Would like to phase out commercial feed

[WildHarmonyFarm]

Good morning! This is my first post so hopefully I do this right. My brother is helping me out on my property to develop it (hopefully) into a sustainable farm with lots of biodiversity. The property is mostly woods and wetlands, but we are slowly clearing out smaller areas and creating "hugel beds" for growing. Have some chickens and added 3 hogs a few months ago. They are Herefords- all female, 1 is about 1-1/2 years old (never been bred), and the other 2 (half sisters to the older one) are about 7 months. One of the younger ones will be for the freezer and the other 2 we are planning to keep for breeding. Don't have a boar yet, but we're going to AI. We would like to phase out commercial hog pellets and be able to grow what we need for them, but I'm worried about leaving something out they may need to have, and reference books on pigs are really lacking in information. Currently they get hog feed (14% protein), protein supplement (26% + other trace nutrients), soaked all- grain sweet feed, our scraps (no meat), alfalfa hay, hard boiled eggs, and some comfrey and other greens from the garden. Does anyone have a "system" or ingredient list for feeding that could all be produced on site? Ultimately we'd like to have a closed system and eliminate any dependency on outside sources of feed for all of the animals (including the chickens and dogs). We've planted a combo of clover and rapini on some hugels and other flat areas that soon we'll be able to turn them loose on with temp. electric fencing. We are going to try the first AI on the older pig next week, so we'll also need to find information for both the gestation period, and also for the piglets. Although for some reason this year the oak trees aren't producing many acorns, our hope is to be able to acorn-finish young hogs and sell heritage meat. Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!

 

[jhm47]

I have very limited experience with hog AI. It worked best for me when I had a boar nearby so I could more accurately tell when the sow/gilt was in heat. BE SURE that your animal is in good, standing heat, or your efforts will be for naught.

As to feeding them---in my experience, commercial hog feeds were cheapest, and my pigs were the most healthy and grew faster. I know that many others have a different opinion, but this is what worked best for me. There definitely is a reason that people use the commercial stuff. It's cheaper in the long run (at least in this area), and the pigs grow much faster and are healthier. Used in combination with pasture you will have the best of both worlds. Good luck with your enterprise!

 

[Cornish Heritage]

"Growing" all your own feed is possible but may not be cost effective. There has been a lot of discussion on other forums about this. I know it is something we have wanted to do here but it just wasnot possible with the number of pigs we had - Large Blacks on pasture. If you are going to do this I would definitely suggest you get at least one milk cow, more if you want to drink the milk also. Pigs love milk & do really well on it. We figured that 4lbs of grain roughly equals 1 gallon of full cream milk. This is a VERY rough estimate as it depends on the grain & what kind of cow the milk comes from. Dairy products contain lysine which a pig must have in its diet in order to utilize the rest of its food. We have noticed a big difference in our pigs since we started feeding them some milk.

Hope your plans work out

Liz

 

[Back to Nature]

Dairy products contain lysine which a pig must have in its diet in order to utilize the rest of its food. We have noticed a big difference in our pigs since we started feeding them some milk.

I didn't know about the milk. I heard of people using it but I didn't know why. This is why reading is good!

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Eggs are also a great source of nutrients for a pig & they love them. Apparently they are able to digest them better if they are partially cooked - something to so with the biotin PLUS if you feed them raw they will get a taste for them & start stealing when given the opportunity. We normally partially boil ours, shells & all, & then mash them with the potato masher.

Liz

 

[Dino]

You can buy grains grown locally at your nearest feedmill, have them mix and grind per your recipe. Here is a website that has a free download program for mixing your own feed. www.evapig.com

Pigs don't need milk for the lysine. Milk puts soft fat on a pig. So does doughnuts and other breads... just like it does us. ;-) junk in.... junk out. Jmo based on our experiences.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Pigs don't need milk for the lysine.

That is true BUT most commercial feeds do not contain enough lysine. It is recommended that pig feed contains at least 1% lysine - read your labels, most do not. Pigs need lysine to be able to make full use of the other nutrients they consume. Without the correct amount of lysine you will literally watch them poop out your money as much of the food will not be digested properly. Research pig nutrition. Another source of lysine is nuts.

If you feed local grains you must ensure that there are also vitamins/mineral included or provide that free choice yourself.

Milk puts soft fat on a pig.

Sorry don't agree! A diet lacking lysine is what produces fat so a corn fed pig is a fatty pig. Lysine helps create muscle. If you butcher at a reasonable size your pigs will not be fat. Once over 275/300lbs is when a pig starts to really put on the fat.

Of course everything has to be taken in balance - if you feed your pig 20 gallons of milk a day it is going to get fat very quickly. That is definitely NOT what I am advocating here - this whole conversation started with the OP wanting to phase out commercial feed & aim towards self-sufficiency. Milk cows are a big step towards self-sufficiency & their main product, milk, can be used to help feed the other animals on the farm. It also should be noted that I am talking about pastured pigs, pigs that are out on pasture 24/7, 365 days a year, obtaining vital nutrients from the pasture & being allowed to act like pigs were created to be.

On a small farm you should be able to raise a pig or two each year with no or very little cash input if you have a milk cow, chickens, vegetable garden etc. That is how they did it in the olden days. The pigs ate all the scraps & produced then some very tasty pork in return.

Liz

 

[Dino]

Sorry Liz, didn't mean to offend you. Check the evapig program I mentioned, lysine is available from any legumes but especially after being heated such as all soybean meals are. Other sources are available also as you mentioned. Our pigs free range on small pastures as well. We plant clover, trapper peas, rape and beet seed mix throughout.

 

[Back to Nature]

such as all soybean meals are

I'd only use soy if I grew it myself. Monsanto has corrupted the majority of soybeans in this country.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Sorry Liz, didn't mean to offend you.

No offense taken Yes you can find it in soy etc & I do not disagree but you still have to make sure you are feeding enough & that is the point I was making. When we were purchasing commercial hog feed, the lysine content was only .5% which is not enough. It has to be 1% or more. The majority of pig feeds, or at least what I have seen around here, do not have enough lysine in them.

Liz