[harmony]

I don't think anyone said don't. They have just given their experiences.

[farmershort]

I don't think anyone said don't. They have just given their experiences.

Perhaps you're right, I think it's just how it comes across sometimes when you just read a while pile of "know one bothers with that any more" and "it's too hard", and "they'll be too fatty". They may not singularly be saying "don't do it", but the combined message is the same. I simply wanted to offer a positive bent.

[kja]

Hi Kja,

I wasn't aware of that, is there a table which would provide me with the information so I could refer to it? We are also finding it difficult to condition score her, everyone says you should be able to press firmly and feel their backbone and hips, but even though we have halved her food, I still can't do that, though I don't believe she is overweight, she has a waistline and is very active (she's a Berkshire cross GOS if that makes a difference)

We are in Somerset, between Bristol and Bath, an area called Keynsham.

It comes from a old pig book which was gifted to me by a local pig farmer after he ceased keeping pigs just the 3000 !! his family used it as a mixing guide to mix their own feed. All of it contains fish meal or a meat meal so no longer allowed but we used to use it when mixing our own feed for fattening pigs and yes the out come was a fatter finished product compared to using a pellet we now use a finisher pellet and the produce is much more pleasing to the eye so more appealing to the buyer. And another note mixing feed also produces a slower finished pig in comparison to pellets so the savings are soon lost in keeping the pigs longer.

[orchard]

This may be of use:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.britishpigs.org.uk/Newcastle_handbook_of_raw_materials.pdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjoiNXB89jSAhVMJ8AKHVqrAa0QFggLMAA&usg=AFQjCNHGIS6rNlfJohcPQ6A6uXphS3S4ag

[susanrich93]

Thank you for all your replies.

I wasn't looking to 'mill' my own feed, I was looking to buy bags of crushed oats, barley, peas etc. and just mix my own to save cost.

The bags of breeding sow nuts at the local merchant, A Nichols (Cow Mills) is £7.34 per 20kg bag. From our understanding we should feed her 450g of food each day for each month of age, up to a maximum of 2.75kg per day, therefore a 20kg bag lasts her approx. 7 days, making her quite an expensive keep (she's as expensive as my horses)

We do get boxes of fresh veg for her and have been feeding that at a ration of 1:4, therefore 4kg of veg to 1 kg nuts as we were told.

Please do let me know if we are overfeeding her or doing anything wrong, don't want to hurt our piggy

This is what I am looking into at the moment so very interesting. I am going to be mixing my own goat feed so most of the same ingredients. Sure I also read pigs can have sugar beet.
Did you find anymore information?

[Jamesh]

Interesting range of comments. I've looked at milling my own feed, have an old relic of a hammer mill that would happy do small batches, but knowing how time consuming and unenviable the task is I've put that plan on hold.
I get a feed wagon to come fortnightly, mix and blow it into a bin/feed trailer. If you were at that level of feed consumption rate and had the facilities to deal with it, this works to reduce costs.
Last winter l out wintered my breedings sows and others on stubble turnips which seemed a positive success. Equally would consider kale