[wonderwooly]

hi I we are new to pigs this year and it all seems to be going well,
I have a question about whether we can feed the pigs meat scraps
like the fatty bits from the lamb we just butchered, 'so meat from here'.
I thinking stuff left over from a family meal ect... so not loads
they have a steady cereal based diet and forage.
opinions differ I know, what are the pro and cons?
 

if not I guess the chickens would love it.
thanks for reading
 

[bloomer]

Short version is NO

It is illegal to feed pigs any meat or meat derived products!

It is also illegal to feed any food from a domestic kitchen to pigs, so no table scraps or kitchen waste!

Am on my phone so can't post links to legislation I'm sure someone else will be along soon though!!!

Sorry for being negative but that's the law!!!

[SophieLeeds]

http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/keeping-animals/illegal-feeding/

More info here ^ and on plenty of other similar threads.
Pro's and con's: Will the pigs eat meat? Yes! Will you be in trouble if caught feeding them any sort of catering waste? Yes!

My advice is to take a small area of your pigs enclosure and fence it off. Here you can plant fodder beets and other root veg. They will not only last all winter (if stored), but can be given straight to your pigs (leaves and all) without ever going anywhere near a kitchen. They're also very cheap to buy and easy to grow, and require virtually no maintenance. This is the best way to give your pigs a 'treat' whilst staying on the right side of the law You can also buy fodders (by the tonne) quite cheaply.

Hope this helps

[Fowgill Farm]

WW I see you are a junior member so we'll forgive your innocent question!

NO NO NO to any meat products.

Pigs are omnivorous and on occasion have been known to eat the odd chicken or rabbit! But as a rule pig nuts supplemented by fruit & veg are the preferred and only legal diet for pigs.

Stick by the rules. If you want to see what happens when the rules get broken google 'foot and mouth 2000 pyres' and you'll see what will happen to your pigs if you do break the rules.

HTH
mandy
ps have a look at www.gospbc.co.uk under pig management tab

[Tiva Diva]

Incidentally it's also illegal to feed table scraps to chickens. But if you have a dog, they'll love it! 

[wonderwooly]

fare enough I guess that's a no then.

we don't have a dog!! allergy problems.
but most of the left over’s from butchering lambs goes to a local wolf refuge...
really chickens too, I sore one today running about with a frog in its mouth
it was very happy..

thank you all for your replies

[suziequeue]

Yes - chickens will eat frogs, mice and numerous other small mammals if they can catch them.

[Anke]

But you can feed pigs milk if it is produced on your own holding, e,g from your own goats and/or cows. They love it!

[Rosemary]

Have you seen the movie "Snatch"? 

[fiestyredhead331]

eeek NO!!!!

mine have caught the odd unsuspecting chicken but we would never intentionally give our pigs any meat of any description, that goes for pretty much everything on our croft other than the dog.

[oor wullie]

The rules in the UK are very clear but I see from a previous post you are in France. 
Are the rules the same in France?  Even if it is an EU rule they may interpret it differently.

[midtown]

There are EU controls in place which in theory apply across all member countries.
However, in France the general rule is to do the opposite of what legislation states!

[farmers wife]

Our pigs have always been vege however there is no harm with cooked waste off the plate and they had all our peelings, rotten veg, cream, kids cereals.


Animals thrive on what nature intended and are not waste disposal.  I have heard some right horror stories of pigs fed entirely on food manufacture waste and turning nasty. 16 percent protein is the going rate and our had a mix of veg & cereal from the local animal feed shop.  If you were a purists then pigs should be in woods with grass and nuts.


Also we have always weighed the food to ensure they dont get too fat.

[Bionic]

Our pigs have always been vege however there is no harm with cooked waste off the plate and they had all our peelings, rotten veg, cream, kids cereals.

Its not about ensuring they don't get fat. Its against the law to feed anything from the kitchen which obviously includes waste from your plates, regardless of whether you are vegetarians or not.

[wonderwooly]

Hi I haven't read this forum for a while so was surprised to see this post still
being discussed. and in retrospect possibly a bit naive as a post.
 
Yes you where right we are in France, and yes I have watched snatch
and the legislation is very through on some matters and completely absent on others!! exception Frances.. Please do post if you know specifics of this issue about french law.
related to keeping two or three pigs for home consumption, it is different in terms of
registration. all our animals are tagged.

I do know in Britain of course this particular issue is delicate and these days very specific. possibly a little bit overkill for a couple of home raised pigs that have tons of space in a very
 secure (because of wild boar) fencing, in a forest. we feed them an organic mix of pluses and grains crushed, we add milk and yes they do get our kitchen veg left over’s,
if I would feed it to my kids why would I worry giving haricot bean tops or brocerly stubs to the pigs?

my only issue was with our own left over lamb bits I don't like waste and these lambs have been born slaughtered and cooked here, I don't know of a medical reason why they couldn't have a small amount of the left over’s, That being said we don't give it to them. but we were discussing the issues and couldn’t find a really definitive ancre that didn’t involve the problems found in mass production. certainly on web forum in aus or usa there are different opinions and they seem to lean at bit more to the john semore way of thinking. 

I'm not trying to rub anyone up the wrong way just looking for practical and scientific answers to this issue.