new pig, have questions about worming

We have happened upon a pig, not sure what kind it is, but doen't look like anybody is going to claim him, he happened upon our farm and made a home inside our chicken pen with our chickens for a whole day before we found him.

It is a male pig but looks like he's been banded.

my question is, What, when and how often should I worm him? I'm sure I need to get started with this. and do I need to vaccinate him with anything? We will raise him for meat.

If he's going to stay around, (looks like he is) nobody has claimed him and I've asked and nobody has pigs around here, go figure. So he's ours I guess, I've been feeding him pig grower and veggie garden scraps

He's about 2 months maybe 3 not sure, he is here when we first got him about a month ago. he's bigger now.

Have you called the co-operative extension agent? Can't help you much beyond that but he or she should be able to give you a pamphlet regarding pig upkeep.

He's kind of cute, but I'd make sure he is in fact banded.

Oh, I forgot to post this link: http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/project_swine

This is from the TAMU website. Univ of Arkansas should have something similar.

Good luck!

This message was edited Aug 27, 2013 10:36 AM

How do I go about doing that? making sure he's been banded. There's none down there to band right now, that's for sure.

I will contact them, I figured I could get some service right here from other pig growers.

If there’s “none down there,” he possibly was castrated the old fashioned guaranteed to work way very early in life. Look for two small scars low down on the scrotum, one on each section.

You might get info from a local high school agri teacher and class, sometimes even physical help with animals can be had, depending on how energetic the teacher is and how litigious-shy the administration is.

I’d wean him off the slop a few weeks before slaughter. Do you plan to do your own slaughtering and processing?

No we'll take it into to be slaughtered.

He is a cutie, odd that no one claimed him. Their loss is your gain.

yeah, you should see him now!! lol

Is he in the freezer?

Not yet. Prob in Jan or feb.

January is here.... Have you taken him to slaughter yet? I'm curious to hear how big he got! Do you know how much he weighs/weighed? Did you ever find out what breed of pig he is/was?

I have to chuckle when I think about the fact that "free" meat showed up at your house one day! lol You just never know what a day will bring! ;) lol

If he’s of any size and quality, the meats not “free” anymore. An old saw: A hog’ll eat you out of house and home. Just like Papa said, "Anybody could of named em."

Here’s something to digest: What if the owner, who has been watching weight gain from the shadows, emerges and makes his claim just as “his” hog returns from the butcher?

Indigestion yet?

Adam, I hadn't thought of THAT! Oy!! Wouldn't that be a bummer!?
....Well......"Possession" is 9/10 of the law. ;) lol

Quick - ear mark him with "your" mark.

He's still here, probably close to 200 by now, maybe 180 that's just a guess. and I did find out what kind, he's a cross, but I forget, he's long bodied. and very mild attitude, I can go up to him and put my arms around him, lol not that I do that often. he's a friendly pig. We decided since he has been fixed, that we would raise him to about 300 or march or so this year take him in. he'll probably walk right into the trailer, he's that friendly. and yes, he eats us out of house and home.

Pigs are dense. He probably weighs more than you think.

Kathy Ann, post a new pic of him if you can! ....I'd love to see him now. :-D

I will today. When I get on my laptop. We did the string test on him for weight and he's approx 205 lbs now.

Well I'm on my cell phone. Don't think I can post a pic from it. But I'll try. If not. I'll get on my laptop later and post a pic of him

Wow! Did the pic actually go through from posting on my cell?

The second didn't go through. Let me try again Pictures look like their turned at a diff angle. But maybe u can see them ok

Handsome fellow!

I bet he was a cute piglet

Looks like some pretty good ham and sausage!

A hog will dress out abt 25 to 50# less than they weigh. so 250# to 275# is good for slaughtering. Many wait til 300# or more. Looks good.
Cell phone pix flip that way, but can be fixed by going in to the menu, choose crop, and flare the box out - that shaves the picture top off enough that it will be upright in DG files...

Thanks. I didn't know that about posting pix from
Cell phones. I use to not be able to post them at all from my cell. We r feeding the pig corn .
Will be taking him to slaughter soon. He's about 240 now.

Bon appetit'! we finished steers and hogs on corn too- then slaughtered in between the up growth and the out growth for best time proper meat to fat ratio. Been awhile since I did that part.

We process at least one show hog every year. Timed to the ending of the State Livestock Exposition, high quality hogs can be purchased from high school students who have shown there. Taste home-processed whole-hog sausage, seasoned to your liking, to store-bought sausage, which has in it you don’t know what, and you will throw the latter to the chickens.

Now and again we will process a feral hog. What they have recently fed on in the wild highly influences taste, we have found–sometimes to its detriment, though never, so far, to a throw it to the chickens degree. Shopping for feral pork is always a blast, and the prices are always bayou bottom.

To us, a decisive detail in doing your own yourself: You are a long way toward knowing the history of what you are chewing on and about to swallow.

However you do it

Have fun!

I still don't like the seasonings that the packing houses put in my sausage, I'd really like the seasoning to be monosodium glutamate free and free of anything else, I don't think I'm getting that. they all say it's a mix and they don't modify it, it's not their own mix. We're almost finished feeding the rest of the grain to the pig, I think today will be the last day on grain, then we will feed it corn chops for it's remaining days. I'm so ready to have some down time feeding in this fridged temps. Even the pig has a house to go into. lol

Can`t you have them grind it up for you and add your own spices when you get it home?

A place I used to acquire my seasoning blends was R E O Spices in Huntsville, Tx. I imagine you can find them on the internet, you could buy individual spices, or even the nitrates, or different blends. I am not sure if they sell to individuals, I haven't been back there in 10 yrs. That is only one place. I personally loved ground pork after asking for our specific cuts from the locker- no seasonings. That event was closer to 40 yrs ago, chuckle. There are recipe books for making your own seasoned meats, I have one somewhere from a shopping trip to Cabelas a few years back, as well...but you could prob find great recipes on NOLACuisine.com looking for recipes for tasso, and such.

I think he's beautiful....as pigs go. ;) Thanks for the photo Kathy!
Has he gone to be processed yet? If so, how do you like your meat?

He's still here, another week or so. he got out last week and ran down the road, had to go bring him back to the house, I'm sure he ran off 50 pounds or so ha. I wish I lost that weight chasing him down.

I have more questions. Pig goes to slaughter the 17th. I don't really know how to have it cut up. Any thoughts.

We had two pigs processed. Ended up with 548# of fine pork. Steaks, hams, bacon, jocks. We got the liver and were supposed to get the heads but they left them out. We also got the fat but have never rendered it down. They were skinned instead of scraped so we couldn't do cracklins. It was surprising how little fat there was on them. They were long and lean. We had the ham and bacon all smoked.