How to Raise Pigs Around Manure

Pigs are bright, ravenous, rooting animals that produce about 1.5 percent of their body weight in manure each day. So no matter how often you shovel out their pens, they are prone to acquiring internal parasites like Toxoplasma gondii and Trichinella spiralis. Hogs also often get bacterial infections like salmonella that can taint their meat. There is some dispute about whether pigs that are penned or pigs that are allowed to roam are less prone to these infections. But there is universal agreement about how to minimize them.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Levamisole
• Atgard
• Pyrantel (optional)
• Ivomec (optional)
• Medicated feed (optional)

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Instructions

• 1

  Provide your pigs with adequate space. Commercial hog farms allow at least eight square feet of space for each animal.

• 2

  Shovel the manure out of your pig sty twice a day. Because of the bacteria and parasites it may contain, untreated pig manure is not a good fertilizer. But ash from burned pig manure is an excellent source of nitrogen in gardens and compost piles.

• 3

  Worm weaned piglets within two weeks after they arrive by adding the medications levamisole (often branded as Tramisol) and Atgard swine wormer to the animals' feed. Pyrantel, effective against roundworms and nodular worms, can be included in your pigs' feed daily. An injectable brand name medication called Ivomec for Swine treats both internal and external parasites.

• 4

  Worm the pigs again after 30 days by adding levamisole and Atgard to their feed.

• 5

  Add medicated feed containing antibiotics to your pigs' diet to fight the spread of bacterial infections like salmonella.