While pigs are not a high maintenance 4-H project they do take a little work. This week our pig girls got to meet veterinarian Dr. Maureen Hall and learn a little more about hogs. After a short lecture they got down to the business of health papers for the county fair. With swine you have to take a blood sample and send it in for testing before getting permission to take them to the fair.
At this point in the project the pigs have an average weight of 149 pounds and are gaining about 2.08 pounds per day. In the farming this is called rate of gain. In the normal farm setting the average rate of gain for swine is between 1.5 and 2 pounds per day. Two years ago one of our
4-Her's won top rate of gain for all the pigs at the fair with a whopping 2.88 pounds per day. Just imagine if you put on almost three pounds a day all summer.
