WHAT IS THE BEST FAT SUPPLEMENT(S) OUT THERE? HOW EARLY CAN OR DO YOU START USING THEM?

You'll find out it's not the "best" supplement you can buy, but what's avaiable when you are in a pinch.

Anybody else tired of paying $50 a bucket for powder fat, it works great, (sumo, heavyweight) but dam. I have talked to alot of people that say they use used fryer oil from restaurants, any thoughts, I figure maybe a feed rep. would weigh in on the cons.

I like heavy weight a lot. Have you ever tasted pork from a pig that was fed used fryer oil ? I have and it nasty ! I bought a pig from fair and sent it to the butcher, after tasting it I asked what they fed it and found out the used old fryer oil. It tasted like old fryer oil, not good !

That's why all the NJSA shows make you put that your pigs have not been garbage fed on your health papers.

I would consider used fryer oil to be garbage fed. Use a high fat milk replacer or an approved fat supplement, but don't create crappy product just to save a few dollars.

I figure that would get some people commenting Ahh and the old NJSA, thats a great organization if you got thousands of dollars to blow or live 15 or 20 miles from one of the majors, but when they make you buy a expensive purebreed that you can't sell and even come close to recouping the initial cost let alone the feed, just to show a crossbred, ill say no thanks. My family has had a great time showing pigs for about 11 years now and went to kentucky a couple years in a row. We feel we get more bang for our buck doing prospect, county, regional, and state shows. For example, Winter Pig Classic, Perry Ga. 1200 pig show, bring what you want, ie purbred, cross, gilt, barrow, and just show " NO SALE ". The NJSA is designed for middle america, "Breeders Grandkids" not for the average family that lives 15 to 20 hours from the show, so they can have any rules they want. About 4 or 5 years ago in Florida you couldn't get sumo, heavy weight, or paylean products, had to drive to N. Fla. or GA., can't tell you how many feed mills and farms, told us to use new 100% corn oil, what about that, would that be considered garbage also?

I believe there is a pretty big difference between new corn oil and used fryer oil. If you care at all about the end consumer do not feed used fryer oil.

Just a thought; corn oil puts down a very very very soft fat

We use calf milk replacer and get 100% pure soy bean oil from Sam's club, does the job.

Here's a crazy thought sometimes just sometimes maybe yourself is the customer and maybe its a breeding gilt that you plan on keeping instead of trying to sell to someone to eat.... I have used corn oil, I have never used fryer oil, I have used and had extremly good luck with Heavy weight and sumo the point was it is extremly over priced in my opinion, and before everybody freaks out just think there are many variables to anything you do.

Stop breeding hogs to be so lean and you wouldn't have to add hundreds of dollars worth of "fat" products to your rations. Just about every post is someone asking how to add finish to their pig and make them softer!

Well, or recommend lard pigs or pigs with lard pig heritage (1/2, 1/4, etc. )?
Essentially though, people who raise meat pigs don't want fatty meat nor lbs of excess hog fat. So they dont want strictly lard pigs and would rather try for marbled meat on extra rations to a ration hungry meat pog than take on the end product of a lard pig that is often used for mostly sausage.
As far as the breeding points regarding fat on pigs goes, lard pig crosses aren't a bad option. Plenty of breeds come in both meat/bacon pig and lard pig varieties. So the option is there even for many pure stock. Lard pigs also seem to like much more in the way of food variety, so those extra vegetables from the garden have a good use in that respect.