I'M HAVING A HARD TIME KEEPING UP WITH ALL THE FOOD IT EATS... I CAN'T IMAGINE FEEDING HER COME WINTER... MY HUSBAND BOUGHT THIS NOT KNOWING A THING ABOUT PIGS... IT'S THE CUTEST PINK THING YOU'VE EVER SEEN BUT BOY DID SHE GET BEG QUICK.. SHE'S ONLY NINE MONTHS OLD AND WEIGHING ABOUT 300LBS... I'M TAKING A POLL SOOOOOOOO PLEASE HELP...

-- MAUREEN (onemaur@yahoo.com), July 25, 2001

Answers

The typical market hog in the U.S. is 220 pounds. After that they start to put on fat. It should have been in the freezer by now.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), July 25, 2001.

Maureen: Were you planning to breed this sow? Or keep her for a pet? Or put her in the freezer?

If she's part of your food supply, she could have gone to the processor at 200 pounds, and given you a HUGE amount of meat. At this point, she's putting on fat (great if you want lard for baking or frying). If she's food, ship her!

-- Anita Evangelista (ale368s@smsu.edu), July 25, 2001.

Maureen, the fact that pigs grow so fast, is why they were so valuable to poor farmers of the past. One tiny piglet born in the spring, fed only slop and whatever else needed to fill the diet in, will produce a lot of meat for the family come fall. You dont have to overwinter the pigs raised for butchering, which means a lot of savings in feed. A pig overwintered is money down the drain, unless you are planning on using it for breeding stock for next spring.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), July 25, 2001.

Maureen, Two suggestions. One, Turn off the caps lock. Its hard to read a messages in UPPER case only. Second, As others have noted, The pig should be in the freezer by now.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), July 25, 2001.

Bacon anyone ?

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 25, 2001.

Maureen: We have two we are raising for meat, and although I'm not good at estimating weight on them, (I look at my husband, 200lbs, and think they might be close to that now), and since they have escaped twice in a week, they are going to go soon! Did you read in the current issue of Countryside about a couple raising pigs, and that they use rock phospate to keep the smell down? Wish I knew what it was and where to get it!!! WHEW! We get lots of day old bread and veggies free as well as all the milk we can pick up from the dairy in town, which helps the feed bill for them. Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), July 25, 2001.

Freezer time,soon she will have alot of fat on her.I have also heard not to butcher sows in heat,anyone else ever hear this?

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), July 25, 2001.

You might suggest to your husband that the next time he's contemplating bringing home an animal that he buy a book first! Yes, butcher the pig! There are people that travel around with trucks and all the equipment to do this for you right at your place if you haven't the tools etc to do it yourself. Good luck!

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), July 25, 2001.

I butcher the pigs at 250 pounds. I once experimented and butchered at 200 pounds. I gave the meat away; it was so lean it was tasteless! I don't feed any extras, just the pig pellets (free fed), so that might make the difference.

I don't know any other critter that you can practically stand there and watch it grow! My pigs reached 250 pounds in 5-6 months.

I have a pet Hampshire. He weighed 235 pounds the day before he turned 5 months. The way he was raised may have made a difference ~ I raised him in the house; no stress. He's close to 1,000 pounds now, and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. His back is 45 inches off the ground. He's one of the best pets I've had! He grazes the 30 acres of Coastal grass with my other livestock.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 25, 2001.

B.B.Q, as soon as possible.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), July 25, 2001.

I sure hope you have lots and lots and lots of freezer space ...

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 25, 2001.

If you plan on eating her, have her butchered now. She won't gain that much more good meat - lots of fat. If you plan on keeping her for breeding, cut back on the feed. A adult sow only needs 2 pounds of feed a day. Of course, they will eat more, but they don't need it. She will fuss for a few days, just like us on a diet. Excess weight will make farrowing much harder for her, meaning a better chance of you having to reach up her and pull the piglets out! We butcher ours at 6 months and 240 - 260lbs. Good luck! Joanie

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), July 26, 2001.

Rock phosphate is a fertiliser - buy it in bulk (bags or real bulk). It's just ground-up phosphatic rock, and releases the phosphate slowly. It is not the same thing as superphosphate, which has been treated with acid to make the phosphate much more soluble.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 26, 2001.

Nine months and 300 lbs. is usual. I'm in FFA and when I get my pig they're born in Feb. and have to wiegh at least 210 to make wieght. I loved my pig this year and would have been more happy to take her home as a pet instead of sending her to fair auction. It's well over time to butcher her, she might be already fat, if it looks like she wearing a diaper where her leg meets her stomach then cut down on her feed. If you can't eat that much pork you could always split the meat and the butchering cost with a friend. If you can't bear to part with her then you could use her as a breeding sow or keep her as a pet but I warn you they can get up to 600lbs and breeding pigs is a lot of work. But whatever you do control her feed.

-- michelle in oregon (holbrook@terragon.com), July 30, 2001.

Hi, Maureen... Unlike the other commentators on your situation, I'm going to assume that you and your husband actually care about this pig as a companion and are seriously looking for sound advice which will allow you to keep her as a life-long friend, and in good health.

It sounds as though she may be getting too much and/or the wrong type of food as a maintenance diet, and her exercise level might be low. If you would like helpful, solid advice, I suggest contacting the people at Farm Sanctuary. As the name implies, Farm Sanctuary is a farm animal rescue organization, with one branch in NY and one in CA, where pigs, chickens, cows, goats, turkeys, and rabbits live out their lifespans in a protected, nurturing environment. Both facilities have been in operation many years and would be well equipped to advise you toward getting your pig's diet properly regulated for her benefit and yours.

Don't dispair, don't give up--t's not nearly the problem it seems to be at the moment. Yours is not by any means an Either/Or situation. You have many more options for your friend than you are being lead to think. Try talking to folks who actually care about you and care about helping:

Farm Sanctuary, NY 607-583-2225 day. 607-583-2276 eve.

Farm Sanctuary, CA 530-865-4617 day. 530-865-4645 eve.

-- mary elsener (mare@auc.com), August 27, 2001.