# Whats the average age to get to slaughter weight?



## nathan104

I know that prime slaughter weight for a pig would be around 225 lbs. But, how old is a pig usually to get to that weight. MY two pigs are around 4 months old now. The big one is probably less than 100 lbs (Im guessing), and the little one(which was the runt) cant be much more than 50 lbs. 
Both look healthy. Both have been wormed with ivermectin. What weight should they be at around 4 months of age? How long to get to 225? We feed them once a day in the evening. They usually have a little bit left the next day when we feed them again and almost never finish all of it. We feed an all-stock sweet feed from tractor supply and mix in some cracked corn with it. They get leftovers maybe once a week.


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## agmantoo

I always remember that the previous litter should be loading to go to market when their sow is entering the facility where she will farrow the next litter. A 50 lb. feeder pig can go to market at 220-240 in 115 days. It will take longer with the feed you are feeding but what is time to a pig?


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## tyusclan

It normally should take around 6 months.

The 100 pounder sounds to be about on track. The larger hog could be keeping the smaller one run off the feed.

What's the protein percent on the feed?

You want to feed 16% through the third month, 14% for months 4 and 5, and a 12% finisher for the last 30 days.

With reasonable genetics this will produce a 225-250 lb hog in 6 months time.

You also need to check the salt. Hogs need a maximum of 1% total salt in their feed. An all-stock feed may have a little too much salt for hogs. I don't know that it does, just saying that you might want to check.


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## nathan104

The all-stock is 12% protein and salt shows a min of .4% and a max of 1.5%. So, Sounds like I may need to find a feed with a higher protein count. The local places regular pig feed was also 12% protein so didnt figure it mattered to choose the all-stock which was a bit cheaper. Ill try and track down some better feed. Will the 12% protein hurt anything other than taking a little bit longer to make weight? Im wondering if the runt will ever get up there. Anyone with any experoence with a runt?


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## highlands

Short answer: 6 months from birth.

Long answer: Time to market weight varies greatly with the breed of pig, your goal market weight and what you feed the pigs. Some people like bigger pigs, some smaller. Some like them fattier, some like them leaner. Some like them sooner and push with commercial feed, some like to keep the costs down and quality up so they go with pasture. How long really depends on what you want. Pigs are very versatile.

Runts generally will get to market size. Sometimes they catch up, sometimes they take longer. It really varies.


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## tyusclan

nathan104 said:


> Will the 12% protein hurt anything other than taking a little bit longer to make weight? Im wondering if the runt will ever get up there. Anyone with any experoence with a runt?


No, the 12% won't hurt anything other than taking a little longer to make weight, as you say.

The runt will get there, it'll probably just take him a little longer still.


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## Ronney

Highlands "Long Answer" is a good one and pretty well sums it up.

I look at 6-7 months for free-range porkers being fed twice a day on a diet of milk and cooked scraps, fruit, vegetables and barley. I never buy commercial feeds except as a stop-gap for the sows. I don't have the facilities for weighing live pigs but hanging weight (head off, feet off, gutted) is usually around the 140lb mark which is the size we like them. 

Ty, salt shouldn't be anything much above 0.25% of their feed and anything over 2% is toxic and can kill them especially if there is inadequate water.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Lazy J

nathan104 said:


> I know that prime slaughter weight for a pig would be around 225 lbs.
> 
> 
> 
> Prime slaughter weight differs by the geneic makeup, the objective of your meat, and your facilities. For example a typical Berkshire hog will be ready for maket in the low to mid 200's while a PIC bred hog will be "prime" at 260 to 300 lb.
> 
> Also, if you are attempting to make portion controlled chops you don't want a 300 lb hog with a 9-inch loin eye.
> 
> Jim
Click to expand...


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## Lazy J

nathan104 said:


> Will the 12% protein hurt anything other than taking a little bit longer to make weight? Im wondering if the runt will ever get up there. Anyone with any experoence with a runt?


The "12%" feed won't hurt them, but you will pay more for growth, have fatter hogs at market, and have slower growing pigs.

I'd find somewhere with more approriate feeds for finishing your hogs. An old-fashioned 16-14-12 would work acceptably for you.

Jim


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## Lazy J

Ronney said:


> Ty, salt shouldn't be anything much above 0.25% of their feed and anything over 2% is toxic and can kill them especially if there is inadequate water.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ronnie


The "salt" content can be deceiving due to the manner in which the level of salt is calculated. When I desing feeds I target a Sodium level of .20 to .25% and let that level be met using NaCl (Salt) or by-products in the feed.

Jim


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## FL.Boy

In my opinion the 12% allstock is junk. I posted about this before http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=249895
It seams find for there cows that have pasture too. Also the molasses in it draws the flies like crazy, and my FNL feeds on the ground and it goes in and comes out looking the same. For more info on what I'm talking about see the other thread. I have been feeding a 18% grower and hay,pasture. I get my feed at wal-mart it was $8.87 for 50lbs but just went up to $11.36 for 50lbs. but the nice thing is i get a 10% discount.


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## nathan104

Thanks for all the great info. We will find another feed source with higher protein in the next week. They do get hay to eat and some fresh grass daily. We buy the 50lbs bags of cracked corn and mix a couple cups in with the all-stock every day. but, we only do this because someone told us to. What does the extra cracked corn provide the pigs and is it something they need or is beneficial to them? Thanks.


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## tyusclan

Ronney said:


> Ty, salt shouldn't be anything much above 0.25% of their feed and anything over 2% is toxic and can kill them especially if there is inadequate water.


I think I worded that a little wrong, Ronnie. I wasn't trying to say that hogs *need* 1% salt, but that 1% was the maximum. You're right, though, even less is better.


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## FL.Boy

If your changing feed i would like to hear what you think about the new feed compared to the old feed in a couple of weeks thanks


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## nathan104

We bought new feed today. The only pig feed they had over 15% protein was show pig feed at 19%. Unfortunately a 50lb bag of it cost twice as much as the all-stock. $15.50 per 50 lbs! Thats crazy. But, we went ahead and bought two bags. Im not really trying to raise the cheapest pork I can, so its not that big of a deal. We still have 100 lbs of the all-stock left. So, we are going to mix the 19% show pig feed 1:1 with the 12% all-stock. So, the mix should do better than what they get now. They will also start getting the daily left overs of the calf starter as we will be giving them fresh every day. That stuff is like 22% protein. But, it does not list the salt content so we will not be giving them too much of it and it will be mixed with the other feed as well. Ill see what difference that makes in the next few weeks and give an update. They both look very healthy right now being well formed and not very fat. They are just gaining slow. With mixing the two, we have about 250 lbs of feed on hand. Before that is used up, I will find another source with a better protein count that doesnt cost as much as the sow pig feed.


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## TophamFarms

Try to go to a feed mill and get your feed in bulk you will save so much more money that way on feed


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