[Blonde]

What age do you wean your piglets generally? Or does it depend? Would you split up a large litter and wean the ones that have done well and leave the smaller ones on mum longer?
I have always thought 8-10 weeks, but pretty sure my first two sows were brought here at 5 or 6 weeks.
I have in the past aimed at 10 weeks but actually weaned at 8 weeks in a case of only three in the litter and them being huge, and then weaned in stages, from 8 weeks when we had a litter of 11.
This time I have 16(one litter on four, and one litter of 12) in together with two sows and they are cross suckling and am considering taking out the bigger ones this weekend when they will be six weeks - believe me some are huge (the litter of four), so that the others, some of which are quite skinny - not a good look on a pig! get a chance :-)
What do people think? Even if I leave these bigger ones in till 8 weeks, I will have to leave the others longer I think. Although my poor sow is looking thin on her back too.
I'm feeding 2 x 5 litre buckets full of nuts twice a day. Is this enough? I have apple pulp now too - and was going to replace a feed with it - should I just use it as a supplement?
Thanks for your advice everyone :-)

8 - 10 weeks they are like little elephants by now I bet!!  21 days is a good start.   The milk peaks at 21 days and then it begins to fall away,  The little pigs will have been eating from day 10 and be quite good on creep feed by now.  they will also be drinking water out of a bowl or a  piglet nipple , and only going to mum now and again for a  feed.   When offered feed as they were in the paddock with mum they come away quickly   They area all with their mates and doing fine,  Pork in no time.

[Leri]

I took four boys out - little smashers! All my saddlebacks litter. They loved it in the paddock and think they gave themselves belly ache with all that green!!
Their mother sulked and lay on her teats while the other piglets ran around her. Felt awful - wished i'd left her one of her own and decided I'd give her one back the next day. But by the next morning she was happily feeding four of the large blacks piglets :-) and giving her a bit of a break as she now only had 8 to feed - this is since Saturday and they are looking great!
Sold one from there last night - lady came to see them and said they were bigger than some 8 weeks ones she'd bought at a sale at the weekend. So feeling much happier now that they are doing fine :-)

[RobbyM]

I feed 2kg per lactating sow and gradually increase feed intake over the following 7 to 10 days up to a maximum of 2kg plus 0.4kg per piglet split over two feeds, during summer but increase to 2.5kg plus 0.4kg during winter.
I mix my feed with water as this results in a better uptake than when offered just dry and also prevents wastage.

I wean at between 6 to 8 weeks depending on litter size

[Blonde]

What age do you wean your piglets generally? Or does it depend? Would you split up a large litter and wean the ones that have done well and leave the smaller ones on mum longer?
I have always thought 8-10 weeks, but pretty sure my first two sows were brought here at 5 or 6 weeks.
I have in the past aimed at 10 weeks but actually weaned at 8 weeks in a case of only three in the litter and them being huge, and then weaned in stages, from 8 weeks when we had a litter of 11.
This time I have 16(one litter on four, and one litter of 12) in together with two sows and they are cross suckling and am considering taking out the bigger ones this weekend when they will be six weeks - believe me some are huge (the litter of four), so that the others, some of which are quite skinny - not a good look on a pig! get a chance :-)
What do people think? Even if I leave these bigger ones in till 8 weeks, I will have to leave the others longer I think. Although my poor sow is looking thin on her back too.
I'm feeding 2 x 5 litre buckets full of nuts twice a day. Is this enough? I have apple pulp now too - and was going to replace a feed with it - should I just use it as a supplement?
Thanks for your advice everyone :-)

You would be better to wean at 3 weeks of age..... this does not pull the sow down so far, and gives her a better chance of coming back in to heat in the next week.  If she is thin and tired looking from having her piglets around for so long she takes forever to come back on.  the milk peaks at 3 weeks and the piglets are eating by then, kno real reason to leave them with mum.  The milk is going off and they are eating more and more, she is running down to a thinner state.  She should be eating around 10 - 12 kg of feed per day. and she should be drinking around 50 litres of water per day or more.

[Leri]

3 weeks? Wow. I know we got ours at 5 weeks - and had thought 6 weeks - but 3 weeks seems way early. Granted the sow wouldn't lose as much condition but still seems a bit harsh on her and on the piglets.

[Fowgill Farm]

Thats what commercial farms do Leri, they're legally obliged to leave the pigs with their mothers for two weeks but in the commercial workld time is money.
Our traditional style of pig keeping means we can take our time and wean from six weeks onwards, most wean at 8wks. So unless you have problems with feeding or your soe cocks her toes don't even go there!
HTH
Mandy 

[robert waddell]

i read somewhare that piglelts have to be on milk for 40 days     old age cant remember

[Blonde]

What happens when they are weaned at 21 days

[robert waddell]

not going senile yet    it is on this very forum under sugar beet violet posted a link to the bpa website and there is a link to organic pig production page five
no wonder organic pigs are like hens teeth

[Leri]

40 days that's only about 6 weeks - so that's ok. It does seem a bit of a commercial thing to do. Depriving the sow of her mothering time and the piglets of the best start in life (even of it is only a short life) - surely they grow better on milk combined with solids too - doesn't really seem economical - except I suppose they want the sow back in pig. Poor things :-(

[Blonde]

40 days that's only about 6 weeks - so that's ok. It does seem a bit of a commercial thing to do. Depriving the sow of her mothering time and the piglets of the best start in life (even of it is only a short life) - surely they grow better on milk combined with solids too - doesn't really seem economical - except I suppose they want the sow back in pig. Poor things :-(

Milk peaks at 3 weeks....so the piglets have had the best milk the sow is going to produce.  From there on the milk becomes poor and the piglets who have now been eating for the last 11 days will have to resort to continuing this trend....... as they wont get what they need from the sow any more.  The milk is just a small supplement that is now dragging the sow down.  So weaning at 3 weeks of age is fine, but good feed is necessary to bring them on quickly in  readyness for market in anothersay 12 to 13 weeks for pork. another 22 to 23 weeks for bacon.  If the abattoir wants suckers then they may be weaned off mum on to the truck. 

[HappyHippy]

I don't think many of the traditional or rare breed pigs in the UK would be making pork weight at 16 weeks though Blonde 
If you were to add a bit of Landrace, Large White or pietrain to the breed mix then maybe, but most of the UK's traditional breeds (in a non-commercial set-up) are finishing around 20-22 weeks at the earliest I think. Plus you've got to factor in the effect of the temperatures here being lower - I think that probably extends the growing time a bit. Up here in the frozen north (central Scotland) my pigs go for pork around 24 weeks and bacon at 32 ish weeks - if I were to try and force them on any quicker I'd end up with loads of fat, I prefer the 'slow grow' option. 
Karen 

[robert waddell]

not forgetting the hampshire

[HappyHippy]

not forgetting the hampshire

Ah, but your Hampshire's are big meaty mo-fo's  and grow like nobodies business 
I would have thought they'd definately be ready for pork & bacon sooner than the Tamworths, Large Blacks or GOS's (for example) which are definately more slow grow, non-commercial breeds............wouldn't you agree ?
Karen 

[robert waddell]

aye your right with the meaty bit even big carcases do not get fat
def ready before other breeds now if i could get SAC or vion to experiment with Hampshire's things might change after all they are a rare breed IE not many in the country and if it is in the teens of breeders then that is rare   you have to agree on this
which leads to the question who set the weight limits for pork bacon and cutters