New to LSB

Hi

We are very new to this and wanting to raise pigs, anyone know of any piglets for sale in the Wairarapa, close to masterton.

Thanks

Victoria

Welcome, and good on you for asking.
In my opinion, you are wanting to rear one of the most difficult animals possible. Pigs are on my "never again" list because
1. You need to work out how you are going to feed them cheaply enough to be worthwhile. With Miss Piggy, we spent $160 on commercial feed, but she also got cooked homekilled meat, kitchen scraps, fruit and vegetables. If you do not have the time to collect food scraps from supermarkets and restaurants, then remove the rubbish, then cook it if there is any meat in it, there will be lots of work for little reward. Meat must be cooked before it is fed to pigs.
2. Pigs can dig their way out of enclosures, and are also very good at climbing. Your neighbours and your gardener will get very upset if your pig gets where it is not wanted. Miss Piggy learnt to get though the fence around her enclosure (the orchard), and wandered around the farm digging holes in the pasture, and I suspect that she ate the hind quarters of a lamb that I had to kill when I found it. Eventually, she was out one day and decided that we not longer needed a farm dog, so she tried to kill him. Spot, the dog, was an absolute gem of a dog that could work sheep, goats, cattle and donkeys, sometimes perfectly. So Miss Piggy had to go.
2a. How are you going to keep them warm in winter and cool in summer? How are you going to keep the sty clean?
3. Pigs tend to get very, very friendly. It is very emotional having to kill and process a friendly animal.
4. It is absolutely illegal to sell meat to family and friends that has not been killed and processed correctly according to law.

So before you get the pigs, have a think about these problems if you have not already done so

pigs are best kept in an enclosure otherwise they run off the food you are giving them, unless you just want them for pets of course.
Get 4 farm gates and tie them together, if you have a tractor you can move the gates a couple of times a week and they will dig and fertilize the ground for you. If the pigs get hungry they will move the gates for you anyway!

I made a nice house for them but they just destroyed it, and they seem very happy just to lie down in a shallow "nest" that they make in the ground. A couple of sheets of corrugated make a good sunshade.

I get the cleanings from the local chippy, I know it is full of bad fat but finding food is hard and feeding them commercial food is uneconomic. They will also eat all the weeds but bread is not so good for them. I have found pigs to be easy care and do my own home kill, which again is easy as long as you don't want to scald them, I just skin them and buy a bit of crackling from the supermarket to go over the roast.

The are some lovely ladies in Waipukerau that sell Berkshires , we grazed them over an acres or so, free range and they thrive on grass, scraps and pellets. Saddlebacks are good and large blacks or part breeds.
Welcome