What are your ideas/experiences/results feeding pigs

[animalfarm]

I mix my feed about 22-28% protein and clover is around 20 % as well. I use peas and wheat

actually i'm interested also. our corn is $7l50 a bag and i'm wondering if wheat would be another option. we only have one season feeder pigs for slaughter in the fall. i actually like a lot of corn so they are good and fat (lots of lard).

so.... apologies to the OP and animalfarm if you care to share (or start another thread).....

what kind of peas?? like field peas?

in the past we've raised feeder pigs on corn+ eggs+ milk (goats) and whatever we can glean. we've had great results esp since they are on pasture.

thanks!

moved from everything pig

Dang, but at $7150 a bag for corn I got some sell to you; delivery included. . (just kidding)

Please note: I am absolutely NOT an expert in any way shape or form when it comes to feeding a pig for whatever reason. I have experience with exactly 3 pigs and have not reached the end of the road to be able to say I have proven my own personal hypothesis.

Yes I am feeding field peas. They are probably more expensive then corn, but I am also raising my pigs for breeding, not bacon. Therefore, I do not want excessive fat/wt. on them and this dictates a change in feeding to my mind. Wheat makes up the bulk and peas are about a third. I grind them so they don't keep rolling through the pig and out the other end. I also add kelp.

My pigs will also be pastured and when another jersey comes fresh and the bottle babies are taken care of, the pigs will once again be getting milk. I have plenty of eggs in the meanwhile. I have my own views on the over use of soy and corn and that also influences my decision to feed non commercial feed but really those reasons don't belong in this discussion. Each to their own.

I have no idea how other breeds stack up against a large black, but I am learning very quickly large blacks put fat on very easily and I do not want that for the longevity of a breeding sow; now, when I start getting bacon pigs, I too will want lots of lard but I will still avoid corn and soy and I really don't think from personal observations of my 3, that getting them fat will be much of a problem as long as the pocket book holds out.

 

[RIRs]

So what do you mix with the field peas? What ratio do you use with all the other grains? Just trying to find a better feed for my hampshires.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Dang, but at $7150 a bag for corn I got some sell to you; delivery included. .big_smile (just kidding)

ha! ok baby start driving! ha ha ha ha ha ha.. of course i meant $7.50
;-)

first - i dont think you have to qualify your experience - if it works it works! good for you!

and

thanks this is great. i'll look into the field peas as an alternative - or just try growing some.

we are trying to figure out a cheap-as-last-year method. the good news is that we got our pigs earlier this time and normally dont butcher until Nov or so. so we've got time to grow them in slowly. right now corn and "hog chow" are within a $1 of each other. we dont have a political statement against corn/soy... we just dont think that soy makes a good pig. so we are open to just about anything.

you are so lucky to have cows! wow - i'd have a whole field of bacon if i was milkin' a jersey. instead i just have goats.
:-(

are you planting any crops for the pigs - for instance mangle beets or turnips or anything??

and if you are interested - Freemotion is the Queen of Glean. she really did a great job of avoiding bagged chow and getting tons of stuff for free for her pigs last year. she has a thread over on sufficientself about it. one great thing she did was find a source for acorns. as for us, we got a bunch of black walnuts in the fall and found a guy who let us pick thru his pumpkin field after Halloween. we also made friends with people who have farm stands so we got a lot of produce for the pigs - we found some great non-bagged alternative also.

we switched to whole grains for our layers (oats, barley, wheat, and now milk) and i kept wondering which of those we could use for the pigs.

thanks for the info and i hope you keep this thread going with what you are feeding.

************************
disclaimer here for folks who are wondering: yep you can just feed hog chow and you'll get a fine pig. we just like to do it differently because that works for us. and because we are cheap. mostly because of the cheapness.

 

[burntmuch]

Im replying to this thread so I can follow it. Its great to see this kinda info. Ive got 2 feeder pigs 4mths old. They,re getting mostly hog chow & their doing fine. But they also get lots of produce. & extra eggs from my laying hens.. Ive been mixing in alfalfa pellots, but they dont seem to care for them. I ve been thinking about mixing in some oats or peas just to give them something other than corn & soybeans. I wont have them long enough to benefit from the garden. So keep the info coming. I dont have alot to add ,but Im learning alot.

 

[freemotion]

I'm falling down on the job right now as the Queen of Glean....seems like others in the area got the same idea and every place I've gone to already gives their stuff to someone else! We did get a couple of boxes of cooked leftover pizza dough. We are feeding chow right now. But the pigs are still cleaning up last year's acorns that were left on the field. I planted some peas in the field before the pigs arrived, but not in time for them to get significant growth....maybe next year.

The farm stands will be opening soon and there are a couple nearby that I will check in on, one in particular where they know my face because I shop there for stuff we don't grow. Most of the stores and restaurants here won't save stuff for you. They throw it out! In locked dumpsters! What a crime.

Come fall I will have all the produce, corn, and acorns I can handle. This fall I will be gleaning as much as I can get and not only as much as I think I need, like last year. I want to be sure I can store as much as possible to start our pigs out in the spring and early summer before things are growing yet.

I will dry and hang the ear corn from the barn rafters and will get piles and piles of acorns dumped into the middle of the field. The squirrels can only take so many, and if they are in the sunny center of the pasture, the squirrels take less. We have a LOT of hawks here, and the tallest oak in the vicinity is in the pig pasture....and the hawks love to sit on its branches and survey the area. They can guard my acorns for me.

 

[Royd Wood]

Good post

I'm no expert either but are trying the pigs with the following diet
Rolled oats, rolled barley and a small amount of ground flax seed twice a day. As much apples, carrots and greens we can find and each night they get alalfa hay.

We grow the oats and barley and use the straw for bedding the cattle.
Our Large Blacks and Hampshires get way too fat on comm feed so we had to change things and wanted to get away from GM. The results growing wise look very promising and two hamps are off to piggy heaven next week at just short of 6 months age and weighing roughly 230 / 240 lb so will let you know how it looks and tastes then.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

flax seeds! what a great idea - thanks Royd!

so for what its worth... this is what we do:
http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-grow-out-feeder-pigs-part-2-feed.html

our best score was making friends with folks who have an orchard and they give us stuff they cant sell. and then in the fall they give us the leftover pressings from making cider.

our pigs have been near or over 300lbs every time. it takes a big longer but we have the time and the luxury of not being in a hurry.

 

[RIRs]

So Oats and barley and some flax seeds can be used as a diet for pigs? I have hampshires like you Royd so tell me if this works out for you.

Thanks,
RIRs

 

[animalfarm]

I have peas, wheat, flax, kelp always on hand.

From these I mix different ratios depending upon who I am feeding. Sometimes I just feed whatever is ground up already if I am in a hurry. No body seems to eat out of their own dishes anyways. Heck, even the dog eats it, although he prefers his second hand from the pigs. ( maybe thats why the pen doesn't stink).

Chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys all get the same (communal food pans), chicks get a finer grind and 24% until about 12 weeks. I mix theirs with milk as well. I did Cx meaties on same and free ranged with great results.

Recipe: I weighed everything at some pt. in the past and did the math for protein % but I don't sweat it so much any more since I misplaced the paper I wrote it on and I am too busy to do a do-over. I just eyeball my animals and if I like what I see, its all good.

Pick something like a 2 quart container.

about 20%

6 parts wheat
2 peas
cup or so of kelp maybe some yeast at times

Run through grinder somewhat fine but not powdery so that a bit of wheat goes through the pigs and gives the chickens incentive to recycle along with the dog. Feed wet not runny, either skimmed milk or water.

Free range and milk for chickens pasture or clover hay for pigs. Clover because that is what I have lots of.

A good rule of thumb is to feed the pigs enough so they don't eat the dog and the chickens.

For poultry, I add 1 part flax in the winter. I free range in the summer and they don't really need flax in the summer so I save a few bucks there. As an experiment, I gave the hens in one coop free choice oyster shell and the other barn far far away didn't get oyster shell. No difference in egg shell quality. I still offer oyster shell to every one just to be on the safe side.

I have 3 jerseys which come fresh 4 months apart so I always have milk on hand. Except this spring when the angus seemed to be little low due to the crappy weather, so most of the excess goes to topping off those calves. Just can't have too many jerseys; worth their weight in gold.

I plant heritage corn, pumpkins and squash in the corrals and the cows take care of the stocks and vines when they go in the corrals for the winter. The roots help solidify the footing a bit till it freezes.

I also like what Royd is feeding, but I haven't the equipment or time to grow my own at this point. I am trying to use my animals to renovate parts of the pastures and hayfields without driving on them more then what is necessary to get the hay off. Its a slow process but it is yielding results.

I will put a plug in for galloways here; best weed control ever! Nothing is icky.

 

[Royd Wood]

I also like what Royd is feeding, but I haven't the equipment or time to grow my own at this point. I am trying to use my animals to renovate parts of the pastures and hayfields without driving on them more then what is necessary to get the hay off. Its a slow process but it is yielding results.

I will put a plug in for galloways here; best weed control ever! Nothing is icky.

My equipment will post a pic one day of my 1960 combine

Rirs - yes will gladly let you know how it turns out. Currently got five little 8 week olds and ten 3 month olds on this diet - all growing like weeds in a greenhouse