Posts Tagged by Pigs
How Much Manure Does A Pig Make
| April 22, 2013 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
By Joshua Bardwell – originally posted in September 2009 at Jack-Booted Liberal.
In my previous post on composting pig manure, I discussed the type of composting system Issa and I plan to use. A fundamental question for us in choosing a system was how much manure we could expect our forthcoming pigs to make. A system based on 55 gallon drums would be a hassle if the pigs could fill them in too short a time.
Issa found one site that stated that a 200 lb pig would produce about 13 lbs of manure a day. That’s all well and good, but unless you know the density of pig manure, it doesn’t tell you the volume you’ll need to contain it.
I found a site that stated that pigs would produce between 0.5 and 0.75 cubic feet of manure a day, per 1000 lbs of pig. For a 200 lb pig (close to market weight), that’s 0.1 to 0.15 cubic feet of manure. That gives us a density of about 87 to 130 lbs per cubic foot, or an average density of about 108 lbs per cubic foot.
A 55 gallon drum is about 7.3 cubic feet. If a 200 lb pig produces 0.1 to 0.15 cubic feet of manure a day, it will fill a 55 gallon drum in between 73 and 49 days. We plan to keep two pigs, so cut those numbers in half: 36.5 and 24.5 days. Granted, those numbers are for full-weight pigs. The pigs will produce less manure when they are smaller.
A 4-H site I found said that a healthy pig will gain approximately 1.6 lbs per day. According to that site, 50 lbs is a typical starter weight. Market weight is between 200 and 250 lbs. Based on the previously-given numbers, here’s a graph of the estimated total manure production of a pig from 50 lbs to 250 lbs:
The red line is the high estimate, based on 0.75 cubic feet of manure per 1000 lbs of pig, while the blue line is the low estimate, based on 0.5 cubic feet of manure per 1000 lbs of pig. You can see we end up with approximately 9 to 14 cubic feet of manure produced per pig. (For perspective, again, a 55 gallon drum is about 7.3 cubic feet.) This is estimated to weigh approximately 972 to 1512 lbs.
Here’s where things get a bit fuzzy. That manure is going to shrink down when it composts. A typical ratio given for compost shrinkage is 50% volume. That means we can expect to end up with approximately 4.5 to 7 cubic feet of compost, solely from pig manure. Bulk finished compost is estimated to weigh in the ball park of 800 lbs per cubic yard, or 30 lbs per cubic foot. That means our final compost will weigh only 135 to 210 lbs! That’s a heck of a lot of matter that left the system!
Realistically, though, the pig manure will not be the only input to the system. Pig manure has a high nitrogen content relative to carbon. This means that an appropriate quantity of high-carbon material must be added out to balance out the ratio in the final compost. The actual amount of material depends on the type of material added, and a consideration of this factor is beyond the scope of this post. The bottom line is that there’s going to be a bit more compost than the pig manure alone would produce.
The final question, then, is whether the two pigs we plan to keep will provide enough compost to fertilize the garden plot we plan to keep. I have estimated that the garden will start out at about 350 square feet and will probably grow from there. A common guideline is to till 1″ of compost over your entire garden. Based on this, a 350 square foot plot will require just about exactly 1 cubic foot of compost. Yeah, looks like we’re good to go, with compost to spare!
I have some water jugs that are almost exactly 1 cubic square foot. It’s hard to imagine that small amount of compost going over 350 square feet! Maybe it’s more compost than it looks like, though. After all, it’s certainly more water than it looks like!
Actual results will, of course, vary, but it’s still a fun thought exercise.
Editor’s Note: On the original post, a commenter said, “I think you made a miscalculation–I went to an online mulch calculator and it indicates that for 350 square feet you need 1.1 cubic YARDS not feet. That means you’ll need 27 cubic feet which means you’ll actually be a bit short on compost,” to which Joshua replied, “It’s true, as I discovered when I went to buy compost for the garden this year.”
Wrapping Up The Pigs for 2012
| December 18, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
Normally our pig-raising for the year would be over in September, but this year we opted to do another round of pigs going into the winter. They had a great gain rate, and here we are at the end of December with a processing date set for January 4th.
Winter raising worked out really well for us this first time through. We’ve got a mild winter going on, so it’s been no trouble to keep the pigs warm. A hay bale in their shed for them to snuggle into and what we got in return was a lot fewer flies and not having to worry about hosing the pigs off twice a day. I can get used to these less smelly pigs! We probably won’t do a spring batch, which means it may be next September or October before we have pigs again.
The other thing different about this batch of pigs is that we didn’t secure buyers for the meat before raising the pigs. Previously the meat has all been spoken for before we even buy piglets. We’ve put an ad or two up on Craigslist and as of right now one and a half of the four pigs have a deposit down on them.
It’s not as scary as it sounds, though. For one, we bought a gigantic chest freezer (don’t know if it’s the decade or the location of my childhood, but I’m used to calling these things a “deep freeze”, but now everyone seems to say “chest freezer”.) Anyway, the unclaimed pork will go in there. We are having it USDA processed, which means we can sell the meat on our own. We may sell smaller shares or sampler pack-type things.
Pig-raising is the most intensive thing we do around here. There’s some amount of urgency with pigs that isn’t there with chickens, ducks, sheep, or gardening. There’s a lot of weighing and measuring, watching over their health, keeping them contained, and not losing money. We did all right this round, but it’s also always a bit of a relief when it’s over.
I love this photo. Two of the pigs out in the field, Dylan looking on as Joshua checks out the fence. This was a really nice afternoon.
Pigs Are Hairy Animals
| November 7, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Radical Self-Acceptance |
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think of pigs as being hairy. Then again, I don’t think of humans as hairy, either. I know that we have hair. But, we aren’t like cats, dogs, bears, sheep, etc. Those animals are hairy. One day I was snapping pictures of Big Pig Barrow, and I was really struck by how hairy he was. The coloring of his hair and his skin (and my preference for close-up photography) really made it stand out.
Do We Feed Our Animals Crap?
| October 29, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
{Note: As a result of last week’s popular 21 Things To Stop Saying Unless You Hate Fat People I got a lot of new followers. ::waves:: Hi! While I write about fat acceptance often, I also write about homesteading and parenting. You’ll see many more fat-related posts from me in the future, and today I hope you’ll stick around today to start learning about what goes on at The Wallow, my little homestead in Tennessee.}
A friend of mine recently made a reference to how Joshua and I are raising animals without feeding them crap. Are we? That’s an interesting question.
Since most of the people I talk to about homesteading know much less about the topics than I do, I am extra careful to be honest. Several times I’ve heard someone call our operation organic, for example. The person speaking may not have any idea what organic means or that it is an official government certification. Maybe they are using it as a synonym for the uselessly vague “natural”. However, The Wallow is in no way organic. Not even close! And so I’m very quick to correct people.
How about “free-range”? Our birds are all free-range if you mean not cooped up. They have the complete run of the place, as evidenced by the amazing amount of poop on the porch and patio and other miscellaneous horizontal surfaces. But free-range could also mean “forages for their own food”. The birds do that some, but we also put out a bowl of feed for them. The chickens could probably do without it, although they’d probably be a lot scrawnier. The ducks on the other hand seem much more dependent on the feed.
The sheep aren’t free-range. They stay in an area back in the trees where they can have reliable shade without requiring a lot of labor from us. We periodically let them out onto the pasture so they can snack on grass. In the meantime, they eat hay.
The pigs definitely aren’t free-range. They stay confined to a pretty small area. Free-ranging pigs would take much, much more land than we have. I rotate them frequently onto new land as a parasite-reduction technique. I frequently stare at my land while frowning trying to figure out how to keep my pigs on grass. But, it’s not going to work. They definitely love the new grass when they get a new spot, but it’s gone in hours and doesn’t make up a significant portion of their diet. The pigs eat a commercial feed mix.
How about that feed? Is it crap?
It isn’t organic. I wouldn’t mind feeding organic feed, but that would be much more expensive, and I don’t value organic enough to pay so highly for it for my animals.
It’s local. Er, maybe. Sort of, sometimes. When we feed the pigs a complete feed, it’s a big-brand, non-local feed. That’s the style what we give the poultry, too. Most of the time we feed the pigs a corn-plus-concentrate mix. In that case, the concentrate might be local. We buy it through the co-op anyway. The corn is… corn. Who knows where it comes from. The concentrate is about 20% of the total mix, so the pig feed is maybe 20% local.
It isn’t medicated. Amongst the available choices, it can be hard to find a non-medicated feed. I want the food to be food and the medications we give to be deliberate, so I do take care to use non-medicated feed.
Kitchen scraps add variety. The ducks don’t seem to recognize anything extra we give them as food. But the chickens and the pigs love household scraps. Practically the only thing that goes in the compost at The Wallow when pigs are around is the coffee grounds. Everything else – questionable fruit, less yummy veggie parts, bread loaf heels, and meal scrapings – finds its ways into one belly or another. Lately, the pigs have been getting all the duck eggs, too, since Joshua and I don’t like them enough to keep up with eating them all.
What’s the bottom line? I think there are lots of positives to how we raise our animals. But, we’re not too lofty about the feed. I don’t think we’re feeding them “crap”. But, we’re not feeding them some specially chosen organic, non-GMO, local, {insert hip word here} diet, either.
When you think of a small farmer and her animals, what do you imagine she’s feeding them? If you buy local, do you check into the animals’ feed, or do you just assume that it’s “not crap”?
Daily Farm Chores
| October 10, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
I love morning chores around The Wallow. They get me up and moving. I love having animals to care for, because they constantly pull me towards motion and life, both when I can most enjoy it and when I most need it.
What are the chores, you ask?
Pigs:
The pigs are the biggest reason I get outside in the morning. The pigs simply have to eat. Their whole job is to eat and get bigger, and they get really upset if I am late with the feed bucket!
- Fill up a bucket of feed to take to the pigs. If there’s no feed currently mixed up, mix some up. This involves dumping a 50 lb bag of corn into a Rubbermaid container, weighing out 13 lbs of feed concentrate, stirring the two until they’re well mixed.
- Turn off the pigs’ electric fence, hop in the pig pen, and empty the feed into the individual feed pans, all while dodging snorting, squealing, frantically excited pigs. They do love meal time!
- Touch each pig. Pigs love ear scritches and belly scritches, and I love it when they are used to my touch so I can easily measure them on weigh days.
- Clean out and refill the water bowl. If we’re using the big waterer, I just have to check that it isn’t low.
- Check the pig fence to see that it’s all in order, especially if it’s been raining. Sometimes I might have to pick up some sections of fence to clear the dirt the pigs have rooted onto it. It’s usually all okay, though.
Sheep:
- When I’m over feeding the pigs I check on their water and fill it if needed. They don’t drink very much water, so it only needs to be topped off every couple of days or so.
- If I’m feeling generous (or if a ewe is pregnant) I toss a handful of corn into the old hay feeder that still has some hay remnant in it. The sheep immediately get busy digging around in the hay for the yummy corn.
Poultry:
- We used to have to let the chickens out of the coop in the morning, but they are free-range now, as are the ducks.
- Put out a scoop of feed. The chickens could probably get by without, but the ducks really put up a fuss if there isn’t feed available. The chickens benefit from the yummy, too, and they eagerly come running whenever they see us.
- Look around for eggs.
- Top off the duck pond if it needs it.
Evening:
- Feed the pigs again and check their water.
- Let the sheep out to graze. We haven’t been doing this lately, because Buck has been in a mood, and it’s hard to manage a ram in a mood!
- Do bigger projects, like moving the pigs to another paddock which involves resetting the fence netting.
Seasonal:
Different seasons bring different tasks. Spring finds me screening compost in the evenings, and both of us will be busy with our gardens. Bringing in wood to heat our home is about to be a regular daily task. Summer involves a lot more food preservation tasks.
These tasks vary a bit from day to day. Plus, there’s two of us to do them, so sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s Joshua, and sometimes we do them together. I’ve been pretty regularly getting up to do the morning chores lately, and I really enjoy the routine.
Surprise! Fall Piggies!
| September 20, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
Look! It’s like spring time has come 6 months early. We have a pregnant sheep, a hen laying on 16 eggs, and 4 baby piggies have arrived at The Wallow.
There are four of them. They are Hampshire/Duroc crosses.
They are settling into their new home.
I just love piggie butts:
Another Year of Raising Pigs Completed
| August 22, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
Every March since moving into The Wallow, Joshua and I have bought piglets and raised them for meat for ourselves and others. 2 pigs the first year, 4 pigs the second year, and 6 pigs this year. Every year is something new, and we’re still enjoying the process and learning a lot.
One of the challenges this year was that we had one pig who was a slow grower and then stopped growing entirely at about 60 pounds. Joshua slaughtered and butchered her a couple of weeks ago, which gave us a chance to check out her insides. Examining her intestines enabled us to confirm that she’d had a bacterial infection common to weaner pigs that prevents the pig from properly extracting nutrients from food. Many farmers treat new weaners with an antibiotic in case of something like this. So far we’ve chosen not to give prophylactic antibiotics, but when we have a situation like this which costs the pig’s health and costs us money we question those choices about medication.
The reason this kind of infection is common in weaner pigs is that these pigs transition off of milk more abruptly than is ideal, losing the antibodies in the milk and suffering the stress of weaning, plus there’s the stress of moving and separation from the mother when the pigs move to the new farm. One way to get around this without medication would be to breed our own pigs, but we are nowhere near ready to take that big step yet (if ever!) I’m amused and satisfied to find a pro-breastfeeding lesson in the midst of farming!
Our other 5 pigs grew bigger, but then their growth stopped at around 200 pounds. This probably means that they had the same infection but fought it off better. We made a rush decision to go ahead and have them slaughtered last week after confirming that they hadn’t grown in 3 weeks. Every extra week they’re around and not growing is more money out of our pocket and more chances that something will negatively affect their health before slaughter.
The bacterial infection wouldn’t affect meat quality, and the pigs were otherwise in good health. The only effect of all of this on our customers was the ending coming a little more rapidly than expected and they got less meat (and paid less money) than everyone expected.
Last Monday night, we dropped the 5 pigs off at our new USDA certified processor, using the new stock racks Joshua built for our trailer. 4 days later, I picked up the meat and then Joshua delivered it to our customers.
And once again, no pigs live at The Wallow.
First Pig Slaughtered at The Wallow
| August 6, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
We had one pig this year that just stopped growing at about 60 pounds. The only upside to that situation is that it provided us a pig we could practice slaughtering and butchering right here at home with less on the line if we fucked up.
Our friend Cameron came over to help out. I was the Dylan-wrangler and the photographer, while Cameron and Joshua did all the dirty work.
I’m putting the rest of this post behind a cut. A detailed photographic record of the process follows along with comments from Joshua. This isn’t a “how to slaughter a pig” by any means, but if you are interested in this process there’s enough to here to give you a good idea of what’s involved.
Big Pig Barrow
| July 28, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
We only knew this pig for 5 days, but, oh, the stories. We’re going to remember him while we’re repairing our electric net fence that’s all in tatters. And we’ll certainty be telling and retelling the story of the time he almost escaped on the interstate at 70 miles an hour. With animals, the adventures never end.
The Wallow Pig Newsletter #3 2012
| July 25, 2012 | Posted by Issa under Homesteading |
I send email updates out to the people buying pigs from us, and publish them here, too, (slightly modified) for anyone else following along with our piggie adventures.
It’s getting close to the end!
The pigs are harder to weigh this year, since there are more of them. They are more like a herd of wild animals than like a couple of pets. It’s harder to get close. With this week’s measuring, the two biggest pigs are around 220 pounds. This puts their slaughter date about six weeks from now, around the beginning of September.
The pigs have been getting a lot of veggies lately! The Wallow garden has been overflowing with zucchini and cucumber especially, and the pigs nom it up. We also planted them a radish field a few weeks ago, so pretty soon we’ll turn them out in there, and they will have a wonderful time digging for radishes.
Here are a couple of pig videos for you. In the first one they’re nomming on a zucchini plant that we tossed in. In the second they are running away from the scary umbrella. (It’s not too scary, though. They make their playful barking sound and come running right back.)
