Feeding hogs for a profit is a whole different ballgame today than what it was forty years ago. The market situation was already mentioned so I don't need to elaborate on that. The small local hog buying stations are gone now.
What you really need to consider is the breeding. Today's lean breeds don't have the stamina to do well in old open facilities. That's the main reason I got out 20 years ago. I had the old barn and hog house with the bedding and outside feeders but the hogs were getting leaner and less rugged so the rate of gain went down and the death loss went up. They had fresh dry bedding all the time, I cleaned every day, they had plenty of feed and water but I still couldn't pamper them enough.
If you do want to feed hogs in an old barn FOR PROFIT, you need the old breeds with higher backfat: Duroc, Hampshire, Yorkshire, but not Landrace. Landrace is lean and dumber than a box of rocks! Then you need to find a special market for that kind of hog. Buyers in the regular market will dock you so bad for backfat your hogs will be darned near worthless. If your barn has been empty for awhile the diseases are probably not there and you might be able to feed out a couple of batches drug free and sell the hogs to a market that likes drug free pork if you can certify it that way.
A fella east of me a few miles pasture farrows the old high backfat breeds and then sells the feeder pigs to a special market for that type of hog. He does very well at it and I imagine they are drug free because he rotates pastures to break up the disease. It fun to watch those sows and pics running around in an alfalfa pasture. Strong and healthy!
If you use the grinder mixer you bought expect to replace a lot of bearings at first because they have been exposed to the salt and minerals in feed and will be rusted. If it's used regularly and kept polished up and dry the bearings will last a long time. Just the nature of the beast.
For a wrapup you CAN feed small batches of hogs in old facilities and make money but you need the breeding and the market to go with it. One plus to feeding hogs the old way is it's good exersize pitching manure and bedding. LOL. Jim
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Today's Featured Article - Women and Tractors - More Views From the Farmer's Wife - by Teri Burkholder. The top ten reasons why the judges wouldn't let you participate in the stock antique tractor pull: Hey, this is stock! It came with that V8 in it! That "R" on my tires stands for "really old" not radial! Blue gas? We thought it was a pretty color! What wire hooked to my throttle?
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