Tight hold till weigh in

[Lanesmomdori]

Weighed hogs this morning, dry weight. 279. Weigh-in is this Sunday, top weight is 280, meaning we have one pound to play with and 4 days to go. They weigh early Sunday, and don't show till Tuesday.......we will have a few days to plump them back up.....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[kgb]

Remember the pig will lose some weight during trailer ride to the show. Even if you live 10 minutes from the fairground it doesn't mean you have to go straight there. Drive around for an hour and then go unload.

I suggest feeding:
(Total daily feed; divide into 2 equal meals):
High Octane Fitter 35. 3 lb
High Octane Depth Charge. 8 oz

The pig should gain 0.25 to 0.35 lb per day.

[kgb]

.... and look great

[fairlynew2this]

I don't mean to hijack this post but it's similar to our situation and I was curious if the same would apply to us.

kgb,
We have a 4H swine that weighed 280 lb on Monday. She had tanked up on water before being weighed so she gained a few lbs. there, I'm guessing. We have 21 days until weigh in on Sept. 6th for fair. Our fair doesn't have a weight limit but we certainly would like to stay in a market weight 240-280 if at all possible without compromising her health & look. We do have a 3 hour long rough & bumpy drive to fair, so that helps. This gilt looks pretty good right now but could use some more top cover. We are having a hard time getting Fitter 35 from our local feeds stores & it won't be in until Aug. 21-24. We have cut down on her nature match grower/finisher. For the past few days we have been feeding 3 lbs of NM grower/finisher & 8 oz. of High Octane Depth Charge. She is being walked daily. Any suggestions? What are we doing wrong or right? I was assuming she would need to be on the same feeding plan as this other pig being talked about. Quote "(Total daily feed; divide into 2 equal meals):
High Octane Fitter 35. 3 lb
High Octane Depth Charge. 8 oz "
but certainly don't want to assume & be wrong.
On this feeding plan I estimated her gaining on the high end 0.35lbs. 0.35 x 14 days (guessing we'd have the Fitter 35 Aug. 24)= 4.9 lbs plus the "guessing" 1.5 lbs. she's been gaining from Monday the 14th until 24th 1.5 x 11= 16.5 lbs 16.5 + 4.9 = 21.4 lbs 280+21.4= 301.4 lbs. minus how much she'll lose in the long haul. How much would you guess she'd lose on haul? Does any of this sound right or doable?
Thank you for you time!!! I've been reading many posts that you have responded to!

[kgb]

Well, I wrote a very long post about this with recommendations etc... and I deleted it with my fat little fingers. Dang

I will try to reconstruct and condense:

High points:
1. Fitter 35 is a complete feed when fed at 3 lbs per day, but it burns fat it doesn't add fat. So, feeding that diet to your pig and trying to add fat will not work.
2. Nature's Match is a Purina product, but it is NOT a show feed. It is designed to be an economical pig feed for "backyard" pigs, where people do not want to invest a lot of money. The difference between Nature's Match and HONOR Show Chow is great. light years in difference.
And, feeding 3 lbs per day is NOT meeting the pig's daily nutrient requirements. You are not supplying enough lysine and other amino acids which results in muscle loss and an old, stale appearance.
3. What the pig looks like is EVERYTHING. The judge uses his eyes alone to determine which pig is 1st and which one is last.
4. I would rather show a pig that is heavier than I would like, but looks good so it has a chance to do well. A pig that has been starved and held and looks bad doesn't have a chance to do well no matter what it weighs or what class it is in. UNLESS the judge has no idea what he or she is doing.

Since you have no maximum weight limit, and you have a 3 hour trip to the show, and you want to add fat cover I suggest feeding this diet for the entire 21 days (I usually recommend splitting the 21 days into 2 periods of 10 and 11 days):

(TOTAL DAILY FEED; DIVIDE INTO 2 EQUAL MEALS):
High Octane Powerfill 1 lbs (if you cannot get Powerfill, replace it with Champion Drive)
High Octane Champion Drive 1 lbs
High Octane Heavy Weight 1 lbs
High Octane Depth Charge 8 oz

Mix Powerfill, Champion Drive, and Depth Charge first (in a bucket by hand), then take the Heavy Weight by itself and add enough water to it to make a milk shake like consistency and then add to the other already mixed products. Then feed.

The pig SHOULD gain 1 lbs per day, and increase fat cover on this diet. It will weigh close to 300 lbs in 21 days, but it should lose 8 to 10 lbs on the trip to the show.