The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Sylvia on September 28, 2011, 08:42:00 am
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I am told that Kune Kune will eat hay in winter as a substitute for grass. What sort of hay will suit them best? Soft/hard/haylage? and how do you feed it, on the ground,in racks, hay nets? :pig: :pig:
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Hiya Sylvia,
I usually feed the stuff that comes in square bales (think you'd class that as hard ?) and I either put a pile into the corner of their arc (if it's wet & muddy) but if it's dry I stick it into an old hessian sack and toss it into the field for them to play with while they eat - takes them a bit longer to munch it ;)
Karen :wave:
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Mine have a 45gl drum that is cut in half with haylage in the bottom and the pig meal on top of it :) the fluid from the meal soaks into the haylage and they scoff it up. They'll eat plain haylage too :pig:
We're making a hayrack/manger that will be under cover for winter that will be stocked with as much haylage as they'll eat and warm meal when it gets really cold.
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My two are on nice quality soft hay at the moment - meadow hay - but they will eat whatever goes over the fence, usually off the floor. Would not trust them with a net! They also devour what the small pony leaves behind (which is not a lot!) They enjoy haylage, and straw too.
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Thank you all for that, I will get my hay ordered :)
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I am told that Kune Kune will eat hay in winter as a substitute for grass. What sort of hay will suit them best? Soft/hard/haylage? and how do you feed it, on the ground,in racks, hay nets? :pig: :pig:
Pigs will eat silage, which is hay that has been cut green and then wrapped in plastic wrapping and left to go perfectly black. Pigs just love it......along with a lot of other farm animals.
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pigs will eat hay silage haylage and straw but what protein will they derive from it they still have to fed protein in the form of compound feed or grain and soya :farmer:
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pigs will eat hay silage haylage and straw but what protein will they derive from it they still have to fed protein in the form of compound feed or grain and soya :farmer:
Pigs need a variety of grains including hay and straw. I feed a variety and include straw in my mixes at every feed, The only ones I dont give straw to in feed is my weaners and my creep. I find that the back fat on the finishers is vastly less by doing this. Hay has more protein in than straw, pea hay is high along with wheaten hay, oaten hay has less protein in it and takes longer to fatten an animal. But no matter what you feed the protein level must suit that animal. You can use brewery waste, water damaged grain from the bins, dust from the grain but it needs to be mixed in your mill, with your limestone, minerals, tallow, soya meal, canola meal, fish meal, etc. It depends on what you are allowed to feed and wha tis availabe to you in that country. We have Wheat, Lupins, Barley, oats, Rye, Cotton meal, Faba Beans, Chick Peas, Peas, Canola, Then we have all the hays and straws. some of the others I have mentioned above are locally produced or imported. We dont use corn cause we dont grow it here, it is imported.