Walter Jeffries wrote:So how do you tell, once you've made sure it is female? Well the first thing I do is look at the pregnancy indicator built into every female pig. Here’s a post to help you with looking at your piggy’s clit hood: It’s got pictures of naked pigs, crotch shots and all that so people with extreme sensitivities of sexuality may not want to go there. However, consider this science, not piggy porn. I wrote up an explanation of what to look for with the pregnancy indicator, why it happens and also linked to another post I had that showed a non-pregnant gilt’s clitoral hood for comparison.
thomas rubino wrote:I agree with Nick, your pigs will certainly eat hay but only out of boredom.
thomas rubino wrote:I don't believe they would gain weight very well either.
thomas rubino wrote:I put down straw as bedding and they in veritably, eventually eat it all.
Walter Jeffries wrote:That's a bit of a myth. Our pigs thrive on pasture which is largely but not entirely grass. Contrary to what you say, pigs do eat and benefit from grass. I feed about 240,000 pounds (120 tons) of hay every winter to our pigs and that is almost all grasses. That is the bulk of what they eat.
elle sagenev wrote:
Nick Truscott wrote:We often offer/sell suckling pigs between 6 and 10 weeks old, but generally the males as in our rural Bulgarian market our villagers want gilts to raise over a year for the christmas celebrations. We haven't been doing it long (3.5 years since our first littler), but quickly steeled ourselves to help make the most of the litter and maximize income/cashflow at the time. Frankly it is easy, quick and humane to cut and bleed a piglet - we remove the selected little ones from the sow and take them away to do it quickly and quietly.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
How do you cut them? I thought the piglets they wanted were newborn. Like palm sized. I didn't think I could do that. I'm better with the older piglet being the one they take. Apparently my emotions have an age limit. I'm awful!