[kitchen cottage]

My litter of piggies (Essex/Saddlebacks) are 18 weeks old, and doing well against a rare breed growth chart I found  on the Berkshire Pigs website.
 
I've been feeding sow nuts and an acre of forage.  For a snack, on top of their food, they have some bred. 
 
My food is bought in bulk with my local city farms order, so I'm limited to their supply chain, because its £6 a 20k bag with their discount and £8.75 at the farm shop!!!
 
Their supplier doesn't do growing nuts but does do finishers, so I have bought these for more protein.  I'd like them to go at around 26-28 weeks, which the Berkshire chart says will give me a dead weight of about 79-86 kilos.
 
Will they be okay on finishing nuts?
 
They are a very even litter.  I measured them with a pig tape and then again with their heads up using a tape measure and came to between 51 and 56 kilo's at the moment.
 
I am a "worry wart" about them because as I am looking at the  everyday, I don't see the growth and get anxious.  That said, I saw some 11 week olds at the city farm last night and the difference was staggering!!
 
Will I be okay with finishing nuts?..... I've bought them now, and obviously should have asked advice before.....(actually I asked for growers and when they didn't have them the manager ordered for me without checking so I didn't actually get a choice - that said he's very skilled in husbandry but they don't rear pigs just breed them).
 
Reassurance would be gratefully received.  I will stoically take abuse if I've dropped a b0llock....
 
Della

[Nickie]

Hi, I'm no expert as I've only kept 3 lots of weaners so far.


I have rare breed (although British Lop) & they are outdoor rared in a paddock about 1/2 acre.


The first ones I fed Sow & Weaner nuts, replacing these with Finisher nuts for the last few weeks. The pigs were a good size & fat wise the butcher thought they were about right.


The 2nd lot I only fed Sow & Weaner nuts & they did equally as well.


I'm just finishing the 3rd lot, booked in for the 12th September. Again I have stuck to just Sow & Weaner, mainly because there was no difference in the pigs & its cheaper to buy (over a pound a bag).


I think the finisher nuts can be a bit high in protein for the rare breeds & they tend to pile on fat, which you may not want.

[lill]

Hi Della, Finisher nuts will not have as much protein as the growers but you will still be able to use them for your pigs, their growth rate will slow a bit though. It is sometimes better to worry too much that not enough.

[kitchen cottage]

I've just checked the sow nuts are 16% protein and the finisher are 19%.  The growers are 20% so they are better.
 
That said they've grown very well on 16% and the jungle so I am probably worrying!
 
Its internal competitiveness, should I get them to slaughter when I want at the time I want I will have made the grand total of £500 on the litter plus free meat for me and some close friend, and half a pig for my local hospice .... so I am trying to keep to budget.  This is the first year I've had a spreadsheet and everything for my........ one litter a year 
 
Thanks everyone!
 
 
 

[lill]

oh  presumed as with the turkey feed the finisher pellets would be less protein. Every day a school day