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Author Topic: Correct amount of food for growing pigs  (Read 3089 times)

Barrett

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • North Somerset
Correct amount of food for growing pigs
« on: August 14, 2011, 03:24:07 pm »
Hello, I have GOS and SB and I have managed for the last 18 months but would really like to know the correct Kiloage per day per pig, my pigs are not that fatty when they go to slaughter as I take them at 9/10 months old or before if a nice weight, the smaller pigs ie 75-90K LW also keep killing costs down, if somebody could give me rough guide I would be grate full.

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Correct amount of food for growing pigs
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2011, 03:57:39 pm »
Hiya Barrett,
The commonly accepted formula is 1 pound of food for each month of age, up to a maximum for 6 pounds per pig, per day (normally split into 2 or 3 feeds) though not for smaller breeds such as Kune Kune's.
6 pounds = 2.7 Kg
Another good guide is as much as your pigs can eat in 15-20 minutes, if what you're giving is gone within 10 minutes, probably up it a bit or if they take longer reduce it a bit.
There's no absolute 'right' amount to feed as it depends on the pigs (boars are lazy and tend to lie around while gilts are always moving and burn it off quicker) the amount and type of land they are on (big areas with grazing/rooting potential) and the weather (will need more to keep warm/maintain condition in the cold) so you may have to adjust it slightly depending on your set-up. We use an old SMA baby milk tin as a measure - they hold 3 pounds of the feed we use, so it's an easy way to measure.

The best rule of thumb I was given is - if you can see the backbone, they are too thin and if you can't just feel the ribs, they're too fat. Just watch your pigs and make adjustments as neccessary.
HTH
Karen  :wave:

Fowgill Farm

  • Joined Feb 2009
Re: Correct amount of food for growing pigs
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2011, 12:54:23 pm »
Agree entirely with HH on this one.
We use the SMA tin measure as well. A heaped tin of our feed is 3lb in weight so newly weaned sows, farrowing sows, working boars and fatteners all get the full ration. Our old retired lardies get 2/3's tin as do our dry sows who we don't want to get too fat. I find it easier to work in imperial measurements as i think they're easier to calculate but i guess i might just be getting old!!
We had a sow sent to us recently for B&B who was a skeleton, back bone very prominent, i queried with her owner how much feed she'd been getting and she told me she had 13 piglets so she had been getting 20kg a day!! Now if she truly had she would have been like a house end so i think the owners conversion was wrong or her scales are out of kilter (i would have allowed 1/2lb day per piglet + 6lb for mum so therefore would calculate that to 12 & 1/2lb a day or 10.3kg) My sow with six is currently getting 9lb per day (4kg)+ bread & veg spread over 3 feeds and is looking very well, i will adjust as the weeks go by depending on how she looks.
So my advice would be to decide on metric or imperial and stick to it. You know your pigs best.
HTH
Mandy  :pig:

Barrett

  • Joined Jun 2011
  • North Somerset
Re: Correct amount of food for growing pigs
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2011, 10:27:40 am »
Thanks guys, advice much appreciated I don't think I am far away from those amounts all my pigs are perfectly healthy and no back bones on show.

 

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