Swine

Delivering and drying off new born piglets is the best part about working with pigs. However, the work of getting piglets off to a good start starts long before the day they are born. In fact, it starts 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days before their birth. The day a sow is bred she is placed in a group...

By: Casey Neill This past month, Pipestone Grow Finish held a Nutrition conference.  Several nutritionists  including Dr. Joel DeRouchey from Kansas State University, Dr. John Patience from Iowa State Universtiy, Dr. James Usry from Mironutrients, and Dr. Charles Stark from Kansas State University Department of Grain Science  presented.  Grow Finish clients were excited to spend an afternoon learning about feed...

For a northwest Iowa pork producer, an investment in the Pipestone provided an opportunity for his operation to sustainably grow today, and presents a roadmap for the next generation to get started in livestock production. Mike Ver Steeg is a third generation Iowa farmer, and the second generation to raise crops and pigs on his family’s farm south of Inwood...

On this exceptionally frigid morning my truck thermometer is reading -18°F.  Yes, that is a negative sign in front of the 18. Lucky for me, most pigs in Iowa are raised indoors. After a cold trip from my truck to the building I am in a toasty barn set to 79°F. The pigs in this barn will never have to...

The pig of the week this week is 17 days old. She and her siblings will be moving soon from the crate they call home to a new barn with other piglets their age - sort of like Kindergarten Graduation!

Helpful vocabulary Weaning: When piglets switch from being with their mother and drinking her milk to being on their own on a diet of solid food. Sow Farm: The farm where piglets are born and where the sows (moms) live. In my last post The Birthing Process, I gave all the details of labor and delivery at a sow farm...

By: Dr. Bryan Myers Its one on the toughest phone calls a pork producer can receive —a call that your hog barn is on fire.  Unfortunately, this is a tragedy I had to experience this year.  More often than not, barn fires result in extensive loss of both property and animals.  I cannot stress enough the importance of developing a fire prevention and emergency...

By: Jamie Smith Consumers want more information than ever.  They want to know where their meat came from, how the animal was raised, and everything in between.  Thus – the ever complicated world of farm audits was born, creating a series of hoops for producers to jump through.   You may think that if you are treating your animals well and...

The pig of the week is this red piglet! She is about 2 days of age. She is the only red head in a litter full of blondes.

Helpful Terminology: Gestation = Pregnancy Farrowing = The birth process for a pig Sow = A mother pig Gilt = A young female pig who isn’t a mom yet My absolute favorite part about growing up on a pig farm was being able to watch and assist in the pigl et birthing process. In high school, I was able to work...