Swine

Keeping hogs at full bloom until show day

I have 23 days to show day. My hogs weigh 240 pounds. I want to show at 260 pounds what should I do? Is there a chart that gives different ways to hold or push hogs to keep them at full bloom until showday?

This is often a problem. The best methods that I have learned and been told are:

Lower feed intake to about 4 pounds (this is maintenance).
Exercise or walk the pig.
Move to a larger more spacious pen.
Remove any additional fat from the diet
Provide a higher fiber diet (alfalfa, wheat midds or DDGS etc.) -- about 200 pounds per ton feeding rate.
Heat stress will slow them down as well, or other stressors, but you still need to keep them comfortable.
Whatever you do, never restrict water intake.
To keep the bloom, about 2 to 3 days before the show, you can go back to your original diet and feeding level.

Marcia Shannon
State Swine Nutrition Specialist

Market weight of pigs

I want to know all about raising, feeding,and taking care of pigs. When should they be butchered?

You ask a big question, but here is some general information.

Pigs usually reach market weight between 5 and 6 months of age at approximately 260 to 280 pounds. During this time, the pigs are often fed several corn-soybean meal based diets that change in nutrient composition to meet their needs.

Pigs weigh about 3 pounds at birth and stay with the sow until 21 days of age. At this time, they are placed on a grain diet. Pigs have unlimited access to feed and water at all times. Pigs will eat about 1 pound of feed per day at weaning and as much as 8 pounds of feed per day by market weight.

Water intake is about 1 gallon per day up to 5 or 6 gallons per day by market weight.

Just weaned pigs (21 days of age) need to be kept at about 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit and by market weight 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, heating and cooling systems need to be in place during certain times of the year.

Marcia Shannon
State Swine Nutrition Specialist

Hog feed per day

My daughter is raising hogs for the county fair. Is there a formula for how much to feed a hog per day?

For market hogs, typically we assume pigs will consume about 3 to 4 percent of their body weight. I usually consider a 200-pound pig to consume about 6 to 6.5 pounds per day.

Nursery pigs weighing about 10 pounds consume around 0.5 pounds
Feeder pigs weighing about 50 pounds consume around 1 to 2 pounds
Grower pigs weighing about 100 pounds consume around 3 to 4 pounds
Finisher pigs weighing about 150 pounds consume around 4 to 5 pounds
More than 200 pounds consume around 6 to 7 pounds

Marcia Shannon
State Swine Nutrition Specialist