05/07/2026
Get it right this time, knowledge is power.
The pig in the middle is what you're probably looking at right now. The six small images around it are what you're not looking at, and they're the ones telling you the real story.
I drew it this way on purpose. Most farmers see the pig standing there, looks fine, eating, moving, and think all is well. But feed deficiency doesn't announce itself in the main picture.
It shows up in the details around it, weeks before the pig actually gets sick.
Look at the coat first. Rough, standing up instead of lying flat that's not "just how pigs look," that's protein or vitamin shortage talking.
Check the flank. If you can trace the rib line under the skin on a pig that's supposed to be filling out, the energy in that feed isn't matching what the pig needs to grow.
Watch the front legs. A pastern that's starting to splay or sit weak isn't a genetics problem on a whole batch that's calcium-phosphorus out of balance in your ration.
Ears and tail drooping is the one everyone skips. It's not sickness yet. It's the pig telling you its energy reserve is already low.
Then there's the chewing wood, rail, wall, soil. That's not a bad habit. That's a pig trying to correct a mineral deficiency the only way it knows how.
And finally, put two same-age pigs side by side. If one is visibly smaller, that gap didn't happen overnight something in feed access or ration quality has been uneven for a while.
Now go back and compare each of these six to your own pen. Which one have you actually seen on your pigs and did you know what it meant at the time?
