Raising the Homestead Hog

This is our first time ever raising a pig. We had planned on using our hog for my oldest daughter's 4-H project however, once the pig tried to eat our cat, she was too scared to be around the pig. Thus, began my journey as a pig farmer.

I paid $125 for our pig. She weighed about 45lbs when we bought her. The cost was high because we bought her in the middle for 4-H season.  If you are planning on buying and raising pigs I would buy in the fall because the prices are so much cheaper. Right now I can find feeder pigs for between $30-$50.

We were blessed that we found a couple hog panels and t-posts laying around the woods, so we didn't need to purchase any fencing. If you are going to use hog panels they cost around $30 new.  However, if you're going that route I would buy fence posts instead of using t-posts because our pig learned how to lift her panels up and escape. I cut a small hole in the back of our barn and just attached the panels to that so I didn't need to worry about making a shelter for the pig.

Once we decided that the pig wasn't going to be a fair pig, I started researching different ways to cut the cost of feed. One of the biggest money savers was that I used all our goats milk to feed the pig.  The pig ate tons of extra produce from the garden, extra eggs, and old bread.

Our cost in the beginning was $11.34 per two weeks. We maintained that rate until June, at that point the cost of feed began going up and the feed cost was $14 per 50lb bag. I  alternated between a 50lb bag of corn for $10 and a 50lb bag of feed for $14 every third week. Our main source of protein throughout the summer was a gallon of goats milk a day plus about a dozen eggs a day. We're currently going through a 50lb bag of feed in a week.

Right now the pig weighs around 300lbs. She's scheduled to go to butcher on October 23. However, I'm still not 100% convinced that I want to butcher her. I go back and forth between wanting to butcher her and wanting to keep her and breed her.  I have a friend who knows how to AI hogs so it's a real option for us. If I do breed her she should have piglets at the time when people are wanting fair pigs.

Have you ever raised pigs? How did you cut feed cost? Have you ever bred a hog and raised piglets?
What are the pros and cons?

What Happens When the Chicken Crosses the Road

We had been exclusively free ranging our hens since we moved here but lately we were having a situation. The roosters were leading their ladies astray. Every morning the darn roosters would lead the hens up the road to neighboring farms or across the road to my parents yard. The neighbors were constantly slowing down to avoid running them over.

One fateful morning we woke up to find that a coon had attacked the hens roosting in the tree. Our rooster fought him off but one of our hens were injured. We brought her inside to nurse her back to health. I was feeling quite happy that the rooster had been doing his job when I happened to look out our front window to see one of our hens squished on the road! Quickly, I summoned my oldest to handle the job of cleaning up. And by cleaning up I mean he took the shovel out and scraped the poor hen off the road. I was amazed at how far the poor hens flew once she was hit. They went all the way up and down the road.

The bad news is that we lost a hen. The good news is that they stick to the back yard now.

Moral of the story... always look twice before crossing the road!