12
Hi-Line
FARM & RANCH
February 2017
www.havredailynews.com
Swine: Fuller: Pigs bred for showing, pigs bred by commercial producers closer in look ■ From Page 3 posed to reaching that ideal weight in six to seven months, Fuller said. Some breeds like Durocs and Berkshires grow a little faster, so one a few weeks younger but of good build can be ready by fair time. Other breeds and some bloodlines grow slower, too, so it helps to know the breed and to talk with the breeder about their bloodlines. If she has enough time, Fuller said, she will cover trends in the industry, adding that in recent years the commercial market pigs and the show-bred pigs are starting to look more alike. Traditionally, she said, commercial producers were looking at light-muscled hogs because the babies farrow easier and mature quicker, but after porcine epidemic diarrhea virus hit the industry in 2014, producers looked to show-bred animals to improve their stock, with size, soundness and adaptability to stress. The show industry, she added, also has recognized the need to breed functionality back into their pigs because the show ribbons were pointless if their littermates weren’t being used by producers.
conducted by Shane Ophus, will start at 1 p.m. All 4-H’ers attending will be entered into a drawing for one of three prizes that will be usable with the swine project, Horinek said. Show-bred pigs are expensive to buy and have to be shipped in from a great distance, Horinek said. The show-bred pigs her daughters first bought were several hundred dollars and with shipping they had as much as $700 into each of them before the sale. After they lost their sow in a barn fire, she said, they decided not just to get another show-bred sow for their own use, but to build a farrowing barn and purchase a handful of purebred sows and a bore, she said. The plan is to sell weaners and butcher hogs most of the year, but to breed for sale in the spring pigs that are specifically for showing in 4-H.
The point of sales
Weaner pig sales Molitor said that 4-H pigs are for sale in Montana, and many of the 4-H members have been traveling to Fairfield and Lewistown to purchase their animals. Some sellers, he added, sell through auctions and others through private treaty with individuals. Jalissa and Makaila Horinek started Hi-Line Show Pigs in Hinham, breeding show-bred pigs for sale as 4-H pigs. Jalissa is a former 4-H member and Makaila is still a member. Their mother, Teri Horinek is helping them with their Hi-Line Show Pig Sale 4-H weaner pig sale in Havre this year. Teri Horinek said they had been breeding and raising 4-H show pigs from a single sow for five years. Makaila won grand champion market swine in 2016 with one of their homebred pigs. The girls have expanded their production to seven sows of show bloodlines to start selling to a broader customer base. Horinek said their sows, all purebreds of Duroc, Berkshire, Hampshire or Yorkshire breeding imported from show stock in Iowa and Ohio, started farrowing crossbred litters in December and will continue into February.
Havre Daily News/File photo Makaila Horinek poses for a photograph with her home-bred Grand Champion Market Swine and ribbon during the 2016 Great Northern Fair. “We have all different (age) ranges because I’m trying to provide pigs for all different fairs because there’s fairs beginning at the very beginning of July and there’s fairs at the very end of August,” she said. “So I’ve got some early litters and I’ve got some late litters and hoping ... that we have pigs for hopefully most fairs if people want to come and look.” 4-H members need to have their market hogs purchased in time for their county’s 4-H April weigh-in, Amanda Powell with the Hill County Extension office said. The pigs will also be tagged and tattooed at that time. If the pigs are cared for correctly, they will gain about a half-pound of weight each day when they are little, Horinek said, but by the age they are finishing out for the fair, they will be gaining about 2 pounds per day.
The pigs farrowed in January should be about 35 to 40 pounds at auction time, she added. The Hi-Line Show Pig Sale will be the Horinek’s first auction, she said, and with two sows left to farrow, they are expecting at least 70 weaners at the sale. The plan is to have each litter penned separately. The litter’s ear tags and the pens will be color matched and each pig numbered, she said. Buyers will be able to match the color of the pen and ear tag with the date the litter was born and its breeding, and the number on the pig with the gender and weight of that pig. The auction will be March 18 at the Bigger Better Barn at the Great Northern Fairgrounds in Havre. Preview is set for 11 a.m. and free lunch at noon. The auction,
“Our goal is to try to offer the kids a fair chance at getting a good quality show animal and not just because mom and dad have more money and they can travel to wherever to get the better pigs,” Horinek said. While they do want their pigs to show well in front of the judge, she added, “even better would be how they process. They have a swine of excellence — that’s a whole different judging.” The swine of excellence placings are awarded on the quality of the carcass because, ultimately, the project is to produce a quality market animal and learn how to be good business people, Horinek said. Part of the market hog project is for the 4-H’ers to track their animal’s growth, medical care and expenses to figure how much they actually profit at the end of the sale. “This is how my kids (Jalissa and Makaila) are raising money for college,” she said. “This is really their business. I’m just kind of ramrodding it for them and getting it established. They do all the chores, my oldest daughter she neuters them all, we give them all their shots and we dock their tails and clip their teeth. “I think it’s a good way to teach them responsibility and character and give them a good solid foundation for when they do get out on their own and not be the typical millennial kid,” she added, “… helps them get a little more business savvy.”
4-H Market Swine Workshop
Hi-Line Show Pig Sale
How to select and raise a young project pig
Show-bred weaner pigs for 4-H projects
February 8th ~ 6:00 p.m. Hill County Electric Hospitality Room
March 18th ~ Bigger Better Barn Preview: 11:00 a.m. Free Lunch: Noon Auction: 1:00 p.m.
SWINE
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