How much should I feed my pigs.

[sixofus09]

I have four 14 week old duroc whites and yorks. I feed them twice a day. 6:30am-8:30am and again at 5:30-6:30pm. They get a feed that is 16% protein. I give them table scraps with their feed. I dump the scraps then the feed on top. I give them a paint pale of food. Like the ones you get at ACE hardware with the metal handle. Must be a gallon size. They get around 100 lbs of feed a week now. It use to be 50 lbs about 3 weeks ago. They seem to be getting hungrier. They have started going for the chicken feed. They look fine. Some times they look like their bellies are about to burst then they get longer. Right now they look long and not swollen. How much do you guys feed your pigs? I was told to expect 50 lbs per pig per month. for a total of 40 bags by the time they need to be butchered in July/August. I think at this rate I will be well over that. At this point I purchased 10 bags in 7 weeks. I think when I was speaking with the person he was telling me the feed rate for 1 pig not all 4. So that means 160 bags of feed? I guess I need some input on this. Also I think I need to find more sources of other things to give them besides the feed. We have a child care of 16 kids, so there is a good amount of table scraps, but I guess I need to get more. The stores around he wont give me old produce due to the fact if someone eats it and gets sick its their fault. I spoke to some local farmers and it seems that they already have someone with pigs/chickens that they give their old stuff to. I plan on using the area that the pigs root up for a large garden in the spring, so I will have something for them next year, but that is a long ways away. I dont know if I should grow in my basement for now or what. At $11 dollars a bag for 50 pounds that's around 1700 in ten months. Are my calculations off? Am I giving them too much? I just want to know if this is a normal amount. I can afford the feed, but I just want to know if I'm wasting anything.

 

[sixofus09]

It looks like this is the right amount. But I would check with the vet to make sure. These guys know what they're talking about and really will give you the peace of mind. Hope all goes well.

Everyone is doing good. I started to give them more feed and they don't eat it all so I stopped that. I think they just love the scraps and every time they see me they're like " oh here comes the good stuff" I feel my chickens green mountain organic feed and will be switching them over to that as well. I hope the price doesn't kill me. I just listen to what people that raise them tell me to do. I want organic, and no one does that so..... looks like I have to set my own standards. I looked up the Green Mountain web site and saw they make swine feed so.... here we go with organic swine feed. Its going to be like I'm buying 3 bags, but only getting 2. I want nothing but the best, so I guess this is what I'm going to have to do. I hope it's worth it in the end. If all goes well Im going to go for 10 next time. I hope my garden will be pumping out a lot of goods by then, and I'll have a lot more chickens pumping out eggs. My wife wants some goats, so there is some milk for them too. Ill have to research more to make sure I give them the right amount of what they need. Time will tell. I just want good food for my family. I hear all the bad things that are going in our food, and I want no part of that.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

You can also give them hay as filler and fiber and vegetable matter. A friend grows hers out on just hay and a small amount of grain and what ever they root up.

 

[sixofus09]

I moved them to a new area. I will keep expanding the area so they don't get " bored ". This winter should be interesting with the ground freezing. Can they still root in the winter? I get a bale of hay every week or so. They don't really seem to munch on it. Now that they are out in the woods more I think they will find more to chew on.