The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: white-blazes on April 06, 2011, 11:03:28 pm
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We've bought two bags of Pig Nuts for the weaners ready for tomorrow.
Basically, what can they eat, what do they appear to love, and what is a definate 'no no'?
This is our first time with pigs, we have 4 horses and 4 dogs, and suddenly find ourselves a bit lost with lots to learn.
thanks for reading :)
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A definate no-no is any form of meat product or anything which has passed through a commercial or domestic kitchen (it's all explained in the DEFRA stuff you'd have gotten with your cph number) but in terms of what they will eat - everything ! If given half a chance ;)
Mine all love fruit (except citrus) and most veg. Potatoes you're best to feed cooked (outside on a camping stove) but everything else is usually fine raw. They're not usually keen on onions and both these and parsnips can cause blisters round the mouth and folk don't like feeding those as it can look a bit like foot & mouth and cause panic ! Mine have a few parsnips now and again (cos they love them) without any ill effects.
My dad has also discovered that they're quite partial to chocolate hob nobs :o but needless to say they don't get that kind of pampering from me ;)
Enjoy your piggies ;D
Karen
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They love bananas and apples, no pig so far that didn't like them. Every pig has its likes and dislikes - we've had pigs that didn't like sprouts (very intelligent, these pigs were ;)), others didn't want peppers and so on. One of them would gorge on cucumbers and all other fruit & veg, his brother wouldn't touch the stuff.
As for what they can't have: any catering waste (have a look around this forum for the rules & regulations as they're explained in quite a few posts, basically nothing that's been through a kitchen) and no raw potatoes (pigs can get sick and die), potato haulms and tomato plants (poisonous), and I've been told not to give then onions, citrus fruits or parsnips (pigs get blisters).
Others will add to the list. Do have a look around this forum re feed, alternatives and quantities.
:wave:
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ours like a few parsnips too but not many as you say!carrots and bread are our pigs fav's! they love em! we also give them apples,pears and they love water melon but thats only if its on offer as a special treat!! good luck with your piggies!
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Thanks. Iv'e read the rules about meat and catering stuff. Just wondered which veg were loved and which were not. Stuff like lettuce hearts, mushrooms, are ok? With bananas do you mean skins too, or are we to peel them ;D
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Bread too? Never thought of that, I was thinking fruit and veg only. Blimey, my horses will have competition now ;D
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Ours very, very occassionally get some leftover doughnuts - they go mad for them! Bread's fine, doesn't matter how old it is, they'll happily munch on it. They've had lettuces, mushrooms, they went mad for plums and melons, and giving them pumpkins or marrows will keep them quiet for a little bit.
As for peeling bananas... well, we get a load for free and the pigs pretty soon figured out that the supply was plentiful and they could afford to be picky. So since the fruit is nicer than the skin we ended up picking discarded skins out of the mud. As it's much quicker to peel the bananas beforehand rather than to clean up afterwards, our pampered trotters get peeled bananas. But only because we had hundreds, if you only have a handful they'll happily eat peel and all thinking that's all they'll get. ;) Just remember to take the little stickers off ;)
(We blitzed a load of the bananas and froze them.)
Have fun!
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The main thing to remember is everything in moderation - too much of any one thing could have 'undesirable' effects ;) From a case of the runs, to a repulsive pig fart resulting from too many sprouts ;D You're best to try them with little quantities of new things first - but they will eat just about anything ;D
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Our Kunes will kill for carrots. They've even gone so far as putting a card to that effect in the local phone box. ;)
They also love apples, stale bread (never left the car, yer honour!), and sow rolls.
It was very surprising how many of our neighbours still thought you could feed them scraps though.
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Our Kunes will kill for carrots. They've even gone so far as putting a card to that effect in the local phone box. ;)
They also love apples, stale bread (never left the car, yer honour!), and sow rolls.
It was very surprising how many of our neighbours still thought you could feed them scraps though.
So funny to imagine your wee piggies out, under cover of darkness flyposting phoneboxes for food - but hey it's KK's, mine would probably do the same thing if they knew where the nearest village was :D :D :D
On the subject of feeding scraps - my sister, yes SISTER (who you think would listen to me :-\) thought the same thing :o She was busy trying to convince her boss at the hotel to get a couple of KK's as a kind of attraction for guests/garbage disposal unit - UNTIL I SET HER STRAIGHT ;) ;D
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One of my sows just loves eggs, the other much prefers fruit - she's called Apple, 'cos when she & her brothers & sister first had an apple, when they were weaners, they all sat like good girls & boys, while she practically ended up sitting on my shoulder to get some - squealing hysterically ( or was that me laughing ::) )
Don't forget greens, mainly brassica's - thry usually love them.
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Mine all love fruit (except citrus)
Meg can peel an orange and eat the flesh in 20 seconds. She taught her sister to do it too.
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Brilliant, thanks for all the advice. The piggies are going into an area of field we used as an allotment for the last two years, so there's still many failed carrot plants in there which I'm sure they will find, and strawberry plants too ;D
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I quite often hang swedes up for mine (from a post in the middle of their paddock). They LOVE berries but they don't last long! As you've got horses you'll be pleased to hear that mine love docks! Dig 'em up and chuck 'em in! Any form of cake always goes down well with ours ... every tie my dad visits, my step mum bakes a carrot cake specially for the pigs!! ::) (they aren't for meat) Daisy goes mad for bread but isn't allowed too much! ;D
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Hilary has a p assion for vegetable curry and adores any exotic fruit particularly papaya and mango. Bananas have to be peeled. Hilary and oddly any of her descendents will not eat cauliflower the others are quite happy. They all love brocoli cooked not raw. All our veg comes from a veg. factory.
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Thanks, great tips and stories. Hubby also read to put their nuts in a 'horse-ball' toy, so they can play and find food ;D
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ours wouldn't touch carrots - they just buried them. I guess we'll end up with a paddock full of carrots later in the year......
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I'm guessing that the home-baked cakes & curries are cooked in an outhouse in an oven that is only used for pig catering ;)
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we sometimes use the horse ball, picked up that trick very quickly, especially following behind the pig doing all the hard work!
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Hi bewyched, the curries come from the veg factory its legal here at least. They have an area especially for animal feed. Big Hilary does love her curry!
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Do you give her a pint with her curry? ;D
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Sweetheart Stout ;)
:love: :pig: :love:
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If these are weaners, as with all babies too much variation essentially will cause scour -so intorduce your veggies carefully at first. depending on the age of the piggies the feed they get is packed full of milk powder so they are better off eating as much of this feed adlib with just small amounts of others at first.
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Sweetheart Stout ;)
:love: :pig: :love:
Nah she's a Dorset dumpling, loves her pint of cider
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Calling Hilary a "dumpling"... I take it her internet connection has temporarily broken down and she's not online right now? :D
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What you'll find is that pigs are very much like us - they have their likes and dislikes. Most of mine love carrots, for example, but two will just leave them to rot. Broccoli is a huge hit with two of the herd, but the others will just pick at it or kick it around.
As mentioned earlier, whatever you give (and, of course, according to the regulations), just don't overdo it. Feed fruit and veg as extras, not as a partial substitute for standard feed.
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quote author=Eve link=topic=14225.msg138749#msg138749 date=1302296118]
Calling Hilary a "dumpling"... I take it her internet connection has temporarily broken down and she's not online right now? :D
[/quote]
Lord preserve us all from Hilary moving indoors ..... curry and cider are fine as long as she stays outdoors. (Methane)
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Hilary indoors... No doubt 'indoors' would not exist for very long! :D
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Now I'm sitting here imagining ours :pig: running about the house - no doubt they'd be better behaved than the dogs :dog: though ::) ;D ;D ;D
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Kim and Aggie in the house.. I wonder if they'd help with the house work ;D :pig: ;D I'm betting my house wouldn't be very clean for long ! ;D ;D
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My OH often says the house looks like a pigsty ;) ;D ;D ;D
Who wants to be inside cleaning, when the suns shining :D
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Just tell him he should be pleased that it only LOOKS like a pigsty. Digby has been in all day and I cant vacuum cos he beats up the vacuum cleaner.
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;D
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Lol maybe I should threaten to bring Kim and aggie in after all.. ;D
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too much variation essentially will cause scour
mine got scour last year when we changed brands of weaners nuts, cos one was wheat based and the other barley based. :wave:
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mine got scour last year when we changed brands of weaners nuts, cos one was wheat based and the other barley based. :wave:
Wow glad you didnt take the house pig sty option, that really would have been merde.
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;D
Anyone who prefers wheat based over barley based or the other way around and why? I never really thought about it even though I do read the label on the bags to make sure there's no GM or soya in it. I know barley makes them put on more fat... I'll have a look before ordering the next tonne of food.