The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: novicesmallholder on April 04, 2010, 03:41:00 pm
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Hi all,
looking to stock some GOS in the next few months, but need to fence off space first -1 to 2 acres. Looking for them to live as naturally as poss outdoors. Will be taking 2 young girls to eventually breed off and two young boys to raise for meat (and therefore giving us time to get used to pig husbandry etc). How many pigs would I be able to raise per acre - taking into account there will be young being raised in this space (will be farrowing pens/area within this)?
Cheers,
Mark
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You need to subdivide the area; firstly so you can separate the males and females; you also need to sub divide to allow for farrowing; and just as importantly to allow the ground to rest or it wiil become "pig sick",So basically divide it maybe into 6-8 areas and use accordingly;if you can allow more land for their use then all the better.Personaly i wouldn't add to your breeding gilts 2-3 litters a year can play havoc with that amount of ground.
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it also depend on the soil, we are on heavy clay and 2 pigs can kill half an acre pretty quick, sandy soil holds pigs much better!!
gavo, not sure about the soil being pig sick.....im pigsick of sinking in soil!!!!
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Same here we had a few dry weeks and it was starting to get firm but now we've had a week of rain and back to a bog.
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The Dept of Agri here, are suggesting I could put 6 SOWS on an acre. It would be the Somme and worse within weeks if I did that in this weather. ;D
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i agreee but then the dept of ag are not thinking about the aesthestics only the technicality, technically you can keep pigs in a concrete pit, it won't harm the pigs but would do nothing for my soul. We've been knee deep in mud and throwing up new fencing to move the pigs round, it's no fun working in mud and i like my pigs to have something to root in after all that's what nature intended. i wouldn't put more than 2 breeding sows on that acreage and you'd want to aim to sell as many piglets as possible as weaners, it's amazing how quickly they turn the grass to soil.
good luck, Helen
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6 tamworth weaners on acre for 6 weeks, summer time - had to move them off after that, despite really good feeding, not a blade of grass left.
Mark have you got guaranteed buyers for the weaners, or a guaranteed market for the meat, averaging 11 piglets per sow per litter from just two sows would mean 44 piglets throughout the year. Thats a lot of piglets to support/sell.
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Recipe:
Take 1 acre of nice grassy paddock
Add 2 lines of electric fence at 6 & 12 inches
Add 6 Saddleback wenaers approx 3 months old
next day herd pigs back in a put up electric fence ( remember to connect electric supply this time)
watch over the next 3-4 weeks as all signs of green have turned into a bog!
as grass is eaten check electric fence as pigs like to push large divots or turf against the bottom line, rendering useless!
Feed pigs lovingly and continue to watch all signs of life leave the paddock excpet some extremely happy pigs.
3-4 months after pigs have arrived its time to sit back and enjoy a good sausage sandwich or roast leg of pork and remember the good old days when that piece of nice land was once grassy.
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Hi all, I posted here as this old post does cover my query, almost! I have 3.1 acres of wild brushland that I've just annihilated with a tractor and hedge trimmer so it can be accessed and it's been left to recover for a few weeks. It would be perfect for pigs (most likely Tamworth Weiners) as it has a dense hedge and bank, water and lots and lots of roots and plants to eat. As it's 'thick', would I be able to increase the pigs per acre or just turn over the sections further apart?
My desire is to have the pigs eat everything then sell the pigs (except what I'd like to keep for myself) and reclaim the land once weed and plant free.
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Yes, we have run a far higher stocking density for a season to do just that, as long as the forage is there you will be fine. Next year we plan to clear a few acres early season with a mob of 10-15 pigs.
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Hi all, I posted here as this old post does cover my query, almost! I have 3.1 acres of wild brushland that I've just annihilated with a tractor and hedge trimmer so it can be accessed and it's been left to recover for a few weeks. It would be perfect for pigs (most likely Tamworth Weiners) as it has a dense hedge and bank, water and lots and lots of roots and plants to eat. As it's 'thick', would I be able to increase the pigs per acre or just turn over the sections further apart?
My desire is to have the pigs eat everything then sell the pigs (except what I'd like to keep for myself) and reclaim the land once weed and plant free.
It's a nice thought, the weed free bit, but very far from our experience. After our saddle backs (we had the same idea, got 2 girls 2 boys... And then decided we were not ready to become breeders, not least from a land rotation perspective, but also from the perspectives raised above re market for weaners etc) went, we did have a totally clear patch....... And 6 months later we had a dock thistle and bracken seed bed, which we are still fighting..... £300 worth of contractor reseeding with excellent grass seed up the Swanee!
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If you put young weaners on very rough ground they can get food impacted in their gut - brambles are not very easily digestible. Rooting will turn up all the seeds that have been lying in the soil (for decades in the case of ragwort) waiting for the flash of sunlight they need to start them into growth, hence the proliferation of docks generally seen. One year's seeding, seven (or seventy) years' weeding .....
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I have also been a bit disappointed in pigs ability (or lack of it) to clear rough ground. I have two OSB weaners (quite large now, about 45kg) and several people told me that they would dig up the roots of a small patch of brambles and nettles in the corner of their field.
To date they have had no impact whatsoever. In fact that weeds seem to be more vigorous than ever. I'm thinking of smearing peanut butter on the roots to see if that will encourage them to give them a chew. ;)
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Get some pig nuts and scatter them amongst the brambles and roots. . . . they will destroy them quick sharp!
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My pigs will only dig up roots when there in a small area currenty on 1 acre all the weeds have grown like mad the second I put them in a 20ftx20ft electric area clear they much prefer to just graze the grass etc when it's like this
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Having pigs clear an area is fine but be aware that it'll grow back in double quick time and will all be weeds probably. We've got a couple of areas that have been completely cleared by ours more than once and they're now a sea of docks.
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Docks I can deal with. Brambles and nettles are much more difficult. I'm going to follow Porterlauren's advice and see what happens. :fc: