[Drummournie]

Right then, a feed question if I may!

Currently got 13 wild boar running on a bit of pasture that's pretty much churned up to mud now. I have 2 more paddocks that I can use for wintering, once I get the electric fence run inside that will give them at least the grass to eat. Currently I am feeding sow rolls (quiet a small amount per pig) with potatoes and carrots for starch.
My problem is the sow rolls come from Harbro in Inverness and I buy them a pallet at a time which is 40 bags of 25kg and that works out expensive at about £340. Also Harbro are terrible to deal with, never any discount, dismal customer service, don't care if I buy from them etc and I need to find a feed supplier that means I don't have to darken their door again.
I currently don't have the facilities to handle ton bags of feed or potatoes (no tractor or loader) and I don't think I can stretch to a silo for blown in feed etc.

As you know wild boar don't gain weight like traditional pinks, very slow growing and the weight goes on slowly which whilst it gives great meat and condition at the end means feed costs are high and a huge factor when calculating overall costs.

Anyone got a suggestion as to my options moving away from bagged feed? And any suggestions of an alternative feed supplier?

My thanks in advance

[Buffy the eggs layer]

I cant recommend a supplier in your area but have you thought about mixing your own straights ? As you say, your breed dont require high levels of protein ( which is the most expensive ingredient in processed feeds) but do require higher levels of fibre.


Grass pellets or hay could be an alternative to trashing even more pasture and fodder beet would give them more nutrition than spuds while still offering environmental enrichment......? .

[Marches Farmer]

What % protein are you aiming for?  What are the copper requirements of wild boar?  Do you have any agricultural merchants in your area?  We have Countrywide and Wynnstay and a couple of local small-scale ag. feed merchants who will mix straights for us or arrange farm-to-farm deliveries if required.

[HappyHippy]

Try East Coast Viners in Stonehaven - they deliver a pallet of 25kg bags to me in Lanark and I think the last tonne was around £280. They're fab to deal with, can send a forklift to put the pallet where you need it if you want (they do charge £10 for that though).
I've been using them for about 3 or 4 years now and wouldn't consider changing  (should also say that my OH works for Harbro and even with his staff discount ECV are cheaper  )

[Buffy the eggs layer]

AHDB (what was EBLEX) do a great booklet on feeds as part of their Better returns program . It gives you a breakdown of the protein, dry matter, digestible fibre etc of different feeds such as carrots, peas, barley etc, etc.


Sadly BPEX which is the pig equivalent dont do one but if you know what wild boar need in terms of nutrition then you can work out a balanced diet using the data in the EBLEX book.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

http://beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/brp_b_mini-feeds-directory-141013.pdf


here is the link

[Drummournie]

Thanks all, the east coast vintners link is a good lead.

My neighbour has just returned today with 2 ton of barley and the chance of a second hand bruiser.
So mixing my own straights seems like a viable deal as at least I can shovel grain!
I was thinking of a small blade mill with an 8mm sieve as I don't need a hammer mill to go down to flour. Either that or soaking the whole grain til it sprouts as I do work around the malting / distilling industries and I know that's how they malt the barley for whisky production. It's a huge pity that I can't get the pellets they make with the malt residue mixed with the pot ale out of the stills, that stuff is great but it's s global company and they aren't set up to sell a ton of two here or there.....

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Sounds like you have a plan Drummo,




  I was thinking about your wild boar yesterday. My kunes who are also a low protein / high fibre type were looking good a month ago and have suddenly put on rather alot of condition (AKA winter fat) I was watching them snacking on carrots in their wood and wondering where wild pigs would find their protein in winter. As rooting forms a large part of their daily routine at present the answer must surely be ROOTS!


My guys lift the grass to find nettle roots in particular but dandelion roots go down the same way. So I was wondering about feeding mine with fodder beet and carrots with only a very small amount of concentrate to give them a balanced diet. My breed have evolved to scavenge around Maori villages living on scraps and doing a lot with only a little. I realise that wild boar are almost the opposite end of the piggy evolution continuum from my breed and dont store fat reserves in the same way but just wondered if root veg would work for your guys too?

[waterbuffalofarmer]

When you say pellets soaked in that stuff do you mean wheatbeet? Wherabouts are you in the country? I was just wondering as I have a few contacts here in Wales who sell tons of the stuff.

[Marches Farmer]

A local farmer her in the Marches told me about THE Winter of '46-47 when the snow was so deep you could touch the telegraph wires for six weeks ....  He had a coupe of in-pig Tamworth sows go missing before the snow fell.  When it melted they returned to the farmyard, trailing two healthy litters of pigs and having hunkered down in the wood and lived on acorns, beech mast and sweet chestnuts.

[Drummournie]

I have thought about setting aside a acre or so to grow beets etc as the root theory does seem to carry a lot of weight.
I am soaking my barley for 4 days until the chit appears and that should be a good indicator of the germination starting and the starch changing (becoming available) in the kernel.
I am in highlands of Scotland and I haven't found a source of fodder beet locally. Turnips yes, beets no!

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Found this the other day which may be of some use.


http://www.britishpigs.org.uk/Newcastle_handbook_of_raw_materials.pdf

[Drummournie]

Thanks buddy, good reading there.
Happy to report they seem to be doing ok on the straights , hard to tell in this weather as the mud has stripped a bit of condition off them but all looks good so far.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thats good news. Glad its working out for you.


  cold weather setting in now though so it would be worth upping the ration a little esp if you think they have already dropped a little condition already. I have got my Kune boys just where I want them at the moment but its been mild and damp here. I may need to up their ration over the coming weeks to keep them nicely covered. I'm not sure how easy your guys will be to handle so condition scoring them may not be as easy as it is for me. But I find feeling their shoulders, ribs and pin bones a couple of times a week enables me to tweak their ration accordingly.


The autumn apples and acorns had them putting on a bit of timber but they are back on track again and munching through carrots and concentrates twice a day.  [size=78%]   [/size]

[Drummournie]

Would you believe it we went out on xmas day afternoon to finish the electric fencing, install a trough and a couple of Ibc's so we could move them onto fresh grass which wasn't a mud bath! It's worked though and when I was in with them today I can score them as having put back on the condition they lost.
Running a bit of flaked maize into them this week as the weather is so bad (snows falling as I type!)