# How much feed to sustain a sow and boar



## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

I have successfully completed my first year of raising feeder pigs to butchering weight. Bought the piglets and the spring and had them butchered last month. My question is, if I were to think about breeding my own, how much feed would it take to maintain a sow and boar over the course of a year. If I understand correctly, they can be bred about twice a year, so would the cost of the piglets (about $45 each) cover the cost of the food for sustaining the breeders for a year. I have to buy the food from the local feed mill, about $20 per 100lbs. If anyone could give me any good advice, it would be appreciated.

Thanks.


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## Feathers-N-Fur (Dec 17, 2007)

The boar will eat 5-8 lbs a day, the sow will eat 5-8 lbs a day for herself and when she is nursing, add 1 lb per piglet. You can do the math on that, but your feed prices are about the same as ours and we couldn't possibly break even at $45.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Budgeting 4 lbs per day of "mill feed" for the sow from the time she is bred until she farrows should keep her in good condition. The boar can be maintained on less, say 3 lbs. Kitchen waste that is fed is in addition to the mill feed. This totals 7 lbs/day and at 20 cents per lb that will cost you $1.40/day or $42/month. As you know your number of piglets can vary considerably so plug in whatever number you expect to survive. As you can see it will take a minimum of 6 survivors per litter to break even for just the sow and boar's feed. You will also have to budget for the pigs feed needs.. You need to locate a cheaper source of feed. Corn is only roughly $3.50 per bushel. Deer/wildlife corn is sold at feed stores for roughly 10 cents/lb. You could buy soymeal and corn and feed that for 1/2 of your current expense. Adding some quality hay could possibly help depending on what you have to pay for hay per lb.


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

Currently I can get timothy hay for around $3 a square bale, roughly 40lbs per bale. How much hay can I feed per day to offset some of the feed mill feed costs?


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

I would budget 2500 lb per year for the sow and 1750 for the boar.


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

stifflej said:


> II have to buy the food from the local feed mill, about $20 per 100lbs. If anyone could give me any good advice, it would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks.


A .65 lysine Gestation ration with $4 corn, $350 SBM, and a 90 lb premix should cost in the $225 range, add some overhead costs for the mill and you are WELL under $300/ton ($15/cwt).

Of course if you are using a mill selling a "Sow Feed" that is an inappropriate compromise between a gestation and lactation feed then the price will be higher.

Jim


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## shelfer (Jun 18, 2009)

Making your own feed will bring your feed bill down. I use vigortone swine cl53 vit/min package. For example the finisher mix(190-250 lbs) is corn 1697 lbs, soymeal 250 lb and vit/min 53 lbs for a ton. corn @ 4 and the last bag of soymeal(50lb) was $12 vit/min was $25 for 53 lb bag. Total is $205. That makes it $5.13 a bag. I have to pay $8 at the local mill.
I would stay away from deer corn unless the bag says it has been tested for molds. There are alot of mold the pig can smell and will not eat the food.


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

unfortunately, at this time, making my own feed is not an option.


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

If I would supplement with hay, since it is cheaper, could I cut the grain feed down to about 4lbs a day for each, and free feed hay, and add table/garden scraps when I have them? How long would a small square bale last (about 40lbs a bale)?


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

You can buy sacked feed then why cannot you buy sacked corn and one bag of soymeal and a bag of supplement? The feed does not have to be ground for mature hogs.


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

Well, I am fairly new at raising livestock, I currently don't know where I would be able to find what you mention, will have to do a little research to see if it is possible. Looking through the classifieds, I see corn for about $9 a bushel.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Stifflej,

In short, no, sell piglets at $45 each you probably are not going to come close to breaking even even for the feed. On top of that you have a lot of other costs to consider such as land, taxes, fencing, housing, electric or what ever else you outlay to raise your pigs. Then there is your time. Don't underprice your product. It is a quick road to ruin.

Do a spreadsheet of all the costs. Then add generously to that for the factors you are not considering that are going to come up. Then go into it slowly and gain real world experience. My suggestion would be to raise feeder pigs for a few more years before you try breeding. It is also questionable economics to maintain a boar for just one sow. To pay for him you more likely need about six sows.

You can't simply switch from commercial feed to corn - it is missing vital nutrients - and likewise you can't simply substitute hay and get the same growth rates. We do feed pasture and hay, in addition to dairy, apples and vegetables. Hay and pasture are low in lysine and calories. Additionally different hays will have different feed values.

Making custom diets is something you want to ease into. It's very doable, but there are many factors to learn. One example is that pigs won't digest whole corn very well. Grind it and they digest it better. Another example is that the corn you're seeing for $9/bushel, what is it exactly? Make sure you're not buying cobs.

One other thing to know this year, apparently there was a _lot_ of corn that got tainted with mold in the fields making it not just unpalatable but actually dangerous to livestock. It might cause abortions and deaths.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
Save 30% off Pastured Pork with free processing: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

stifflej said:


> Well, I am fairly new at raising livestock, I currently don't know where I would be able to find what you mention, will have to do a little research to see if it is possible. Looking through the classifieds, I see corn for about $9 a bushel.


You should be able to do better than 9.... But I'd not expect you to find it for less than 7 here. Check out the "Lancaster farming" Sometimes their are adds for feed cheap. Just so you know we in PA import most of the corn used in this state. That corn you see growing is for silage for cattle, There are very few combines in this state.

Your best bet is to charge more for the piggies when you sell them. A good little feeder thats in a clean stall and looks good will sell for 55-65$ at the farm gate most of the year. Higher in the spring especially if your raising any kinda pure breed. 4H you know.


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## bruceki (Nov 16, 2009)

I agree with Highlands. With purchased feed your pig prices are too low, and you need to carry more than one sow to pay for a boar. Stan999 is also right -- your husbandry will sell your animals. A nice clean stall is a good way to add $10-20 to the price of your pigs. 

If you'd rather not feed the boar, you can get boar semen and AI the sows. This takes some experience and observation to know when they're cycling, but the cost of the semen is lower than the cost of the feed if you're only keeping a couple of sows. 

You can expect 2 litters per year from a good sow. Market prices for pigs here vary by season. Right now is low season; $50-55 - i buy pigs at this price, and am buying them now, because it's close to the cost of production. In the spring, that same animal will sell for $110-125, summer $90 with the occasional pig going for bbq at a premium, decreasing to winter low. These are western washington prices; your local prices will vary. 

One of your litters will be in the high season, one in the low. Most pig producers that I know have feed costs as their highest cost, and work hard to get other sources of feed. I got 4.5 tons of 7 layer dip today, for instance; before that I got some condensed milk (9 tons of it) and some pumpkin (6 tons of it) and so on. So my feed bill, ignoring hay costs, is zero for this month and I'm carrying 80 hogs. Really improves the bottom line. 

I wrote up some ideas on how to find low cost sources of food here. Right at the end is a summary of how I find food.


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks all for your advice, after running all the numbers, and knowing the market has been down for the last year+ (I bought feeders in peak season for $40 this spring), just doesn't make sense to try to breed my own...unless I find a better food source. Thanks all.


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