[Homestead] pigs

EarthNSky erthnsky at bellsouth.net
Sat Jan 17 23:27:25 EST 2009



Leslie wrote:
> 
> 
> One of my brother's comical statements when he heard me discussing 
> various locations w/dad - he wants to put them some 1200 feet away 
> from the closest water line,,,, when I pointed out the obvious issue
>  with that,,,, he says not to worry about them needing water, they 
> will drink when it rains...  Ya right, like that happens a lot here 
> in the desert.... not even once a month most of the year....   Course
>  he didn't have enough rain where he had them either, so needless to
>  say, his pigs did not exactly thrive, although he did shower them 
> with love, they were severely malnourished.

I don't know about your brother...
Pigs need a LOT of water. Their food is slop not because the food itself
is gross, but because they like their food 'juiced', mixed with milk or
water.  The soupier/stewier/juicier their food is, the better they eat
it.  The last few weeks, I would soak their feed in goat milk for a
couple of hours or overnight..practically sprouted the corn..lol..they
loved it.  If you feed them dry food, at least have clean water available.



> 
> Speaking of shower, do they like being "scrubbed" when getting a 
> bath, or just getting wet and then rolling in the dirt?

They love being scrubbed..they like scratching, and they will, of
course, allow you to scratch their butts and bellies all day long.<G>
If they start swinging their head back and forth, that is a sign of
aggression.  Pigs are kind of scary when they get larger....be careful
around them, they swing their heads right before they bite, and they
bite what is to their side, not what is in front..snout gets in the way
of that.
Here are a couple of pig pages

http://www.animalbehaviour.net/JudithKBlackshaw/Chapter3e.htm

http://www.psyeta.org/hia/vol8/brewer.html

> 
> I was also thinking of using the pig manure (mixed with other manure)
>  to make "manure tea"... have you tried that for the veggies?

I use horse manure for manure teas.  Horse manure is more solid and can
be 'bagged' in a burlap sack.  Pig manure is 'looser', if you get my
drift.  Best to leave the pig poop in place..Let the area age a bit and
you have a nice, tilled, fertilized garden area. (Pig sh*t) is hot poop,
must be aged.  Theoretically I think it would be fine for tea mixed with
something more solid, but I personally would have no desire to shovel it.

> 
> If hand tamed, can you turn them loose in a large area and then 
> convince them to come back to a penned area easily, like you can do 
> with chickens, horses, etc?

Maybe, but I wouldn't trust it-they are too smart.

-- 
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge



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