How Long does it Take Pigs to Reach Slaughter? Pigs are among the animals that are mostly misunderstood and misjudged. They are loved for their bacon and more hated for their mess. Their hams are served for lunch, but no one wants to have a pig on the farm.
How Long does it take to Raise a Pig for Slaughter
Having piglets to raise them will probably not disappoint you. They are hearty, simple to grow, and produce an extreme amount of meat in an amazingly short amount of time.
Many peoples are getting interested in raising pigs, and they need a bit more clarity on how to grow the pigs. Several things have their influence on the growth of pigs. These things will help the pigs to improve and reached to the market demanded weight quickly. How Long does it take to Raise a Pig for Slaughter
The birth weight of pigs is approximately four pounds, and they will reach a weight of Slaughter Weight of 250 pounds in five to six months. The pigs are fun creatures, and they are always full of character.
See Amazons Educational Resources for Raising Pigs
It is incredible for a little pig to grow that quickly by having a small amount of feed. For having fast-growing pigs, seasons do play an essential role in their growth.
How Long does it Take Pigs to Reach Slaughter / How Fast do Pigs Grow
The weaned pigs or the young pigs will grow from just sixty pounds to 250 pounds within five and a half months. Below is the breakdown of the pig’s growth stages.
- The birth weight of a pig is four pounds. The pig will remain with the female pig until all of its little mates are weaned that is around eight weeks of the age.
- Mostly, people love to have a feeder piglet that is capable of eating all the food it needs. The feeder pigs also can live without the mom. The feeder pig’s weight between 50-60 pounds and the age will be 10-12 weeks.
- The feeder pigs will remain with you until they are fully grown with a weight of 250 pounds.
- Some people will love to have a learner pig that weight 230 pounds. Therefore, these learner pigs are ready to butcher sooner, closer to the five months of age. However, other people will love to have more fat so that they can raise the pigs to around 280-300 pounds. This extra weight will undoubtedly take spare time to grow for the pig.
See Our Extensive Guide – 13 Ways to Make Money Pig Farming
5 FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE GROWTH OF YOUR PIGS
The pigs have the ability to reach their genetic potential when they get a well-cared life.
The more care you will provide, the faster they grow.
Below are five essential factors that are required for the pigs to proliferate. Ignoring one of them can result in problems. These factors are the primary factors and easily manageable, but still all critical to success.
1 – GENETICS DICTATE THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE PIGS
The secret to the successful pig raising is a good feeder pig. The good feeder pigs can grow to their genetic potential if the owners play their roles in providing them plenty of water and feed.
Each breed of pigs will grow differently. This difference in growth is no surprise but is worth remembering. Everyone has a favorite kind of pigs that gives them the most traits they like and the least trait they dislike. However, every breed is not perfect for everyone everywhere.
The most common breed of pigs is the crossbreed feeder pigs. These pigs are white with grey spots on the back of their tail. These spots referred to as “Blue Butt.” This crossbreed occurs when Hampshire or Berkshire breed with a female of Yorkshire or Landrace.
The crossbreed feeder pigs are fast-growing meaty pigs. These crossbreed pigs are hardy and significantly less expensive because they are more commonly available.
2 – ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PIG’S MATTERS FOR HEALTH
The happiness of the pigs depends on the environment provided to the pigs. A comfortable and happy environment will influence the growth of the pigs. Therefore, providing pigs with suitable conditions, even during the extreme climates, will help pigs to proliferate.
However, some of the severe weather can be avoided by raising pigs at a different time of the years. Thus the pigs will be most likely to be happier, like in spring and fall. The pigs are successfully raised year-round in many portions of the country.
It is easy to raise pigs outdoors as well indoors depending on the situation. Pigs are the animals that like to root around and will look for the options to remain busy. Therefore, make sure that they have the opportunity to do work during the day time.
Pigs love to be outside and like to chow grass, roots, and bugs. They require a roof over their head, so that they can get out of the breeze and rain but mainly to shade them from the sunlight.
3 – HIGH-QUALITY FEED IS RE FOR BEST GROWTH
Several groups of crossbreed of Berkshire feeding pigs like having their dinner in the barn. The quality of the feed for the pigs will have a considerable influence in determining the results.
The pigs must have a high-quality feed that must be in plenty and should available all the time to have them grow as much as you are hoping.
Pigs are capable of adjusting themselves to eat almost anything. They do like to try out with different snacks. However, the best growth will come when a pig gets all of the feed it wants.
Provide them with the thinks to make their life more interesting like kitchen scraps or pasture, as long as more of the calories come from the feed.
Feeder pigs like to have more things to eat rather than just grass. This is how their stomach and gastrointestinal system is considered to work. As far as ingestion goes, pigs eat a diet more like humans, and less like other farm animals like cattle and sheep, which are ruminants and happy to live on grass.
4 – STRESS: LOW STRESS EQUALS HAPPY PIGS
The lower the stress, the happier the pigs will. By having small stress life, the pigs will grow faster. By providing plentiful food and water to the pigs, along with an engage and comfortable environment, the stress will not come near to pigs.
Keeping pigs free will create a stressful environment for the pigs. Pigs like to do things. Otherwise, they may show strange behavior like biting other pigs, etc.
Provide pigs with an outlet for their energy like bedding to rustle through or some ground to root up. This engagement will make pigs happier and reduce their stress.
It is always better for the comfort of the pigs to keep them in multiples of three, to reduce fighting.
Pigs love to live in a group that is evenly divided by three.
If there are four pigs in a group, the fourth pig may get picked on by the others.
5 – WATER SHOULD BE AVAILABLE ALWAYS
Pigs require plenty of water, especially during the hot seasons. If the heat exceeds a certain level, the pigs will stop eating feed during the day time and wait for the temperature to be more relaxed at night.
Even they stop feeding, and they still need water. It is a common saying that “Pigs are expert water spillers.” Therefore, special care needed for the pigs.
Also, Pigs are not able to sweat so they need access to a mud hole, misting nozzles.
World Pig Breeder Associations
| Pig Association | Location | Link |
|---|---|---|
| National Swine Registry | United States | NSR |
| American Berkshire | Illinois | AB |
| Livestock Conservancy | North Carolina | LC |
| American Mini Pig Association | United States | AMPA |
| Southern California Association of Pot Bellied Pigs | California | SCAPBP |
| British Pig Association | UK | BPA |
| National Pig Association | UK | NPA |
| Canadian Swine Breeders Associations | Canada | CSBA |
| Australian Pig Breeders Associations | Australia | APBA |
