[domfoy]

Hi, I have just collected two Oxford Sandy and Black lad weaners, my first males. Hopefully they will behave as well and taste as good as their female ancestors! I have some bagged feed (1 sack) which went out of date in April this year so its 5 months older than it should be. I have been giving it to the chaps 50/50 with my new feed supplies. There is no mould or dampness but I don't want to poison the poor things. Is it ok to continue giving them this? They seemed reluctant to eat it on the 1st day but probably because they were spooked in their new environment.

[robert waddell]

is there a difference in the smell of the two feeds        the vitamins and minerals are not guaranteed  to be present after the date on the bag

[Fowgill Farm]

To be honest if its only one bag you'd be wasting why take the risk of upsetting your pigs tummies, as Robert says generally its the vits & mins that disipate with time and if they smell ok, well its your choice.
mandy

[domfoy]

Thanks both for the advice. As you say its only a £9 bag of feed so maybe best to sling it.

[RUSTYME]

Not picking here , but asking a genuine question .
I know that vitamins can deteriorate , change into different compounds etc , but do the minerals do the same ? I thought the base minerals were stable ? , would only leach out in certain conditions ie  in a compost heap , the soil , damp sodden conditions etc .
Been a long time since i did any chemistry , so i may be totally wrong .
As for the date on the bag , as in human food it seldom means if it has run overtime that it will be no good . It just means use caution .
Just think dried peas , beans , oats , flour , sugar , potatoes , carrots etc etc .

[Ina]

I'm with Rustyme on this. It's probably a "best before" date, anyway - which means it doesn't go off after that date, it just may have slightly less vitamins in it! On the other hand, it could well be decidedly off long before the date, if (for example) it hasn't been stored properly... And it's not as if it's years out of date, just a few months.

[hughesy]

At one time when I worked at a feed merchant's our animals only ever had out of date feed. Getting it for 3 quid a bag answered all the questions as to if it was any good or not.

[domfoy]

Thanks for all the advice chaps. I personally eat stuff as long as it isn't really mouldy and suspect pigs would digest this feed quite happily.

[rispainfarm]

I was told today that pig food stored for too long suffers from mites??

[robert waddell]

any food kept to long suffers from mites

[Sylvia]

At one time when I worked at a feed merchant's our animals only ever had out of date feed. Getting it for 3 quid a bag answered all the questions as to if it was any good or not.

I shall be having a word with my feed merchant tomorrow

[hughesy]

Sadly they've tightened up their procedures now and don't have much going out of date anymore.