Tremont 4-H Club Goes to the Pigs

 By Maggie and Izabell Ramirez
Special to Dixon Patch

The Tremont 4-H Swine Project bought their pigs on Jan. 26, 2011, in Suisun from Rick Lanza. Maggie and Izabell Ramirez got a barrow and a guilt, named Ozzy and Sharon.

They are blue butts which is a cross between a Yorkshire and a Hampshire. They each weighed around 65 pounds. But today they weigh about 105 pounds. They are on free feed right now and are gaining about 2.5 pounds a day. By Dixon May Fair, they are expected to weigh around 260 pounds.

Maggie and Izabell go out and work with them several times a week. They let the pigs out of their pens and let them wander around and make them run to build up their muscles. They have also been working on getting them used to being controlled with a whip which is used for showmanship.

It is important to make sure the pigs always have access to water and always have a warm and dry place to sleep. As the fair date gets closer in May and the weather gets warmer, the pigs will need to be washed every one to two weeks so that their skin looks nice, clean, and healthy.

Pigs are very easy to care for, and they have very strong personalities. They are very smart and can be taught just about anything. In this sense they are sort of like dogs. It is OK to treat the pigs to a treat every once in a while. They love cookies and eggs. And when the weather is hot, they love a good puddle of mud to roll around in.

 Maggie and Izabell keep careful records of all business expenses which include purchasing the pigs, paying for supplies and feed.  Their first business decision was to apply for a special MacDougall bank loan available to 4-H’ers to get them started in an animal project.  This loan will be paid back after the sale of the pigs at the May Fair auction.

Maggie and Izabell will show their pigs using all the showmanship skills they have learned in their 4-H Swine Project. Then the pigs will be sold to the highest bidder at the fair auction. It will be hard to give them up, but they have learned a lot.