Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Pig feeding advice please  (Read 2109 times)

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
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Pig feeding advice please
« on: May 29, 2014, 08:09:01 am »
Doreen, our seven year old Large Black sow had piglets yesterday morning, she has 8.  She is really quite overweight, and we have been working on getting this down over the past few months.  This has been going OK, she is still big, but not as big as she was.  I am looking for advice on how much I should be feeding her now to get the balance right between her continuing to lose weight in a steady and healthy way, and ensuring she can produce enough milk for the piglets.

Thank you in advance!

HappyHippy

  • Guest
Re: Pig feeding advice please
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2014, 08:45:36 am »
The usual advice is 6lbs for the sow and a pound for each piglet by the time they're a fortnight old - so you'll be looking at 14lbs per day, split into 2, possibly 3 feeds - but build up to it gradually rather than suddenly up it. Also make sure she's got access to plenty of water - she'll need it with the increased ration.
You might find she manages fine on a bit less than this, but you'll just need to keep a close eye and check her condition regularly. Some old sows just drop weight when feeding a litter no matter how much you feed them.
Keep us posted  :thumbsup:

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
    • Facebook
Re: Pig feeding advice please
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2014, 08:49:39 am »
Thank you, forgot to ask you last night and didn't want to bother you again!

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Pig feeding advice please
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2014, 11:41:24 am »
Given her age you may well find she'll be fine for the first three or four weeks but the weight will drop away by the end of week six and she'll have slimmed right down if you leave weaning until eight weeks.  If you plan to put her in pig again you'll then be worrying about building her up ready for the next lot!

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
    • Facebook
Re: Pig feeding advice please
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2014, 12:11:47 pm »
That's great, thank you.  We probably won't put her in pig again, we have a lovely young sow too and so I think Doreen can retire - she has got quite stiff on her back end in the last couple of weeks, although the excess weight obviously won't be helping that.

 

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