A set back for the kingdom

[jon f mn]

Hasn't been a good year thos year for many reasons. Started last fall when I bought some cattle. They had some sickness that the vet couldn't figure out and we lost 4 of 9 head. Then the summer was so dry my crops are very poor, oats and barley were hardly worth combining. The Corn is poor too as some didn't come up til July 1st. That stuff is mixed with the good stuff and is now just getting into the milk stage. So if frost comes any time soon it will be a mess to try to harvest. Luckily no cold weather predicted til towards the end of next month. We did have a frost hard enough to put I've on my truck windows last week, but it didn't get the corn, did burn some of the garden tho.

The last couple weeks have been bad too. The 2 sows that had the big litters last time, 1 had 17 the other 22 pigs, had their second litters. The first had 16 nice pigs but for some reason she wasn't eating. She got bad enough that she didn't have enough milk and I lost a couple of those pugs before I got them on milk replacer. The 14 left are all doing well now and the sow is eating again, but she is very thin. The other sow had hers last weekend, 24 total pugs with 4 born dead. She had not been eating either I think because the dead had been dead for a quite a while. I think they poisoned her because within 24 hours all the pigs and the sow were dead. That's a hard one for me, not only the lost money, but I don't like when animals die. Hopefully that will end that for a while as it's very disheartening.

 

[Hoofer B]

That is a hard one Jon. You challenge yourself to see if you can make money off of your farm, and when things go bad, you may blame yourself for things that are out of your control. Hang in there! That is all I can say. Bill

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

It is always hard when you lose animals and poor crops don't do much to help either. I marvel at how good our crops are for how little rain. Don't give up there is always next year. Tom

 

[formerly ny bill]

discouraging for sure.

 

[Janicholson]

I would place faith in your efforts. The corn across much of the midwest and into Nebraska are all pretty poor (except in spots of lucky rain or irrigation. Some 2 foot tall corn yellow and dead is within a half mile of pretty good non irrigated corn. I am sympathetic to the pig situation. A farmer I knew in Ohio had unknown disease in his herd and lost 15 of 40. The vet never figured it out, but he did two things, he checked his feed supplies and found some that the pigs were avoiding, He got rid of it. He also pressure washed the entire area after spraying it with some kind of antibacterial mix. Best of luck and prosperity, things will turn around. Jim

 

[caterpillar guy]

Have you had the corn you are feeding tested for vomitoxin. It is much more of an issue for pigs than cattle. Just a thought on the pig not eating problem. Cattle eat more hay than corn or ground feed ,hogs on the other hand pretty much just eat the corn and the reason the vomitoxin is more of a problem for them. Is there a way to have hogs checked for pregnency problems and if so does it do any good for the catching dead piglets before birth so they don't stay in the womb to create problems. Never raised hogs so kind of ignorant on them.

 

[larry@stinescorner]

x2,,the best to you ,,next year will be better

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I feel for you. Having raised livestock my whole life, I understand the helpless feeling that comes when stick get sick and die. Sure hope you get more moisture next year and better yields on your crops . Its never easy being a farmer, if it was, then just anyone could do it. There will be better days ahead .

 

[jon f mn]

I have not had the corn tested, but the vet says it's unlikely in this case. The other hogs are eating and doing fine. I'm not aware of any way to test for dead pigs and have never had this happen before. I do know it does happen and even if the sow lives they will just keep getting worse as time goes on.

 

[paul]

Thats tough, losing critters is hard.

Paul

 

[PJH]

Best wishes Jon.

Back in the early 70's we dealt with TGE. It was a new disease, and no one, including the vets, knew how to deal with it. I had a 55-gallon barrel heaped full of dead newborn pigs, and I was a young small timer with 30 gilts. I saved ten pigs out of the 30 gilts. I sold all of my sows and managed to break even. That ended my farrowing. I moved into buying feeder pigs and fattening them to market. That was profitable until about 1980. For a time I was making $50 profit per pig. It dwindled down to $10 dollars profit per pig and I got out of the hog business. In the good old days I could step outside on a quiet dark evening and I could hear hog feeder lids slapping in every direction. EVERY little farm had hogs. I don't know anyone who raises hogs today. My hog building is in tatters. I'm gonna tear it down in the very near future.

 

[chcase]

Sorry to hear of your issues. All of us who grow crops and raising livestock can relate. My advice is to have your corn tested. Years ago I bought a load of corn from a really good friend only to lose 3 milking cows. Vet could not figure it out. I happen to have a small pail of the feed left over and had it tested months later. Put it this way. I was lucky to not lost the whole heard. Weird some all the animals ate the same feed but only lost three. Best of luck in the future.

 

[730 virgil]

It is always hard when you lose animals and poor crops don't do much to help either. I marvel at how good our crops are for how little rain. Don't give up there is always next year. Tom

my dad had bad luck like that the hogs got tired living corn crop was bad Dad picked corn all afternoon and 1 small load. he had sale and that ending farming

 

[dwag]

Hasn't been a good year thos year for many reasons. Started last fall when I bought some cattle. They had some sickness that the vet couldn't figure out and we lost 4 of 9 head. Then the summer was so dry my crops are very poor, oats and barley were hardly worth combining. The Corn is poor too as some didn't come up til July 1st. That stuff is mixed with the good stuff and is now just getting into the milk stage. So if frost comes any time soon it will be a mess to try to harvest. Luckily no cold weather predicted til towards the end of next month. We did have a frost hard enough to put I've on my truck windows last week, but it didn't get the corn, did burn some of the garden tho.

The last couple weeks have been bad too. The 2 sows that had the big litters last time, 1 had 17 the other 22 pigs, had their second litters. The first had 16 nice pigs but for some reason she wasn't eating. She got bad enough that she didn't have enough milk and I lost a couple of those pugs before I got them on milk replacer. The 14 left are all doing well now and the sow is eating again, but she is very thin. The other sow had hers last weekend, 24 total pugs with 4 born dead. She had not been eating either I think because the dead had been dead for a quite a while. I think they poisoned her because within 24 hours all the pigs and the sow were dead. That's a hard one for me, not only the lost money, but I don't like when animals die. Hopefully that will end that for a while as it's very disheartening.

Prob sow still carrying a dead pig. Did she clean out good/ afterbirth?

Hasn't been a good year thos year for many reasons. Started last fall when I bought some cattle. They had some sickness that the vet couldn't figure out and we lost 4 of 9 head. Then the summer was so dry my crops are very poor, oats and barley were hardly worth combining. The Corn is poor too as some didn't come up til July 1st. That stuff is mixed with the good stuff and is now just getting into the milk stage. So if frost comes any time soon it will be a mess to try to harvest. Luckily no cold weather predicted til towards the end of next month. We did have a frost hard enough to put I've on my truck windows last week, but it didn't get the corn, did burn some of the garden tho.

The last couple weeks have been bad too. The 2 sows that had the big litters last time, 1 had 17 the other 22 pigs, had their second litters. The first had 16 nice pigs but for some reason she wasn't eating. She got bad enough that she didn't have enough milk and I lost a couple of those pugs before I got them on milk replacer. The 14 left are all doing well now and the sow is eating again, but she is very thin. The other sow had hers last weekend, 24 total pugs with 4 born dead. She had not been eating either I think because the dead had been dead for a quite a while. I think they poisoned her because within 24 hours all the pigs and the sow were dead. That's a hard one for me, not only the lost money, but I don't like when animals die. Hopefully that will end that for a while as it's very disheartening.

Had sows with dead pig that didn't come out with the rest. Did sow clean out/afterbirth?