Post by simplynaturalfarm on Oct 27, 2013 11:59:22 GMT -5
I mentioned before having problems with spoiled pigs refusing to eat. Well, these guys are so energetic and busy that they are not dying of malnutrition. They simply refuse to eat their grain. They get a mixture of ground barley and wheat, free choice water obviously and then whatever milk we have leftover. Since DH emptied my barn to re vamp it, we milk outside and I have nowhere to lock my calves up, so I am only milking Merle and have no extra milk for pigs daily like normal. They get maybe 2 gallons of milk every 3 days in one glug. They are refusing to touch their grain. The cows eat it, the chickens scarf the grain down, it is fresh, not moldy, it was tested to be good with no mold or fungus and I give them about 1/2 5 gallon pail in their feeder as I like to keep it fresh. I check the level 3x a day and they dig in their 32x32 pen (permanent pen) and refuse their food. There is no grass in their pen and it is just dirt, straw in their little house and nothing else to eat. 1-2 months ago they would drink 3-5 gallons of milk and about 1.5 pails of feed per day. Now they are down to no milk and I put 1/2 pail of feed in and it is still sitting there 3 days later . . . they are eating nothing, gaining nothing and every time they see me they scream and squeal like pigs begging for milk, then I dump fresh grain in and they just stand and stare at me and then walk away.
SO, having said all of this, I am really contemplating it is time to butcher. They should weigh 100lbs more than they do right now, but they've been on grain strike for almost a month now. Absolutely no idea why they are refusing it - it is the same batch of whole grain they were eating 2 months ago but I grind it fresh daily. DH says they are too small to butcher (probably weigh 180), but we can see they are not gaining a thing, it is down to 20's each night and we should be getting snow soon. Do you guys see any reason for me to hang onto them like DH says? I just don't see why I should when they aren't eating!
If I am foolish enough to mix the milk with a bit of ground grain, they will refuse to eat the grain in the milk and it will simply spoil. They used to eat it.
I don't know why they aren't thin as a rail the way they are refusing food!
This is not my year!
SO, having said all of this, I am really contemplating it is time to butcher. They should weigh 100lbs more than they do right now, but they've been on grain strike for almost a month now. Absolutely no idea why they are refusing it - it is the same batch of whole grain they were eating 2 months ago but I grind it fresh daily. DH says they are too small to butcher (probably weigh 180), but we can see they are not gaining a thing, it is down to 20's each night and we should be getting snow soon. Do you guys see any reason for me to hang onto them like DH says? I just don't see why I should when they aren't eating!
If I am foolish enough to mix the milk with a bit of ground grain, they will refuse to eat the grain in the milk and it will simply spoil. They used to eat it.
I don't know why they aren't thin as a rail the way they are refusing food!
This is not my year!