Holding Advice needed ASAP!!!! HELP!

Basic nutrition information, show pig, sow, and boar feeding advice
Post Reply
User avatar
Phoenix-Rising
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:30 pm

Holding Advice needed ASAP!!!! HELP!

Post by Phoenix-Rising » Sat May 23, 2020 11:05 pm

:shock: So... I have a show barrow that I'm getting ready for a early September fair. He was born a little earlier than ideal for this show but he was all I could get at the time... (I now have access to another Barrow who I will be picking up shortly) and he is so nice he is way worth it! Anyway, here is my problem. First weigh in he weighed 97 pounds. (Average starting weight is 55-70 pounds) Second weigh in he weighed 116 pounds. And he was being fed 1 pound of feed! He then weighed 127 pounds on the third weigh in... and he had been dropped to a half a pound of feed, a half pound depth charge and a half pound of beet pulp! So in short he is gaining over 1 pound daily! The max weight is 280 pounds and he can handle max weight... I'd like him a little under for scale differences. So my goal is around 277 give or take a little. He is being fed a mix of 19% & 15% Showrite, Depth Charge, and no fat supplements... I'm weighing him again tomorrow so I will post his weight in a follow up after. Please help! I've never held on this scale before and all the info and different methods has put me in a mental freeze.
Phoenix__rising :D :mrgreen:

User avatar
kgb
Boar Stud
Boar Stud
Posts: 2412
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: Kansas City
Contact:

Re: Holding Advice needed ASAP!!!! HELP!

Post by kgb » Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 pm

Could you provide more information:

- how many days between weights?
- is the feed total per day or per feeding?
- when is your show?
- have you asked the Show-Rite people?
Dr. Kevin Burgoon
Purina® Honor® Show Chow® Nutritionist
http://www.PurinaMills.com/Show-Feed
http://www.facebook.com/HonorShowChow
http://www.twitter.com/HonorShowChow

If you have the power to do good for someone...use it. Proverbs 3:27

User avatar
Phoenix-Rising
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:30 pm

Re: Holding Advice needed ASAP!!!! HELP!

Post by Phoenix-Rising » Mon May 25, 2020 9:56 pm

kgb wrote:
Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 pm
Could you provide more information:

- how many days between weights?
- is the feed total per day or per feeding?
- when is your show?
- have you asked the Show-Rite people?
Exactly 7 days between weights
Feed is in per feeding
My show weigh in (we don't weigh directly before the show... it's a 4-H county fair) is the first Wednesday is September
And
I have contacted the showrite folks and got ideas but mostly was told that I couldn't hold him until he was 200 pounds... he needs to be 150 give or take on July 11th in order to be on track for our fair. Also last weigh in (yesterday) was down from 128 to 123... so it seems he hasn't grown much but we either got a bad read, he lost weight or he had tanked on water
Phoenix__rising :D :mrgreen:

User avatar
kgb
Boar Stud
Boar Stud
Posts: 2412
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: Kansas City
Contact:

Re: Holding Advice needed ASAP!!!! HELP!

Post by kgb » Tue May 26, 2020 9:02 am

That is useful information. Pigs cannot gain more than what they are eating, or even come close to that. Anytime it seems that pigs are gaining too fast on little feed calculate the feed efficiency (daily feed lbs / daily gain lbs) = Feed/gain For pigs under 125 - 150 lbs it should be about 1.9 to 2.0 in that range. Pigs are most feed efficient when first weaned and lose a little ground everyday after. So, if you calculate a F:G that seems off, you probably have a bad weight (scale was off).

Anyway, my suggestion is to let the pigs get to about 150 lbs before you hold or slow. That way you ensure proper skeletal and muscle development.

My suggest is a 3 step process:

1. weigh the pig (accurately) and calculate what the pig can gain for the total remaining days (final wt - current wt) / days to show
2. choose a diet from our Diet Selection Sheet that results in substantially LESS that what you calculated in step 1, and works on areas of the pig needing improvement
3. Feed for shorter periods of 14 days at a time, then repeat steps 1 through 3

This way the pig gets better and can gain faster with each successive 14 day period.

If you would like the Diet Selection Sheet and more information on managing weight gain please send me an e-mail at:

kburg@landolakes.com
or
kgburgoon@landolakes.com
Dr. Kevin Burgoon
Purina® Honor® Show Chow® Nutritionist
http://www.PurinaMills.com/Show-Feed
http://www.facebook.com/HonorShowChow
http://www.twitter.com/HonorShowChow

If you have the power to do good for someone...use it. Proverbs 3:27

Post Reply
cron