I will admit that there were some tears on my end today. I had to say goodbye to hours upon hours of quality time and care with each of the pigs. After tending to Winter through his debilitating injury and playing with them all in the dry lot on the farm, I formed a special bond with each of them.
I'm at peace with the fact that their lives were well-lived and full of good food and lazy days. The quality of meat is going to show just how much I loved on these pigs! Final Weights Winter: 265 lbs Spring: 275 lbs Summer: 270 lbs Go to the Results page to see how these numbers contribute to my hypothesis.
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Only about 1 more week until it's time for the pigs to be sent off for processing. I've been working with them for longer the last few weeks in order to make sure that the weather doesn't make them too uncomfortable. With all the rain and cool nights, I like to warm them up by giving them a hugs and rubs for heat. I've been taking lots of pictures of them so I can better remember all the good times from this research project. You can find these photos on the Results tab.
Why there aren't weight updates: Winter got a nasty charliehorse in his back leg ham muscles and I spent several days helping him eat, walk, etc. With the hectic, all-out veterinary status I had to take on over my school's winter break, I was unable to weigh the pigs. Part of this is because I wasn't comfortable trying to get Winter in the weigh pen with the pain he was in (and he's much better now!). I've let them gain their weight and increased incrementally in order to account for their 3% weight feeding goal. I will be weighing them all this Friday January 17th in order to see where they're at! For an estimation, they gain between 10 and 15 pounds per week. It's been 6 weeks since the last weigh in, so here's my best guess for them all: Winter: approx. 225-255lbs Spring: approx. 245-275lbs Summer: approx. 240-270lbs Thanksgiving week was as rainy as it could have been. I expected that the low temperatures might slow the weight gain for the pigs because they're using up calories to stay warm and radiate heat. Keep in mind, all of these measurements were taken after a 2-week period and are averaged for a weekly gain and feeding schedule.
Winter: 165 lbs (up by 15 lbs per week) Spring: 185 lbs (up by 15 lbs per week) Summer: 180 lbs (up by 10 lbs per week) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 4.95 lbs per feeding or 9.9 lbs per day Spring: 5.55 lbs per feeding or 11.1 lbs per day Summer: 5.4 lbs per feeding or 10.8 lbs per day Spring has now become the heaviest pig in the group! In 6 weeks, we have seen significant growth in all three pigs. There's only one of the three variables to look at today, so, without further ado, here's what Autumn Pig Research has been gathering for the past 6 weeks:
Winter: -Total Growth of 94 lbs -Weekly Average Growth of 15.66 lbs Spring: -Total Growth of 101 lbs -Weekly Average Growth of 16.83 lbs Summer: -Total Growth of 96 lbs -Weekly Average Growth of 16 lbs So far, Spring is taking the lead in most weight gained per week, but Summer is still slightly ahead in terms of overall weight. First, the weights that I took on Week 6 were skewed because the scale wasn't balanced, then I couldn't get Spring to get into the weigh pen for the week 7 weighing day. Instead of forcing her to walk in and stress her out, I gave her the week off. Since this upcoming week is Thanksgiving, I will not be weighing the pigs on Friday, but instead I'll be calculating everything on a 2-week schedule. Oh, and it was really rainy, so they're keeping warm all right.
Winter: 135 lbs (up by 14 lbs per week) Spring: ? lbs (up by ? lbs) estimated 155 lbs Summer: 160 lbs (up by 10 lbs) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 4.05 lbs per feeding or 8.1 lbs per day Spring: 4.65 lbs per feeding or 9.3 lbs per day Summer: 4.8 lbs per feeding or 9.6 lbs per day It's easy to recognize that the weight gain this week was quite drastic. Winter had a low 11 pounds in a week, but the gilts had enormous gains at 20 and 21 pounds. There are several factors that could play into these extreme highs and lows such as weather, stress, or water intake. I've tried to make farm living as comfortable as possible by providing working water spouts, windbreaks to keep them warm, and a relaxed environment. I've order deworming medication to make sure they continue to be in great health.
Winter: 107 lbs (up by 11 lbs) Spring: 135 lbs (up by 20 lbs) Summer: 140 lbs (up by 21 lbs) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 3.21 lbs per feeding or 6.42 lbs per day Spring: 4.05 lbs per feeding or 8.1 lbs per day Summer: 4.2 lbs per feeding or 8.4 lbs per day Don't mind my wind pun, since the Santa Ana winds completely made a mess of our farm on campus. Among the Fall Festivities event and the wind, I had to clean the pens 3 to 4 times a day and make sure all the pigs had wind barriers so they weren't too cold at night. We had issues with the drains, but a few volunteer students helped clear out the debris to get the drains flowing again.
Winter: 96 lbs (up by 16 lbs) Spring: 115 lbs (up by 20 lbs) Summer: 119 lbs (up by 14 lbs) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 2.88 lbs per feeding or 5.76 lbs per day Spring: 3.45 lbs per feeding or 6.9 lbs per day Summer: 3.57 lbs per feeding or 7.14 lbs per day California summer seems to be lingering as we faced high 90s all week this week. I've made sure to hose down each pen a few extra times a day so they can roll in the cool water when they feel too hot. They all have enough shade to avoid sunburn, which means they're living like kings and queens.
Winter: 80 lbs (up by 15 lbs) Spring: 95 lbs (up by 13 lbs) Summer: 105 lbs (up by 15 lbs) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 2.4 lbs per feeding or 4.8 lbs per day Spring: 2.85 lbs per feeding or 5.7 lbs per day Summer: 3.15 lbs per feeding or 6.3 lbs per day With this heat wave, the pigs have been sleeping in the sun and enjoying the last bit of the summer. The pigs have grown tremendously this past week and I couldn't be happier to see them grow and gain muscle. They give me a complimentary snort when I show up in the mornings and afternoons, and know that when I let them out of their pens, they're expected to walk up to me so I can pet them one by one.
Winter: 65 lbs (up by 15 lbs) Spring: 82 lbs (up by 17 lbs) Summer: 90 lbs (up by 18 lbs) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 1.95 lbs per feeding or 3.9 lbs per day Spring: 2.46 lbs per feeding or 4.92 lbs per day Summer: 2.7 lbs per feeding or 5.4 lbs per day Feed bags are being dropped off this week for the ever-hungry pigs as the heat heightens their appetite and water intake. The pigs are VERY happy to be a part of the study and have become quite close with each other. They like to gnaw on the hose whenever they want to get wet. Winter (Duroc) spins in circles when I spray him with the hose and then sits like a dog and drinks from the stream of water. Spring (Yorkshire) walks to the pens where the baby-doll sheep are and just stares at them for up to 10 minutes, unmoving. Summer (Berkshire) continues to chew on my rubber boots while I clean the pens.
Winter: 50 lbs (up by 9 lbs) Spring: 65 lbs (up by 11 lbs) Summer: 72 lbs (up by 6 lbs) This means that our feed proportions have changed! Winter: 1.5 lbs per feeding or 3 lbs per day Spring: 1.95 lbs per feeding or 3.9 lbs per day Summer: 2.16 lbs per feeding or 3.32 lbs per day Overall, the pigs have grown close to each other as well as to me and we're looking forward to the rest of the project! |
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AuthorHey! I'm Aubrey. I'll be documenting weekly the pig's weight and observational data between our beloved test subjects. Archives
January 2020
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