tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post3855167284797815668..comments2023-12-15T02:04:08.213-08:00Comments on meat: Piglet updateBruce Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10995706761794063165noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-85539249071549008752009-04-13T09:58:00.000-07:002009-04-13T09:58:00.000-07:00Well, Scott, I agree, babies are so easy to attach...Well, Scott, I agree, babies are so easy to attach to, but we found that when those male babies start maturing, and the homones and the smell and the behaviors start up, it's just easier to remember the next batch of babies will be coming soon, and these now 'old geezers' will have to make room for the cycle of life to continue. Yay! for new life and new babies!!Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01555433402389131682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-14171317823773537672009-03-04T10:01:00.000-08:002009-03-04T10:01:00.000-08:00Very cute pigs, great to see someone treating thei...Very cute pigs, great to see someone treating their animals well. I'd get so attached if they were mine, that's why I trust people like you to breed & look after them, I'll just do the eating.Scott at Real Epicureanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10935102352822407092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-83543517898397125472009-03-03T11:58:00.000-08:002009-03-03T11:58:00.000-08:00If the piglet died of causes that I can determine;...If the piglet died of causes that I can determine; like it's squished flat under the sow, the dogs get it. If the piglet dies for reasons that aren't clear, I compost them to ensure that there's no issues. <BR/><BR/>In an earlier post <BR/><BR/>http://ebeyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/02/farrowing.html <BR/><BR/> I listed some of the survival rates. Those are for live pigs that get weaned -- they don't list how many piglets were actually born live and died before weaning. <BR/> <BR/>For summer farrowing my rate is pretty good; about 90%. My rate this winter has sucked; maybe 30%. So I'm changing my husbandry to see if I can't get better survival rates.Bruce Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10995706761794063165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1842136564899097734.post-16453285818745947622009-03-03T11:51:00.000-08:002009-03-03T11:51:00.000-08:00I know you've posted about your decisions on farro...I know you've posted about your decisions on farrowing method and the disagreements that exist among the different methods. So, I'm curious. What was your mortality rate? And what will you do in the future to try reduce it? Do you know what typical mortality rates are for "wild" pigs? (It just doesn't seem logical to me that nature would select an animal with the propensity to kill it's own young through negligence at a rate on the order of 60%.)<BR/><BR/>Also, what do you do with the ones that didn't make it? Feed to the dogs or hogs?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com