[Buffy the eggs layer]

Can they eat fresh sugarbeet and sugarbeet pellets? And if so do the eat the pellets raw like sheep or soaked like horses?

[shygirl]

soaked. definitely. it says on the bag. ruminants can have it unsoaked.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Yep I fed it soaked to my pigs a lot and they liked it, sugabeet doesn't get them to grow very big though. Try and keep soaked sugabeet away from sheep though, as they love it when its mushy, not that it does them any harm though, its just it can cause bloating. Some pigs i have found are rather picky and leave the soaked sugabeet, so I mixed it with dry food, like berrystock ( google berrystock, its a really good food for cows and pigs, not too much for pigs though). I feed it ( dry) to my buffaloes at milking time, as it helps their milk yield and butterfat level too, they love it.

[landroverroy]

\Yes they can eat sugar beet as pulp or fresh. In fact it is a constituent of some pig feeds. I've given shreds to mine with their feed and it doesn't need soaking.
But, shreds or pellets  are not an efficient feed to give to fattening pigs as they don't have the capacity to break down the fibre in the way that ruminants can. It is more a filler. I gave it to mine as I didn't want them to get any fatter, and because of the fibre content it has a similar effect to giving All Bran, in that it bulks up the droppings.
Fresh sugar beet is like giving them sweets. It gives them something to chew on and occupies them for a while. But I'm not sure how large amounts would affect them as it's pretty concentrated so I wouldn't give more than one a day each. I found mine really enjoyed carrots or fodder beet. We used to feed them those ad lib, as we had them for the cattle anyway, and again it filled them without making them fatter. (At this stage my mini pigs were full grown, and I hadn't yet decided what their fate was to be.)   

[HappyHippy]

Yes they'll eat it. Ours love fresh stuff and will make do with the dried pellets- always soaked first.
We give a little to the kunekune in the colder weather, but not too much or it puts too much fat on them 

[jward]

I feed it soaked with every feed.  The more sloppy it is the more they love it, they go mad for it!

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thats great thanks,


 they are getting leantech pellets with fruit and veg at the moment but I will be buying in fodder beet and carrots shortly for the winter.


Just wondered about other things like sugarbeet as a filler when they are older.

[Marches Farmer]

What does "filler" mean?  If you're feeding them for slaughter they shouldn't get to the stage where they need filler. If you're keeping females for breeding then they will either be growing, pregnant or lactating and they'll need the correct feed with the odd bit of this or that thrown in for interest.  I think only pet pigs would need a filler.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

I suppose I was thinking of the boar over winter.....? I give my rams a handful of sugarbeet pellets over the winter months in addition to their hay if I think they need a little bit more in the way of callories.


Perhaps that doesnt apply to pigs?

[landroverroy]

What does "filler" mean?  If you're feeding them for slaughter they shouldn't get to the stage where they need filler. If you're keeping females for breeding then they will either be growing, pregnant or lactating and they'll need the correct feed with the odd bit of this or that thrown in for interest.  I think only pet pigs would need a filler.

Exactly. Although I would say "pet pigs" in this context includes kune kune and other particularly small breeds, which have more of a tendency to gain excess fat before they have reached their desired killing weight. (Buffy, as you will recall was referring to her kune kunes.)

[HappyHippy]

Yes, kunekune need a 'filler' to replace the grass they won't be getting during the winter. Mine like hay and haylage and sometimes get a LITTLE soaked sugar beet (it's inclined to make them put on fat if they have too much of it) only when the temperatures really drop though.
Keep them on about 1lb of pig nuts each with a bit of hay for the majority of the time - if it gets cold or you see a drop in condition add some extra nuts or some beet then.

[sabrina]

I have fed some over the winter months when very cold, I use speedy beet for the ponies so have just given the pigs the same. goes down well.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Seems like a case of different strokes for different folks.