The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Jon Brunyee on August 18, 2013, 08:16:09 pm
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just read it somewhere and was not sure if it was true, guessing you might need to feed ad lib instead of only just milk.....
any suggestions.
Thank you.
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I wouldn't have thought so :-\
They'd grow I'm sure, but not very well (their diet would be lacking in vitamins & minerals) and they might be overly fat at slaughter time because of the high fat %age in the milk. :thinking: :thinking:
We supplement our nursing sows with goats milk (and occasionally the boar gets a treat too ;)) but they get their ration of sow rolls too.
HTH
Karen
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i know you can feed pigs on milk and tatties to finishing, but i couldnt imagine its a balanced diet.
i would suggest adding milk to the basic ration.
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I used to fatten mine on skim milk mixed with wheatings plus they had windfall fruit and veg and weeds from the garden etc They also had a bit of codliver oil and seaweed meal mixed in with it and sometimes some rolled peas.
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The Newcastle document states that, so long as food hygiene is maintained, there is no limit on the amount of milk that can be included in a ration but that too much in a finishing ration is likely to lead to grading issues. (Ie., make them too fat! :D)
It says that 4.5kgs whole milk can replace 1kg concentrate. However, the protein and lysine would need augmenting - beans or peas would be one way to give this.
On the write-up for skimmed milk, it says to not feed more than 4.5L (1 gallon) per head per day and to use a 'balancer ration' that is lower in protein than the normal ration. In a sow's ration, 3L skimmed milk can replace 0.4kgs feed.
Whey can be used to a max of 10L per day for finishing pigs, at a rate of 15L whey per kg replaced compound feed. Whey from cheesemaking is usually salty, so plenty of water must be available.