[bekka@dh]

Hi All,

Our British lops are getting pretty big now and we are starting to think about sending them away. They are our first pigs ever and we LOVE having them - and don't want to not have any when these go.

My question is - is it sensible to get 2 more straight after killing these two, to fatten say end of August onwards? Will it take much longer for them to fatten in the cold and therefore not be cost effective? 
Many thanks.

[Fowgill Farm]

Depends on your set up.
Where your lops were could do with resting so if you have new ground that will stand up to the rigours of a wet autumn and you can manage the dark nights feeding up to Xmas then go for it so long as your pigs have a good dry bed and a cosy ark they don't take that much longer to fatten keep them on the higher end of the feeding scale as the weather gets colder.
Otherwise rest your ground and plan on getting some new piglets early spring most people have litters ready to sell at the end of feb/ beginning of march particularly if they have a show herd for which they've had jan births.
HTH
mandy

[Marches Farmer]

If you get some 8 week weaners now they should be ready before Winter really kicks in and you have mud, frozen drinkers and the pigs using feed to keep warm rather than to grow. 

[benkt]

My experience with winter fatteners is that it pays to consider slaughter times. We find it impossible to get anything booked in during December, so if we're doing a late batch aim to get them slaughtered in early January, before the worst of the cold and wet.

[hughesy]

We fatten pigs all year round with the aim of having a steady supply of porkers ongoing. The pigs don't do any worse in the winter really and there's only a slight difference in growth rate. A lot depends on how much land you have for them and how committed you are to feeding etc in the dark, wet and cold. All our pigs are outdoors but a lot of people would bring them indoors if the luxury of a barn was available. More for the keeper's convenience than the pigs.

[devonlad]

Our first pigs were lops. Brilliant pigs and ultimately darn tasty. I'd give the land a rest too unless you got somewhere else

[bekka@dh]

Thank you for all your advice.
The land we have them on currently is to become the vegetable plot next year so will just be covered in cardboard/ plastic over winter so I am not too worried about resting the land. They are outside but do have a big cosy ark and we live on site so feeding in the rain dark and cold is not a problem!
It was more a question about growth rate between end of August and end of Dec / early Jan and whether we would have to put a larger about of feed into them for the same weight.

Many thanks! 

[hughesy]

In my experience the difference in growth rate summer v winter is only slight. It would only be significant in financial terms if you were rearing a large number of pigs.

[benkt]

I agree on little noticeable difference in feed costs, but I do notice the extra straw I get through keeping pigs into the colder and wetter months. I reckon I use three or four times as much straw per month Nov-March as April-Oct. Its not a problem for us, as we're get ours practically for free from a neighbour but worth factoring in if you have to buy it in.

[hughesy]

Good point Benkt. We're using hardly any at the moment due to the nice dry weather but it can be a significant cost in the winter if you have more than a couple of pigs. Even if you only have a couple of weaners you'll need a bale a week at least if it's muddy outside and that adds up over a few months.

[bekka@dh]

Great - thanks everybody! Looks like we are going to be getting a couple more then!
Yippee !!

[MAK]

Some good points from Benkt et al
If you are only keeping 2 pigs for home consumption and they can have a dig around then I find that  Autumn and early winter is a great time to keep pigs. If you have a large veg patch and a few fruit trees you can chuck them a mass of  fruit and veg . Neighbours or friends mayb happy to let you have their excess fruit. Pumpkins and carrots etc are good to grow as store food for the winter months and you can even cook up some spuds on cold days.
Fruit will be in abundance and you could store most of it for the winter too.
 If you have the time then collecting acorns, chestnuts, walnuts etc is a mst.