[HappyHippy]

There's been discussion lately about this and I know some folks are interested.
Here are the people to speak to about it http://flashweb.com/animals/pigs
Edit ***THESE FOLKS ARE IN THE USA***
From the website -
We raise our pigs free-ranging on pasture. Yes, pigs really do eat grass – they thrive on it. Pasture is low in lysine (a protein) and calories so we supplement with dairy including whey, milk, cream, butter, yogurt and cheese. On pure pasture pigs grow a couple of months slower and are leaner – we’ve raised three experimental groups just on pasture and it is doable. With the addition of dairy to provide lysine and calories they grow faster, about the same speed that pigs do on grain – roughly six months to finish in the warm season and slightly longer in the cold months. Both pasture/hay (~90% of the their diet) and dairy (~7%) are freely available to the pigs at all times. In the winter we replace the pasture with hay – storing summer for the winter. The remaining ~3% of the pig’s diet consists of pumpkins, beets, turnips, kale, apples, sunflowers and other vegetables we grow as well as a little bit of boiled barley from a local brew pub and occasional treats of bread from a local bakery. This is not a fixed day-to-day regime but varies with the season and availability, changing over time.
Personally I think it's a lot of work and longer time in return for the same results as feeding with pig nuts and don't foresee any cost saving unless you can find a free source of whey, milk, cream, butter, yogurt and cheese BUT I do understand the sustainable food and low food miles agruements I wish good luck to anyone who wants to do it and would love to hear the results.
Karen x

[robert waddell]

cant get on the web site            is the produce of one animal not forbidden to feed to pigs     your local defra office would need to be contacted to clear this type of feeding
also you would need to feed outside the stink from the dairy products when off in hot weather    would give me the dry boak

[HappyHippy]

Sorry, should have said THIS IS IN THE USA ! Where the regulations are different and the weather is better 
Robert - it must be something with your computer  Try copying and pasting the address in your browser bar, see if that helps ?
Karen x

[darkbrowneggs]

cant get on the web site            is the produce of one animal not forbidden to feed to pigs     your local defra office would need to be contacted to clear this type of feeding
also you would need to feed outside the stink from the dairy products when off in hot weather    would give me the dry boak

Is dairy not permitted now for pigs?  I know you are not allowed to feed anything which has been in a kitchen, but does this apply to milk from a dairy?

Another question - what are the regulations if NON of the produce is to be sold into the food chain?

Not that I have any pigs - just interested

All the best
Sue

[HappyHippy]

I don't know Sue  but I'm gonna find out 
I emailed Walter at Sugar Mountain Farm (basically cos I'm nosey  )
Here are the questions and answers (it does give food for thought I've got to admit - though maybe not enough fat for sausage making  )

1) What area would you allow (roughly) per pig ?
-As a rough rule 10 to 20 pigs per acre under managed intensive 
rotational grazing. See: http://flashweb.com/?s=rotational+grazing
http://flashweb.com/blog/tag/feeding http://flashweb.com/blog/tag/fencing

2) What age are they (approx) when they go off to slaughter and what is the average live weight / dead weight ?
-6 to 7 months ~250 lbs live ~180 lbs hanging

3) What sort of amount of fat do you get on the carcass ?
-Very little. ~0.5" typical. A little more on gilts. Less in the winter. More in the fall. This depends tremendously on what you feed - e.g., calorie counting.

I did mention our awful Scottish weather - here was the (surprising) answer 
-Your climate is very gentle. If we can do it here with six months of winter (some years snow every month of the year) then I'm sure it is doable in your climate.

Watch this space 
I have to point out though - it's not just grass these pigs are grazing on, it's a carefully mixed blend of grasses, alfalfa and clover & stuff - so any old filed isn't going to cut the mustard !
Karen x

[TheCaptain]

The letter of the law from DEFRA:

Current legislation also imposes strict controls banning the feeding of other
materials of animal origin or products containing them to farmed animals.
There are however a small number of exceptions to this, and the following
materials may be fed to pigs:
• Liquid milk or colostrum may be fed to pigs kept on the same holding
as that on which the milk or colostrum originated;
• Former foodstuffs other than catering waste food from kitchens etc
(see above) containing rennet, melted fat, milk or eggs but where these
materials are not the main ingredient;
• Fishmeal, (animal derived) di-or tri-calcium phosphate, or blood
products if suitably processed (see TSE Regulations internet link
below); and
• Milk, milk products and white water when suitably treated.
Please note that anyone obtaining waste milk, milk products or white water to
feed to their pigs would need to register with Defra for this purpose, although,
in the case of milk products, this would only be necessary it they contained
more than 80% milk. Details on how to register are available from either the
Defra helpline (08459 33 55 77) or the internet (http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfa
rm/byproducts/guidance/register.htm).


Let's get our facts straight before posting!

[robert waddell]

the regs are funny       cant feed eggs to pigs         but pancackes and the mixture can be
                               cant mix feed     unless you have a licence                 but you can overlay and the pigs can mix it themselves
captain i was asking the question           see eggs above
what breed of pig were they using      half an inch of fat is 20 mm       alfalfa is used to feed racehorses   just a wee bit different to some of the weedy grass grown in this country
i would also be interested if anybody were to try this

[SallyintNorth]

half an inch of fat is 20 mm

It's 25.4mm to the inch, so 1/2 inch is 12.7mm.  My butcher buys 12mm probe but won't buy 19mm, so that really does make a difference.

[SallyintNorth]

Robert - it must be something with your computer  Try copying and pasting the address in your browser bar, see if that helps ?

My browser won't take it either, I get, "You don't have permission to access /animals/pigs on this server.  Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request."  Same whether I click on your link or type it in the browser bar.  I tried it with a 'www.' as well, same thing.

I wonder if you are a member of something Karen which gets you through?

[robert waddell]

now how did i get that wrong there must be somthing else i am thinking of that is 40mm
that is the same message that i was getting

[SallyintNorth]

now how did i get that wrong

Isn't it the case that males always exaggerate the number of inches?     (runs and ducks for cover)

[robert waddell]

yes but it was mm we were talking about

[HappyHippy]

I got the link to the site via email - try this one instead http://sugarmtnfarm.com/
and as far as I can see they have a mix of breeds - Large white, Large Black, GOS so not all 'commercial' breeds 
Karen x

[fifixx]

My pigs definitely graze - and a lot when given the chance!  I try and make sure I give them a fresh area of grass every 5 days or so, which lets them have the grass and then all the roots underneath too.  I've never given them hay though

[TheCaptain]

sorry Robert - didn't realise it was a question.   

Mine get hay all the time, and they love it!!!!