The last day of school was Thursday the 27th, which means this weekend sees us start to spend more time working with the show animals. We let the self feeders in the show pig pens run empty so we can start hand feeding them. Pigs are pretty smart when it comes to eating, they eat till they are full and then walk away. A habit I wish I could do more often. Some will eat more than others, we have nibblers, and we have inhalers. It is funny to watch the different ways in which they eat.
This time of year we switch to hand feeding which allows us to tailor a feeding program to each pig according to their needs. Gilts (female pigs before they have had a litter) get all they want and then some, we will work at feeding them more each time to get them big. Barrows (castrated males) will be fed according to their weight and rate of gain keeping them on track to be the right weight for their frame at county fair. We have one that is smaller than I'd like and another that is bigger than I'd like, each will get their own feeding program. We also have started washing them a couple times a week so that they look their best.
We probably spend about 4 hours a day just on the show pigs, doesn't count chickens or feeder calves. The work isn't necessarily the hardest, but it does take effort.
There are those that show livestock at county fair and complain when they don't do well, those are also the same people that put their pigs in a pen and do nothing with them all summer.
I have told my kids over and over, we can't out spend them all, but we can out work most of them. It is all about choices, and what you want out of what you are doing.
It isn't an quick fix, it takes time and effort. Much like anything worthwhile in life. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
You, Rick and the kids do work hard. I have watched for a couple of years now and seen the kids who can't control their pigs because they haven't worked them must all summer. Even a non 4H person can tell the difference.
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