feeding pigs

[suedagardener]

I have been looking for a feed receipt for my pigs. what I'm looking for a simple receipt. so if I'm making 100 lbs of grain and I need
X% of corn
Y% of soybean mash

etc.. so that I can make a simple 100lbs receipt. Does anyone have one? can be organic or not.


Im simply not thrilled with the pig food companies receipts as they are less than I want and I can't believe that farmers in the midwest feed the icky stuff that is in pig feed. What at what percentage is important!??????

sue

 

[secuono]

recipe*
A receipt is what the cashier gives you to prove you bought something.

I know corn isn't even enough to feed straight. I've read people feed milk whey with table scraps and such. Not sure about the soybean mash...no idea what it is or where to get it.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Hmm... that is an excellent question but I have no clue as to the answer & every single breeder will tell you something different. You say you are in the midwest but where? Each state is also different. We are in southern Missouri & are VERY limited to feed choice down here. If we had a choice we would feed rolled barley to our pigs. That is what we fed in Montana & they did really well on it. Barley is also non GMO which is a big plus. NON GMO feed down here is way out of our budget as is organic.

We have finally got to the place where we are feeding a good proportion of milk to our pigs each day so not having to feed so much grain. Our feed is a 15% Sow & pig pellet. It certainly is not the best but nor is it the worst. It is made by a local mill & there are no preservative in it. SO much feed these days is preserved with BHA & BHT or contains animal fats. BHA & BHT are known to be carcinogenic but it is being used more & more.

IF you can get barley, peas & sunflower seeds then that makes a good feed mix for pigs. As secuono said, corn is not a balanced diet for them nor are oats. We tried feeding ours oats when we moved here first as that is also a non GMO crop BUT the pigs did not do well on it.

It's not only the percentages of soy & corn that you need to ensure is correct but the pigs also need minerals. Lysine is very important in a pigs diet. The experts recommend that it is at least 1%. The feed we buy is .5% but as we feed milk then that is not a problem. Lysine is found in dairy products & nuts. I can't remember where I read it but someone was saying that even feeding just 2% dairy to a pig will increase the digestibility & usage of the other feed in their diet. We have proven that with the latest round of feeder pigs we have here. There are nine of them & they are getting about 1 gallon of milk a day & 25lbs of grain. They are doing really well. Yes they are also out on pasture. If we had more milk we would feed more & cut the grain.

Research feed rations on the internet plus talk with a local mill if you have one.

Liz

 

[animalfarm]

I fed my large black feeders, milk, wheat and peas, alphalfa/pasture. They grew very fast but got too fat. I probably fed too much though. The next lot will be fed a bit lighter.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

They grew very fast but got too fat.

Large Blacks, being a heritage breed, grow much slower than the commercial pig. They need time to allow their bones to grow. Feeding them too much causes lameness plus fatty meat. We like our meat lean so the feeders we have out there now are looking just right. They are certainly not skinny but nor do they have spare tires

Even when we are feeding solely grain, all our pigs no matter the age only get about 4lbs each per day. The only time we feed more is when a sow is lactating & needs the extra calories to feed her piglets.

Liz

 

[animalfarm]

They grew very fast but got too fat.

Large Blacks, being a heritage breed, grow much slower than the commercial pig. They need time to allow their bones to grow. Feeding them too much causes lameness plus fatty meat. We like our meat lean so the feeders we have out there now are looking just right. They are certainly not skinny but nor do they have spare tires

Even when we are feeding solely grain, all our pigs no matter the age only get about 4lbs each per day. The only time we feed more is when a sow is lactating & needs the extra calories to feed her piglets.

Liz

My pigs are very healthy. I don't have problems with lameness and they get plenty of exercise. I feed the same way you do; same amount for everyone, 3lbs each. I believe that was something I got from you way back. I weigh the feed so I can learn from my booboos. I do grind the wheat and peas into chop and mix it with the milk, (ave. about 2 gal/day) so I believe there is a high rate of digestibility involved.

I do need to separate the more dominate ones from the less dominate next time to actually maintain equal levels of feed though. I also think that I may need to cut the amount of milk given towards the end. I was swamped in the stuff at the time and I think they got a wee bit too much. That being said, I may follow what you are planning instead and maintain the milk and cut the grain. That grain fed to the milk cow will produce a lot more milk. The pigs also ate ridiculous amounts of hay and straw all winter.

My pigs weighed 250-320 lbs at 11 months. I am thinking there is some monkey business going on at the abattoir as the bacon was almost pure fat, but when I inspected the carcasses while hanging, there was plenty of meat to be seen but maybe that wasn't the case and I over fed even though they looked fit; not rolly polly. I do look forward to your evaluations on the situation.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

I weigh the feed so I can learn from my booboos.

That is what we did. We weighed the scoop we use full of feed & it is just under 4lbs net.

I do grind the wheat and peas into chop and mix it with the milk, (ave. about 2 gal/day) so I believe there is a high rate of digestibility involved.

Great! Whole grain tends to go right through them which is great for the chickens but not so great for the pigs!

I am thinking there is some monkey business going on at the abattoir as the bacon was almost pure fat, but when I inspected the carcasses while hanging, there was plenty of meat to be seen but maybe that wasn't the case and I over fed even though they looked fit; not rolly polly.

I've been hearing several complaints about this recently. It really is most concerning. At this time we do not produce meat for anyone else but ourselves BUT if we were taking it to be processed I would be most upset if we didn't get back our pork! That is just robbery & I know some folks are trying to think of ways to identify their pork as they are really getting screwed & the processors, of course, deny it. It is such a shame especially when you are dealing with specialty meat that your customers are paying a premium price for.

My pigs weighed 250-320 lbs at 11 months.

Ours would be closer to the 250lb range at that age. HOWEVER this is the first time we have fed milk on a consistent basis so it will be interesting to see how they turn out. I know we will be watching our breeders to see how they do over time on the milk. Right now our feeders are 5 mths old & probably around 125 lbs, maybe a little more, maybe a little less - hard to tell. I know one thing they all love the milk! I pour out some feed first to give me some space but they are right there waiting for the milk bucket to be poured.

Liz