), not hay ¹. Read the feed tag ¹:

• Crude fiber 5% or less.
• Protein stepped down as they grow: at least 18% for 25–45 pounds, 16% for 45–150 pounds, 14% over 150 pounds.
• A good protein source such as soybean meal, or added amino acids like lysine.
• Energy from corn (the most energy), wheat, barley, or oats.
• Any medications, and their withdrawal times before slaughter.

Ask the seller what the pigs were eating and match it at first, then change gradually. Sudden switches cause scours (diarrhea) ¹. Garden and kitchen produce make a good treat, but the bulk of the diet should be a balanced ration.

Pen and comfort

Have the pen ready and clean before the pigs arrive: dry, draft-free, and sheltered from rain and snow ¹.

• Space: 3–4 square feet each under 40 pounds, at least 8–10 square feet each over 150 pounds ¹, and far more on pasture.
• Temperature: a 50-pound pig is comfortable at 70–82 °F, a pig over 215 pounds at 50–75 °F ¹. In a Wisconsin April, young pigs need deep bedding or a hover against cold nights. If you use a heat lamp, secure it carefully; they start barn fires ¹.
• Summer: plenty of water, shade, and air. Pigs can’t sweat, so heat stresses them as much as cold ¹. A wallow helps.

Fencing: pigs root, and they’ll go under a fence before they go through it. Woven wire with a board or a strand of barbed wire along the bottom, or electric wire set low (about snout height), keeps them in. Train them to electric in a small pen with a solid backup fence first.

Health

Check the pigs every day: watch for coughing, labored breathing, loss of appetite, or scours. A pig’s normal temperature is 102.5 °F, plus or minus 1, and knowing it helps your vet ¹.

The basic vaccines for feeder pigs protect against atrophic rhinitis, APP (pleuropneumonia), mycoplasma pneumonia, and erysipelas. Ask the seller what’s been given, and follow label timing for boosters ¹. Give intramuscular injections in the neck, just behind and below the ear, never in the ham, where the injection can damage the most valuable cut ¹. Treat for internal and external parasites, and keep the pen clean ¹.

Try it

Price 1,200 pounds of grower feed at your feed mill, enough for two pigs. If that still makes sense, line up the feeder pigs for spring, build a pen with 10 square feet per pig, a dry corner, and a low hot wire, and book a processing date about four months after you bring them home.