Ep146: How many pigs should you have per acre?
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- This is a question we run into all the time, How many pigs should you have per acre of pasture? While there are a great number of variable to that question about pastured pigs, there are some key points we can look at to give an answer. In this video, I talk about how we estimate our pig to pasture ratio and how we make adjustments when we need to.
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I actually grew up on my dad's farm before I moved to the city to pursue my music career and as far as pasture raising pigs. How much land you actually need per pig depends on your setup and how well your soil health is and how much grass you have in pounds per inch per acre.
But if you use the system my dad used which is where you divide up the pasture into different paddocks and rotate them in a intensive rotational grazing system. You can typically get away with 400 square feet per pig in a paddock but that's if you do intensive rotational grazing.
Which is where you have at least 4 paddocks side by side and you rotate them once every 7 days to The paddock next to it. And then once you get to the 4th paddock on the 4th week you rotate them back to the first paddock and then that grass has already regrown for 3 weeks which is optimal for pigs.
Underrated comment. Thank you
@@JohnDoe-dx7ve no problem, thanks for the reply.
Thanks ,gives me a place to start, I can fine tune from here
You are a wonderful educator who unselfishly provides a wealth of practical information. Bless you and your family.
Thanks, Peter!
It takes 6 months for 6 pigs (two sows, four almost-grown juveniles) to take down approximately 1/2 acre of brushy forest, but that's just the undergrowth, not all the trees. Part of this was a super-thick stand of evergreen saplings that I had hoped they would rip out, but I guess they didn't feel like doing that 🤷♀️ These 6 months were over winter, so oct-may, in zone 5 and pigs also got their kibbles twice a day.
I like the way you call them jerks!
Ive had people ask me this and i laugh because it's not an easy answer. In my experience I tend to have no more then 20 pigs on an acre of pasture for no longer then 2 weeks. But sometimes they're hungrier and got through forage faster. Its something you have to start small with and work your way up to understand your situation.
It has been 4 years here now that we have had pastured hogs and every day they are still teaching me. I don't have them figured out yet, but learned that they will teach me in time. Some observations I have had is that they will root within say 20 feet of any fence if left in long enough. So if you want good rooting to work up areas of an old neglected homestead like ours, it is best to keep their paddocks about 30 feet wide as then the whole breadth will get rooted well and that soil will get enhanced. Hogs are also expert Hydrologists. We have a sloping side hill that use to be a corn field and with this hard clay the rain just ran off of it and never soaked in giving us dry pack clay that would not grow pasture mid Summer and Fall. After they rooted it up, they created swales and water catchment systems that now hold any drop of rain that falls on that land and it grows great pasture now. So rather than evening out all their hard work, I left the hills and valleys and now I am rewarded with very productive land, but murder to drive over. However, I would rather have production than a comfy joy ride over erosion drought stricken land any day. The only other thing I would add is that hogs root when the soil is moist enough to let them. So seasons and soil moisture play huge roles. I have also noticed that after they have rooted an area up, it takes them a few years to let the weeds grow those tasty roots before they will tear it up again. So fodder that was first available for them on a piece of land takes some time to regenerate itself both above and below the soil. Chop and drop is a good strategy to build up your pastures when you don't have enough to keep it harvested. Replanting pasture has allowed us to have over 30 head on an acre but over Winter the pasture was reduced to bare turned soil. Which was great for reseeding, but it took a while to get our pasture back. Any mistake you make, you can fix it with capital and time. Two things we really don't like to let go though.
Very good insight! I like what you all have going on over there.
Here that is the goal but I am no where near that ideal yet. But you point out a huge challenge. When the grass is ready, you rotate and when the grass is gone you replant like a mad man. My challenge here is that I have sheep and hogs both over stocked for my acreage. So I run into over grazing issues and how I remedy that is by broadcast seeding behind them.
We have pig quikfence so it is easy to move around so our paddocks are fluid but have started to establish themselves a bit more now as time marches forward. We use our old barn for housing and farrowing so our paddocks radiate from there. We run our boars, piglets and sows all together which brings challenges but makes rotation easier as each move is one big move and the forage pressure is pretty consistent.
A+ for rotational grazing
Pigs are my next venture i’m looking into...binging some of your vids lately!
Excellent! They are great to have even when they chew on your vehicles.
Me too
Love your channel. Very informative. Do you need a manure management plan or do you have sufficient space to not have to worry about collecting the manure? From my experience, pigs produce an incredible amount of manure. Thanks for all the great information.
Lolol great video. Nearly spat out my sweet tea @ "Quit chewin' on my side-by-side, ya jerks!"
Thanks! I talk to them the same way I talk to my kids.
Lol...I watched it twice!
you are a good book o knowledge, thank you
More like a comic book...
I live in the city,but, it is good to know information.
You could squeeze a pig or two into the city. They blend in very well :)
LOL
Very good video, where my Brother lives in South Arkansas they have a feral pig problem. He will kill as many as 10 a year. He will usually render and smoke me 2 a year. I will give him Beef from my cattle in return.
There is a big pig problem down there. Glad he is helping curb that!
Most of Louisiana and Texas are having the same problem with hogs. Many people would rather not eat older hogs, particularly boars because when they approach adulthood, their hormones impart a more profoundly "gamy" the taste to their meat. Better to eat the younger immature offspring.
Same thing in Georgia and Alabama. People actually pay to come kill hogs. That's how bad it is.
Chard TV Livestock Farming. Watching here Philippines.
Great info. my wife and I want to get some pigs in the next year or to.
It is a worthwhile endeavor!
👍👍👍 I'm seriously considering to do this next March I've got about 10 -11 acres of hillside I'd like to turn them loose on. I'll probably only start with 2 or 3 and put them in different lots using an electric fence and move them from time to time. Growing up on a farm my dad had .milk cows that gave about 2 and half gallons of milk twice a day that was more than we could possibly use so we gave the hogs the excess milk mixed with Red Dog hog mix along with table scraps and anything we couldn't use out of the garden. One thing about hogs they'll consume just about anything you put in they're feed trough. LOL thanks RTH
Sounds like a good plan! That extra milk would be a great feed supplement. Good luck with your pigs!
Interesting information.
I enjoy your channel, very informative
Extremely helpful.
I googled 25-35 pigs per acre. I do not know because as a child on the farm we had 20 hogs /pigs in the Spring on a 10 acre lot. They stayed there until we sold or process them. We feed them grain & table scraps , wild fruit & nuts, garden waste.On garden waste you can grow extra garden plants, 5 zucchini plants, 5 large tomatoes plants, 6 cucmber plants, will give you all the fruit you can eat & can. Then feed all extra fruit to the hogs.
Do you supplement your pig feed with jumper cables and ratchet straps? haha
Yes, here at Red Tool House we want the finest in fiber and copper supplements...
Great video buddy!
Thanks!
Awesome coverage, Troy! I'm specifically thinking of wooded land in Washington state. Wild blackberry is a real problem and I'm tossed up between getting goats or pigs for mowing it down/tilling the land to clear it of plant growth. Blackberry is pretty common at the edges of trees and under the canopy. Do you know if goats and pigs can be contained within the same area to work together?
I have heard of people having goats and pigs in the same pasture. I don't think they will go after one another. I would be concerned about them trying to share a shelter. Goats need one, pigs will take it if it is there. Your fencing is going to need to be stellar to keep goats in. Not so much for pigs. Goats would be less destructive to the ground.
One lady gives her pig a beer or two when farrowing. Claims it keeps them mellow.
Love your channel
Thanks!
Why can you not raise pigs solely on pasture? Specially if it’s great pasture?
Pig is not a ruminant. It cannot extract enough protein from grass exclusively. It has to have another protein source.
Outside of grain what are more natural options? I waited almost 4 years to certify my pasture organic (22 acres) and finally have the soil confirmed. Any other options viable for pigs with pasture for protein that is natural and organic that is not a grain?
You could use a nonGMO or organic feed but the cost are high. You can look for whey from a local dairy (if there is one). I finish my hogs in the fall in the woods and they can access all the mast from the trees. Some people are feeding fodder due to the protein count but you are still buying grain. It is going to be tough to raise a grain free pig at any scale.
I am curious if you have had any issues with coyote and your pigs. About what age would it be ok to keep pigs pastured with electric fence so that a coyote would tend to leave them alone. I have coyote that pass through my 15 acres and have found a couple of dead fawns the past two years. But they habe never done any damage to my chickens. They don't seem to even get near them. What are your thoughts?
I have not had issue with coyote and we have quite a few around here. We usually keep the piglets with the sows until they are weened (8 weeks) after that, they seem big enough to handle themselves. The coyotes have never been on the inside of the electric fence. They may sense it clearly.
Red Tool House - Homestead thanks for the information.
Someone needs to go do a documentary on Walter Jeffries farm.
He’s one of the original natural pig farmers and few know about him bc he’s not on RUclips.
I interviewed him on my pastured pig podcast recently.
Awesome. Yeah I was talking to him a decade ago.
How do I find the podcast?
Can you suggest any books or other reference materials about pigs? Do you have predator issues whether domesticated or wild?(dogs, coyotes, etc)? the videos have been very helpful. thank you.
Gary, I started with Storey's Guide to raising pigs. While not a pasture raised focus specifically, it was a good start. Joel Salatin's Pigness book is supposed to be good, but I have not read it yet. We haven't had any predator issues. Once a pig gets a couple months old, he can defend himself from most predators. Bear or cougar would be an issue but we have very little of both in our area.
Red Tool House - Homestead Thanks for info!
Hey Troy, I am looking for property now with my family up around eastern TN. Pigs are something I would like to have for personal purposes. People are telling me they stink and you can always smell the bad odors. Is this true considering I will probably have 3-5 pigs on 2-3 acres of decent pasture. Obviously I would have a feeding area with bagged feed for them. Is the feeding trough area smelly or what is your thoughts or "smells" there. Thanks Josh
My opinion (just that) - All animals have a smell. My friend has a horse farm and at times, he smells like a horse. The horrible smell associated with pigs is usually due to confinement practices and pig diet. This time of year, I have my pigs in a sacrificial area of the pasture. Come March, it will start to have an odor. When they are spread out on the pasture and I rotate their access, then there is no smell. I even ask family and friends that come to visit, "can you smell my pigs?". Most of the time the answer is no. It is never a "how can you stand that smell?" question. That being said, if you get pig crap on your hands, you will carry that smell for a day despite how many times you wash your hands! Good luck!
First and foremost question........did you ring the pigs with at least 3 rings ???????
great video!
Thanks, Brian!
1:04 HAHAHAHAHAH Awesome "Ya jerks!"
So lets say the acre is well established grass, and I only run 3 pigs on it, because that is so far below the recommended 10 pigs, would it be safe to not rotate? Also considering a breed like AGH, which tends to be "light" on a pasture.....and the bigger question, what if I ran say 5 AGH, 3 Dexter Cows, 3-5 Dorper Sheep, and a flock of laying hens, on say 5 acres, would the lower animal to land ratio make so that it would be safe not to rotate them, but rather to just give them full access to the full 5 acres as they desire?
@Chris Noyes If you don't rotate them, they will overgraze and kill what they love and ignore what they don't. Properly timed rotation forces them to graze down a little on everything, fertilize it well, work the ground a little and tromp down the rest. Then that area gets a rest to utilize the fertilizer and regenerate. The division can be done in a series or you can put your feed and shelter in a central location and rotate your areas like spindles out from a wheel. Just remember the second method leaves the central hub pretty muddy by the end of the season. Hope this helps.
I was considering getting into raising hogs but I don't have much property. I have a 2 acre empty lot that is all regular grass. Is this something I could make work?
Depends on what you want to do. Of you're goal is to raise a few pigs for your family and maybe another or two, then you'll be fine.
But if your goal is to start a business. Well then you will need more land. In my experience starting with 40 acres of land is more then enough to generate a commerical pasture pig operation. This was you have enough fields of forage that are harvesting, growing, or recovering from the pigs.
But an acre or two with some supplemental feed and mindful observation of how much you need to rotate the pigs around each part of the land without destroying it can yield some amazing pork.
Pigs were photo-bombing. Walked off-camera after the line “about harvesting in the fall.” 🐷
Pigs raiding your side-by-side makes me think of mine - gets into all sorts of stuff he knows he's not allowed to just to get my attention!
Hello Troy my name is JoEllen and Mike and I am having a problem and my problem is my husband and I had 4 pigs 2 female an 2 males we had to put one of our females down so now we have 2 bore hogs that we don't need and I will say they are a handful.. So what can we do with one of the boys for we only need and want one of them. I have tried to sell one but with absolutely NO luck at all !! Tory we really need some help so any advice would be great... P.S I absolutely love seeing your video's... Thank you for your time your friends from ohio JoEllen and Mike.
Sounds like the extra male hog is intact? Have your tried selling him as a breeding boar? The easiest thing to do would be to send him off to freezer camp. You may or may not get boar taint but I would chance it. Check with a neighbor or friend and see if they want to split the processing costs for splitting the pork or sell them their "share" of the pork. Good luck!
Red Tool House - Homestead yes he is still intact.. I tried to sell he last year but ended up with a bunch of trolls on the post but in working on trying to sell him once more and if it's a no go looks like he will be freezer bound.
Love it
So how many pigs can you feed with a single side by side ... ?
It leaves them feeling hollow inside...
Hello I would like to ask you how long should 10 pigs on one acre stay on that one acre before I move to the next acre?
How do you keep raccoons pig feeders
Sir plzzz tell me make a video on how to keep snakes away from the pigs
Do you have issues with pig predators in your area?
How many times a year do you breed each sow?
We currently only breed once a year. We want to finish our growers by fall.
I keep a boar and 8-10 sows..they aren't rabbits lol. I get a litter per year..weather and diet play a heavy role in breeding success. Diet especially so.
I'm not much on hogs other than bacon and hams. I never sold any when I did it but I did trade hog for beef and chicken. I raised beef to eat and we had a bunch of kids who if I could of grazed them I would of needed twice the land. I had some white face for milk and guernsey for meat. Not much fat buch tasty. I didn't know about the highland cows or I would of gone that way. I let my pisgs destroy the grounds I kept them on. They got all the wire grass out by the roots and that is what I went for. I would never raise pigs again... maybe two as they are social animals but that is it
How do you farrow your sows or gilts
We let them farrow naturally in our barn or shelter. We farrow once a year.
I don't like to over winter a large herd. It is hard on my hill side pastures. Usually, we farrow several sows at the same time so I have one larger herd to manage through out the season and then one processing in the fall.
I choose to raise my pigs in a way I find the most effective for my operation. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I have had far more success farrowing in our barns without farrowing crates. Farrowing crates do not guaranty zero loss either.
As you know pigs are not ruminants but they can extract some protein for forage. Even we humans can extract protein from vegetation. Our pasture/woodlot has a wide variety of wild forage for them to eat selectively and they put on weight just fine. They still have access to feed as well. When they finish in the fall the acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts, and walnuts provide an extra kick of protein. Question for you - how do you raise your hogs? Have you tried a pasture raised system or do you keep them locked up all their lives?
Ah, the old follow the university research "unbiased" model. This would be the same research that says glyphosate is harmless and nonGMO has absolutely long term ramifications. Follow the money on funding all of that research. No thanks. Hell bent on making money is not the motivation for my operation.
I literally want a couple pigs for pets and also to keep the property from overgrowing-Ihave 9 acres. I have not much time to keep it up, so Ithought they might help.MOstly pasture grass but some areas ( where they might be) has fully taken over by poison hemlock, pokeweed, and nightshade. Will they not eat the poison stuff if we feed them well?
How many rings do you put in their nose before you release them ???
How much feed do you use when your pigs are on pasture or do they do good without feeding hog feed
No, we have to feed our pigs feed. Since they aren't ruminants, they cannot get enough protein from grass alone. Here is a video we did last year offering a feed cost per pig and our sales ruclips.net/video/aFZOJ6iYg1E/видео.html
"Poompkins." 🤣
I wood use 6 per acre
they are not stupid, on the contrast they are real smart. if you have pigs and have paid attention to them you would know the are way smarter than most animals, even dogs.
C
Pigs that are just on pasture are hungry pigs. They need more than forage.
"Like having children" Yup...
Do you have an issue with bears preying on yoour pigs?
No. Bears are very scarce around here. I have seen tracks on our property but in the 18 years I have lived here, I have never seen a bear.
99i of
M.
Camera hogs.
Always
Lmao.........stop eating my side by side you jerks........lol.....
Pig problems oh ya.......lol
Reminds me of last year our boar ate a whole handle off my wheel barrow while i went to answer the phone..........had to finish cleaning the stall with a one handled wheel barrow......
Now........wonder what your pigs were gonna do with booster cables lmao
They will chew on anything that they find curious.
biden 178 dayz in DE 0 at BORDER
STOP EATING MY SIDE BY SIDE YOU JERKS!
.....I love pigs 🐖...
Hogs ??? Hire a democrat like nusom hes bound to raise yor taxes.
ZERO If I had a farm I would only have Sheep or Goats.
You should have ZERO pigs, pigs are not food for God's children, your not even allowed to touch their carcasses.
tim jones We are New Covenant Christians:
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
1 Timothy 4:4
Nor are we Jewish.
tim jones boom bitch
I am not one of Gods children, so I think I am good.