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Virginia Tech Show Pig Sale
Livestock Update, April 2001
Seth Mullins and Cindy Wood, Animal & Poultry Sciences, VA Tech
As the swine industry in Virginia has changed, it has become more and more difficult for young people to find pigs to raise as part of projects in 4-H or FFA. Last year for the first time, Virginia Tech's Swine Center organized and conducted a sale of November-farrowed pigs to youth planning to exhibit market hogs in spring shows. This year, we refined the procedures, and an undergraduate student, Seth Mullins, was instrumental in accomplishing a successful sale in February. The following is his report.-Cindy Wood
This sale was conducted to provide Virginia 4-H members with pigs to exhibit in shows this spring. The sale was conducted in a unique manner designed to be as fair as possible for all buyers. A sale price was set based on current feeder pig prices, and a sale date was set in mid-February. In mid-January the pigs that were obviously not going to make show pigs were separated from the potential show animals and put into a different barn. Before the buyers came to Virginia Tech, pigs were assigned to the buyers based on the buyers' show date, number of animals desired, and other preferences sent in ahead of time. In total 62 pigs weighing between 60 lb and 80 lb were sold to buyers in five counties. The pigs were all crossbreds, out of crossbred sows and sired by purebred Yorkshire, Landrace, and Hampshire boars. Farrowing dates for these pigs were 11/15/2000 - 11/20/2000. The pigs were given iron shots and vaccinations against Atrophic Rhinitis, Erysipelas, and Mycoplasmal Pneumonia in the farrowing barn. The pigs were also dewormed prior to weaning. We recommended to the buyers that the pigs be dewormed at the time of purchase and one other time before the shows. We gave each buyer 25 lbs of feed for each pig bought to ease the transition for the pigs. This feed was the same 16% CP diet (see table below) that the pigs receive at the Swine Center until they reach market weight.
Virginia Tech Swine Center Grower Diet
| Ingredients | lb/ton | % |
|---|---|---|
| Ground Corn | 1486.4 | 74.32 |
| Soybean Meal 44% | 464 | 23.2 |
| Dicalcium Phosphate | 16.6 | 0.83 |
| Ground Limestone | 17.4 | 0.87 |
| Vitamin - Se Premix | 5 | 0.25 |
| Trace Mineral Premix | 1 | 0.05 |
| Salt | 5 | 0.25 |
| Copper Sulfate | 1.6 | 0.08 |
| Tylosin (10/lb) | 3 | 0.15 |
| 2000 | 100 |
All in all, I felt that the project went well. I would like to thank everyone involved for making this an enjoyable experience.-Seth Mullins