Getting Started...........

All things showpig related, general show pig questions
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coal_creek
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Getting Started...........

Post by coal_creek » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:58 am

Good Morning,

First time posting here, but have enjoyed the reading so far. I have a little boy who has his heart set on showing a pig. After our trips to the county and state fairs this summers, he's decided that pig showing is for him. He even wanted on his back to school board that he wanted to be a pig showman when he grows up. He's 4. :D

Needless to say, I have no experience with pigs. Grew up showing and raising cattle. Had hoped someday that he would want to do that, and he might, but for now, especially given his age, we will entertain the showpig industry.

I know that most of the advice is to get with some local breeders, and establish relationships with them for advice and guidance along the way. I've already identified a few that I may reach out to when it comes time for purchasing/selection/guidance afterwards. I'm looking more for advice currently on facilities. We live in town, but own a small acreage outside of town that we intend to build a house on in a few years. Am willing to go ahead and build a barn now for the kids future show projects, but don't know what the requirements are for show pigs. Pen sizes, environmental concerns, or anything else I need to know. Currently only looking at a couple pigs, but if this trend continues, I have 2 more younger children coming behind the oldest that will probably want in as well. So room for expansion will be key. I just don't want to build something and then be limited. Also, if they like it well enough, may get into raising a few of our own so looking for pointers on facility design for a complete operation as well.

Any advice is appreciated, I don't like to do things half-***** and then find out I have to redo it.

mjw1980
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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by mjw1980 » Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:06 am

I am curious where you are located. Pens in the south need to be built differently than pens in the cold.

I would say concrete floors covered with lots of shavings. Our pens are 8x10 and they have plenty of room. We have an area that we can walk them or turn them out into that is also fenced off from the rest of the pasture. You want a pen per pig. That allows you to control the weight gain of each pig individually. I will let other folks chime in with their suggestions.

coal_creek
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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by coal_creek » Thu Sep 27, 2018 11:03 am

Located in Iowa.

mjw1980
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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by mjw1980 » Mon Oct 01, 2018 7:00 am

Since I am in Texas I cant comment too much on how to build your pens for a rough winter. I would say you need to make sure and have it blocked from the wind. Ensure that your water source does not freeze. Your pigs need to be able to get out of the weather and stay dry. You will probably need to setup a heat source.

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HogDoc
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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by HogDoc » Tue Oct 02, 2018 12:09 pm

I'd call some folks and look at their show barns. We have clients that use everything from old corn cribs to custom built barns. Ours is a converted dairy barn. As a result our pens are basically square. If I was building from scratch I'd do 12-14 ft long pens and make them 7 or so wide. Ray Tekippe is a good place to get used equipment which will save some money. He is by Dyersville.

One thing I'd do if I was building one is include an indoor area that you can fill with washed sand for training pigs during the winter and the early spring. With the late spring this year it was a real bearcat for folks that didn't have that option to get pigs fit for those first jackpots.
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carp1
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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by carp1 » Thu Oct 04, 2018 1:02 pm

This was our first year, also lived in town, and no experience at all with show animals. I had a good friend offer for my daughter to use his show barn he built for his kids as they were growing up and showing. His was pretty simple as he built a pull barn off the side of another building. Living in Iowa he had it all spray foamed then put a ac/heater in it like a hotel room would have. It has six pens that are basically 8 by 10. It does have a concrete floor in it. We started out just to get our feet wet doing winter shows and it worked great. We decided to use Worden Showpigs out of Belmond, IA to get our pigs from and let me tell you that made all the difference in the world for not only my daughter but for me. They were there to help us out on any and all questions we had. Biggest thing I learned was anybody will sell you a show pig, but not all of them are there to help when you need it. LOL and being our first year we needed it and they always helped get us in the right direction. Good luck and have fun.

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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by LTMoose » Sat Oct 06, 2018 6:33 pm

This is only my 2nd year showing. But i have gotten alot of advice from others.
First i have a question:what show are you going to show at? State fair/county fair/4-H show?


Buying the right whip is very important! VERY VERY important.
I highly suggest a whip that is light weight. Especially if the contestant is 4. And definitely not firm. Make sure it is a little flimsy. And make sure the little one does not get over reactive with the whip and doesn’t hurt the pig.

Well i hope this helped you

coal_creek
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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by coal_creek » Sun Oct 07, 2018 10:49 am

Thanks for the advice so far. Much appreciated. I think most of the shows we would consider going to are for the Iowa Swine Jackpot Series since he’s not old enough to participate in 4-H/county/state fair, other than open shows. Looks like its a good program to get youth involved in for a starter.

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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by LTMoose » Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:02 am

I found watching YouTube videos and attending shows
Good luck!

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Re: Getting Started...........

Post by LTMoose » Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:03 am

I forgot to say helpful

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