[harry]

i got a bg of horse carrots the other day and have been feeding a few each day..4 days to my KKs, i have since been told i need to cook them ..is that correct..... is that also the case for spuds. turnips and sugar beet etc...thanks

[manian]

hi
we fed ours raw carrots and are fine
its potatoes need cooking
Mx

[SallyintNorth]

we fed ours raw carrots and are fine
its potatoes need cooking

Same here

[robert waddell]

we dont cook anything not even potatoes never have and so far no problem

[Miss Piggy]

We feed raw carrots but have never tried raw potato. Therefore intereted to hear Robert feeds raw potato. Maybe I wont worry so much if a few potato peelings get mixed in with the other veg peelings. All peeled in an outhouse straight from the garden of course.

[lill]

we fed raw potatoes to our pigs for a couple of years without any problems. So as I see it there is definitely no need to cook them, at the end of the day it is your preference. Why not  give them some saw and then you can see how it goes yourself. 

[SallyintNorth]

That's good to hear, robert and lill.  I had heard that the thing about cooking spuds for pigs was mainly so that they could extract more nutrition from the tuber and not because they would make them ill fed raw, so it's great to know for sure they'll not be harmed by the odd raw one.

[powispigs]

we feed raw potatoes too and so far no problems   

[tizaala]

Don't forget to cut off any green skinned parts on the spuds as this is poisonous (cyanide) as are the growing tops and flowers, the same as tomatoes and peppers, all the same family.

[Berkshire Boy]

I always feed the pigs the tops of potatoes and never had a problem. I would think you had to eat an awful lot before you get cyanide poisoning. I really don't understand this thing about cooking things, they are PIGS they do not cook their food in the wild. Some of my pigs live in the woods and I've never caught them with their camping stove.

[Sylvia]

But have you caught them growing spuds

[robert waddell]

they just wont leave anything for a rainy day

[FiB]

Whilst John Seymour ('Self Sufficiency' author) lists cooked potatoes under food, he also mentions keeping pigs on a field of potatoes or allowing them to forage after main harvest so it must be OK.  I'm sure Ive seen commercial pigs after-grazing a potato field.  I bet the cooked potato thing is a calorific thing (maximising absorbtion and producing a warmth hit - warmth seems to be a big factor in food --> meat conversion). Great Forum, thanks!   Our first 4 Saddle backs are arriving on Saturday yeay.

[Berkshire Boy]

FiB welcome to the world of pigs, you will soon be boring the pants off everyone with your tales of pigs. Enjoy them and be prepared to get addicted.

[Blonde]

i got a bg of horse carrots the other day and have been feeding a few each day..4 days to my KKs, i have since been told i need to cook them ..is that correct..... is that also the case for spuds. turnips and sugar beet etc...thanks

I would feed them raw, but just not carrots as their base diet, I would also feed  them pellets so that they get a variety of foods.   They also like a bit of greenery from the garden. Scraps out of the bucket  from the kitchen is fine as long as it does not have  meat in it.    The old plants out of your vegi patch are also fine, pigs will find a spot  for them in their diet.