Watch This Before Getting Your First Pigs: Choosing the Right Pigs

[@mikeyjoshua1846]

I'm not a farmer. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment in the city. There's no way i'll ever raise livestock. I just watch this because i think the pigs are adorable

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thanks for watching. This video was a tough one to get through for someone not raising pigs I would think.

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

You're actually providing a valuable service. Not many people in the city really understand much about the source of their food supply, which makes you a sort of ambassador. 👍

[@daughtryshane1785]

I live in the same situation but my grandpa ranched. I’m absolutely getting back into it. Miss the high school days out there working!

[@BriaroniAndCheese]

There is no better informative pig farm channel than this

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@LoremasterLiberaster]

I'm not even a farmer but these videos are always so interesting, it's just because you are so honest and knowledgeable and unafraid to share your mistakes.

[@raraavis7782]

Me too. I doubt I'll ever actually put this knowledge to use, but I find it utterly fascinating. And really... shouldn't we all know how agriculture and breeding and raising farm animals works? Food is such an important part of our lives and our health. You can't make informed decisions, if you don't know anything about a subject.

[@LoremasterLiberaster]

@@raraavis7782 yeah like if a zombue apocalypse happens tmw that family will survive but I certainly wouldn't be able to sustain myself😂

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I appreciate that!

[@Unpainted_Huffhines]

If you go back through the generations far enough, everybody is descended from a farmer.

[@oscaryikes9822]

I'm 16, live in the city in Germany and my family has nothing to do with farming, yet I've been binge watching your channel for days now 😂 You're great at explaining important info about pigs and I'm sure your channel has helped lots of people who actually plan on having pigs!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Danke!

[@teakvinson5889]

As you age, get you a place in the country. Raise you a small farm. You’ll be happier and healthier.

[@dieseldummy4250]

As a heritage breeder/ farmer, most of what he/you said was on point. We live in different parts of the country, so there is differences, but as far generally speaking goes, thats a pretty solid beginners guide. 👍

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you!

[@BJSmith-ll3uw]

We have been raising hogs for many years. This is 100% good advise.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you!

[@JoeBlow-rl1xw]

Holy smokes this is a lot of information. I’m never going to raise pigs, but it’s fascinating to this city boy. We all need to know more about our food supply. I’m delighted that a Mississippi boy is succeeding.

[@standandknowgod]

And they try and say farmers aren't educated. I've learned a lot....not I will raise pigs. But his content is very interesting..no filters no click bait either.

[@michaelnancyamsden7410]

Retired old doctoer who likes the farm and the eats. Yes to lean meat pigs. They are smart cute beasts. I could not eat one that had been named. Mom kept a throw down meat wrapper to prove the dinner was not Stinky, the bottle raised runt we raised. The herds are so cute.

[@ThatHabsburgMapGuy]

The quality of your videos has increased so much! Excellent color, audio quality, visual fidelity, and presentation. I'm starting to make my own videos and the difference is palpable.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you. It has taken a monumental amount of time, energy, and effort. If you work to make small improvements gradually, they get much much better. Frankly, I still struggle to figure out what people find interesting!

[@Sevaanos666]

Me and my wife got into KuneKunes. We love them. We had a litter of piglets last year, from a sow we bought. Now we have our first on the farm breed sow which is due in about a month.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Nice. Do you like the kunes? Have you had any of the commercial breeds?

[@Sevaanos666]

@DowdleFamilyFarms We love the Kunes. Their biggest downside is that they are on the slower growing side, but their temperament is fantastic. We haven't had any other breeds, but we are thinking of adding in some Mangalica. Our biggest issue is space because we have to use taller fencing since we have to deal with coyotes. So it's more costly to expand out their areas.

[@wolfgangbarreto1833]

This is by far the most useful information on the subject of pig raising. This is to the point ideas without any subjectivity. Many thanks for a great video.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I am glad that it was helpful for you. Thank you for the kind words.

[@Marialla.]

I'd love a video someday about your own background and family. How you started to learn about farming and pigs in particular, who your mentors and gurus were, and what kind of family support you have for the farming way of life. All this is relevant to someone who might be considering to enter the farming life from the outside with no experience or current contacts. I think many of us have romantic notions about how "natural" and "simple" such a life would be, and think we could take it on without realizing how obtuse we actually are. Spoken with love! I do not mean to disparage anyone for trying. But for some of us the best way to participate is to buy from someone else doing it rather than to take it on ourselves.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Let me see what I can figure out. What specific questions would you want to know? I’m curious. It will help me figure out what to include in a video.

[@ericviessmann7507]

Thank you for sharing these valuable insights!!

[@gustavchambert7072]

I have got to say, that what kind of pig probably depends a lot on what one is trying to achieve. For any kind of commercial farming a lard breed will likely not be viable, but for other priorities they might be perfect. Homesteaders for example, especially ones going for a large degree of self-sufficiency on a small scale will probably have more use out of a lard breed. Fat is, in general, one of the most difficult things to farm from plants, and animal fats can thus be a vital piece of a a self-sufficiency puzzle. Here it also helps that lard, especially lard raised on pasture, apparently has an excellent mix of fatty acids.

[@beckydealba8286]

Just found the channel! It’s great!! We’ve been raising 3-4 a year for 5 years now. Our best performers were a set of Berkshire Tamworth crosses. We keep one for ourselves every year and I render the lard. We use it for most of our cooking and all of our soap for our family and one meat pig provides enough lard for the whole year for us, along with enough meat.

[@marrmaladee]

Dying to have my own small farm / homestead one day. Truly appreciate your videos! Pigs are one of the livestock animals I've been interested in seeing how often we eat pork.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I'd certainly start with pigs. It's the most underrated livestock for homesteads or small farms for sure.

[@karenhudson6340]

Thanks for your very informative content! I bought 3 Berkshire/Mangalitsa crosses (as feeders, born Christmas Eve) specifically because of the lard and quality meat reputation. We will most likely process them this fall. My attitude toward the results of ratio of lard to meat is "great!" because I need it all! 😀

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Yes, they grow out much slower, 18 months compared to 7 months for us. that manga berk cross seems to grow faster even than the duroc manga cross for some reason. But we tend to get plenty of fat from our berks.

[@henrysylvester-williams9143]

I appreciate you video content. The lessons learned are invaluable.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Glad to hear it

[@SchwarzeskabelGWP]

The percentages you gave about which animals should be bred pertains to dogs as well. There’s a good cross over between what you’re talking about and what all responsible breeders should follow.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I'm not much of a dog breeder, but yes, its important to do good breeding.

[@cdjhyoung]

One significant difference between dog breeding and commercial hog breeding is that for dogs, keeping to pure bred lineage is important for the breed. For commercial hogs the opposite is true. The best growing (fastest) and best carcass confirmation comes from cross bred hogs across different breeds.

[@mcchupka9718]

I really appreciate the information you are providing. I really want to start with feeders on pasture. I haven’t seen much of that on YT.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

You're welcome, I've been doing this for a few years now. We have lots of videos

[@ashleehouse5204]

Love your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Glad you like them!

[@stephenmorgan6126]

Kunekune feeders go for $50 in my area.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Interesting. There must be a glut of them. The cost of production with small litter sizes is closer to twice that amount. The breeding groups I’ve seen close by here are extremely high and really aren’t breed quality. The cost of the feeders is minimal if one is operating for profit. Time to weight, feed conversion, and fat content play a huge role.

[@lightning9279]

You get right to the point. Thank you for that. Other channels drown on, and on, and on, and on, with little to no good content.👍

[@kurtcooper3699]

Thanks again for making this video. I always learn something new. Chickens are still considered a higher profit animal when compared to the basic 4. Chicken, pig, beef & lamb. If the northern parts of the country ate rabbits like the south, we would all have rabbits in chicken runner coops out in pasture. It fails to mention that chicken farms are owned in part by contracts w/tyson & other big commercial processors. It's often considered a nightmare & a 20 year death contract certificate to raise chickens for these large powerful style of commercial producers. It's actually very sad & should be illegal. A free market isn't one massive commercial operation dictating all the requirements for raising the chicken & then making the farmer pay for it! I would encourage every farmer to be independent & learn to butcher so u can sell the finished process way before ever considering signing a contract. If u raise the animal, then u should write the contract!!!!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Yes, these contracts can be quite harmful for the growers indeed.

[@pattidrier9593]

I grew up on a pig farm in the 1950’s and 60’s. Dad did very well, and I was active in helping. But Dad never talked about the management part. I find this very interesting.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I'm glad that you find it interesting. Unfortunately, we have lost a lot of knowledge in the last 40 years or so by having pigs almost entirely indoors.

[@ashleehouse5204]

Wish I'd have been watching your videos before we got our first set of pigs a couple years ago. We got a kune and a pot belly. The kune especially always acted like he was starving. They were sooo fatty!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I bet!

[@BriaroniAndCheese]

You ate your pot belly pig?

[@FT__Home__Plants__etc___-go9rv]

Thank you for sharing the information very clearly and without a bunch of youtube/influencer BS added in

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

You are welcome!

[@ThaneAnderson]

I plan to get pigs for myself. I will in turn now watch this here video.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

thanks!

[@Nicolisweetiepie]

Thanks for the video! I have been considering meat pigs recently and there were a lot of factors I wasn't considering!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Glad it was helpful! Let me know how the pig raising goes!

[@rodneymatthews3944]

At 6:50 u said castrate and the little pig behind u took off running 😂

[@Michael29160]

How do you market your pork ? I am in SC not to far from you and pretty much the same climate. I have 20 acres apply named (Too Many Oaks Plantation ) I am looking to raise a few pigs on pasture so I love your videos. I thought 4 would be a good start which is more meat than we could use. Therefore the question of marketing. I am looking to start small but don't want to find myself with a thousand pounds of pork in the freezer. Thank you for the videos they are a Godsend

[@chriswaddell1768]

We’re in central SC and raise 2 pigs at a time. If you raise 4 pigs you’ll get over 500 pounds of meat. 2 pigs per year works pretty well for our family of 5.

[@Michael29160]

@@chriswaddell1768 Hey Chris, thank you, my little farm is in Sandy Run just outside of Columbia,

[@Swines-and-good-times]

Thank you

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

You're welcome

[@jetdog54]

Confinement pigs will do fine on pasture but there will be a transition period to the pasture. Confinement conditions are super sanitized and pigs have little to no defense to germs due to this. With the transition comes that adaptation to new germs. Just something to look out for if they regress or stop growing at first. Great channel and very informative!

[@breedersjourney]

first tip in itself could save so many people from that nightmare.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Yes, unfortunately, I’ve made many of these mistakes.

[@breedersjourney]

@@DowdleFamilyFarms same

[@TrentJ202007]

This was suggested to me and when I saw the thumbnail all I thought was " oh shit on of the Grudens is a farmer" lol

[@mckennahicks5259]

My pigs are red wattle and they have alittle longer nose they’ll stick it down and just make a long trail when going into some pastures going for the worms as their “candy” first choice my mangalitsa boar has always went for the grass tips first not sure why

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

THat's interesting.

[@vanguardiris3232]

There is no way (short of a lottery win) that I'll ever be able to afford any land of my own, but I love learning the theory

[@candiwine]

WOW. Very informative. Thank you.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Lymaiharvest]

Great video!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@608standrews]

great info, fun to watch!

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@derrickpyles306]

Have you raised Hereford manga cross? If so, what’s the meat quality?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

I had one accidental group. It took too long to get to market for us. I sold them at 90-100 pounds.

[@chriswaddell1768]

How much variation do you get in growth rate for males or females from the same litter? Comparing like to like (cut males, or females).

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

some females grow faster than the males. But generally, the castrated males grow a tad faster than the females. I rarely raise an uncut male.

[@DongFarm7749]

Cảm ơn bạn đã chia sẻ 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@Clyde-2055]

I assume the little girl in this video is your daughter. She seems to view the pigs as pets. Does she give you any grief because they are being raised as food?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

That’s my youngest daughter, that clip was our American guinea hogs from 5-6 years ago. She doesn’t see them as pets, none of our daughter do really. We processed two pigs this week for our family ourselves, and she was there, helping some, but constantly asking questions about the pig anatomy and where cuts of meat come from.

[@danthurman9076]

There is less trim on white hogs

[@Countryboy316]

its a shame that the big commercial farms are jacking up prices and buying out the small farms killing the rural communities and not giving other the chance of owning a small farm. in the early 1900 there was a homestead on almast every 1/4 section (160 acres) the town was big lots of people around. now just a small town with less and less farms around. and the big farm who are buying everyting up live over 45 min to 1 h away, not even in the community.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

You are right to be concerned about that. That's one of the things we are trying to do.

[@danthurman9076]

It takes 10 pounds of feed to make 1 pound of fat.