Storey's Guide to Raising Pigs

by Klober, Kelly

• ISBN13: 9781603424738
• ISBN10: 1603424733
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-23
• Publisher: Storey Books

Summary

Storey's Guide to Raising Pigs is the trusted resource for new and experienced pig farmers, providing authoritative advice on breed selection, housing, humane handling and butchering, and disease prevention and treatment. The 3rd edition, now with 64,000 copies in print contains new and expanded features: '¢ Coverage of greener farming methods '¢ Expanded breed guide, including information on rare and heritage breeds '¢ Helpful record-keeping appendix Storey's Guide to Raising Series is the essential animal husbandry information from the trusted source. With a combined total of 1.7 million copies in print. Praise for the book: "Thank God I read this book before I started with pigs. I would have made so many mistakes." - Brian, North Bangor, NY

Author Biography

Kelly Klober is a farmer, writer, and 4-H Club leader who has raised purebred Duroc hogs for more than 30 years. He is a consultant and speaker on sustainablity, farmers' markets, breed preservation, and other small farm topics. He and his wife live and work on their farm in Missouri.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
An Introduction to Raising Hogs	p. 1
Hog-Farming Trends
Modern Pork Production
Hog Myths
Talkin' Hog
Thinking Hogs
Identify Your Markets
Breeds Tried and True	p. 18
Modern Swine Breeds
Why Purebred Hogs instead of Hybrids?
Choose a Breed Type to Match Your Farm
Pigs as Pets
Raising Hogs for the Family Table	p. 53
The Facilities
Essential Equipment
Buying a Pig or Two
Feeding Hogs
Bringing Your Pigs Home
Swine Finishing
Home Butchering and Pork Processing	p. 88
Slaughtering the Hog
Breaking Down the Carcass
Butchering
Putting Away the Pork
Preserving Pork
There's Pork in This?-Pork Recipes
Fitting and Showing Hogs	p. 118
Showing Market Hogs
Showing Breeding Stock
The Hog Business	p. 143
Running a Manageable Operation
How Many Hogs for Success?
Know Your Market
A Shift in Feeder-Pig Production
Show Pigs
Farrow-to-Finish Production
Finishing Hogs
Breeding-Stock Production
Direct Marketing Your Own Pork
What about Organic?
Contented Hogs
Lean and Green
Preparing for Your Herd	p. 179
The Drylot
The Pasture
Fencing Choices
The Range House
Farrowing Structures
Housing for Sows with Nursing Pigs
Selecting Breeding Stock	p. 211
Shopping for Livestock
Performance Data
Gilt Selection
Boar Selection
Bidding Decisions
Managing Your Breeding Herd	p. 235
Bringing in the Boar
Bringing in Gilts
Breeding Gilts
Gestation
Farrowing
The Pig at Birth
Caring for the Newborn Pig
Postfarrowing Sow Care
Care for Nursing Pigs
Weaning
Growout
Hog Health Care	p. 264
A New Vulnerability
Breed Your Way Back to Vigor
A Health-Care Philosophy
Just the Basics
Veterinary-Care
Injections
Parasite Control
Swine Ailments and Illnesses
Managing Your Hog Operation	p. 298
Record Keeping
Marketing Hogs
The Hog Industry: Today and Tomorrow
Day-to-Day Life with Hogs	p. 323
Movin' Hogs the Easy Way
Managing Information
Do It Right the First Time
Take Time to Scratch Their Ears
Goals
Every Pig Is Precious
Buying at Auction
Hog-Farm Fashion
Hog People
Epilogue	p. 340
Appendix
Hog Anatomy	p. 341
Reproductive Information	p. 342
Record Keeping Templates	p. 343
Sample Calendar Year for the Diversified Small Producer	p. 346
Resources	p. 350
Glossary	p. 354
Index	p. 366
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.