Ok ...
Should I get involved in this
Alright ... here goes ...
Robert - I was bumping this as I was interested if anyone could get back to Coopers with any helpful info - surely he's not the first person to x KKs with Saddlebacks
I only have registered KKs & have not attempted a x (yet). I don't usually weigh the piglets myself until they are 8-weeks old ( for Ivomecting) & I get a range of 11kg-22kg. My vet does the castrations for me at 3-weeks & weighs them for anaesthetic & did mention that a couple were over 10kgs this time.
While sows/gilts are lactating, I for one & I know Karen too, increases mum's feed markedly - depending on size of litter this may mean 5kgs of feed per day at some stage. The piglets usually start nibbling at feed from about 10 days-old. They put on HUGE amounts of growth over the first 8 weeks, which slows down post-weaning.
I have just popped-out & tape measure weighed a litter sister/castrate who are now 13 weeks-old she is 29.46kgs & he is 18.11kgs. Badger, the boar piglet at Lesmahagow this year, "escaped" (from within a pen, inside a byre - closing all the gates behind him, so his litter-mates couldn't get out
) when he was 10 weeks old & "found" in a neighbours field (thankfully empty of stock - no standstill issues
) he definately weighed more than a sack of feed, no way could I carry him back, but I can lift a sack of feed
Now I'm gonna post this before my broadband goes dodgy again, as I've written this twice already