[JackCobtree]

Hi

I've just registered to this site because over the next few months i think i may need some help!!!
I've shown pigs for a few years and worked with them for a long time, but hoepfully this year i am going to buy my own. Now i am still at school and do little jobs to earn money. Over the last few days i have been working out all the costings etc.. and to me, the feed bill looks like the easiest to keep to minimum. Therefore i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of what to supplement my pigs' diet so i can then reduce how much i give them of the expensive concentrated food??

Thanks 

[Berkshire Boy]

Sorry to disappoint you but the feed bill is the hardest to cut. You can supplement your feed with vegetables etc but this makes very little difference to your feed bill. The most important thing for your pig is a well balanced diet and this mostly needs to come from bought in feed.
Good luck with your pigs but I'm afraid feed is expensive.

[princesspiggy]

u should be able to feed 2 weaners on £15 a week though. money well spent compared to what my son would spend that money on! if its ur passion go for it. ask at ur grocers for spare veg etc. in our old village there used to be big boxes of fallen apples that were free to take away. if u ask and smile, im sure ul get a good supply from somewhere but u still need a good finisher pellet.
good luck!

[HappyHippy]

u should be able to feed 2 weaners on £15 a week though.

Yes, and that's as they're approaching finishing. To begin with, at 8 weeks old they'll only need 2 lbs of food a day so your 20Kg bag should last closer to a fortnight 

If you really want a cheaper pig to raise then go for a Kune Kune (I know  I keep saying that  ) they only need about a pound of hard feed a day & grass (and fruit & veg) they take a bit longer to finish but still work out cheaper to finish than 'big' breeds 

Don't scrimp on the pig nuts - at least half their diet should be this and the fruit and veg taken at a ratio of 4lbs equalling 1lb of nuts - they'll need the nuts for healthy development.

HTH
Karen 

[Bionic]

Karen,
[
Don't scrimp on the pig nuts - at least half their diet should be this and the fruit and veg taken at a ratio of 4lbs equalling 1lb of nuts - they'll need the nuts for healthy development.

[/quote]

If they need at least half of their diet on nuts does that mean that if they were on 4lb of pig nuts you could instead give them 2lb of nuts and 8lbs of fruit and veg?

Just want to make sure I have the right idea for when I get my pigs.
thanks
Sally

[Derby_menagerie]

If you can find a small brewery, they will be more than happy for you to take away any brewed grains, a good suppliment to their feed and ask if they can give you any of the setiment great if you soak your nuts in it (excuse the pun) my pigs go mad for it. If there is anyone making cheese near by and you can get the whey that would also be great! Veg is good to but try and find some one who sells 'feed carrots' or 'horse carrots' as these will be cheaper, basically these are the carrots that are the wrong size and shape for the super markets, but you wont find the pigs complaining. Or try and get some fodderbeet to bulk out there feed. If you can get the cash together to buy 10+ bags and have space to store them you could save a bit on feed to! Home grown pork is the best tastes!

[HappyHippy]

Karen,
[
Don't scrimp on the pig nuts - at least half their diet should be this and the fruit and veg taken at a ratio of 4lbs equalling 1lb of nuts - they'll need the nuts for healthy development.

If they need at least half of their diet on nuts does that mean that if they were on 4lb of pig nuts you could instead give them 2lb of nuts and 8lbs of fruit and veg?

Just want to make sure I have the right idea for when I get my pigs.
thanks
Sally
[/quote]

In a word, yes.
BUT increase the fruit & veg gradually to 8lbs - don't just give them it all suddenly on one day or they'll maybe scour a bit 
 

[Bionic]

Thanks Karen 

[Barrett]

HI Jack, my pigs have concentrated nuts as a treat if sold lots of produce and a bit flush then they will get a bag of EXPENSIVE nuts I pay as much as £9.00 for a bag of finisher pellets so my pigs are fed on wheat which is £4 for a 25K bag, barley which is the same price and yogurt, they also have apples, veg etc.., haylage is good for the winter. my feed bills were getting silly as the pellets are so expensive then had a chat with a mate of mine who is a commercial pig farmer and suggested the wheat, barley and yogurt. I also give them a sack of potatoes and carrots boiled per week.  For 2 weaner you could save a lot by putting them on the wheat, barley and yogurt they love the spuds boiled as well and a sack for 2 weaners would last you at least 3-4 weeks.  Sarah.

[JackCobtree]

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your suggestions, i really appreciate that. I'm sure i'll be coming to you for more advice in the next few months!!!

Thanks again

Jack 

[princesspiggy]

i used to feed mine on barley and had a little mill but barley doubled in price that year so i just stick with nuts.
barret - do u make or buy the yoghurt? do u get ur veg from a farm or shop? thanx

[SteveHants]

I've known people feed pigs rolled barley - but they will need plenty of veg to supplement this and in some of the breeds that 'do' better (GOS for example) may cause them to run a bit to fat. What you need is a helpful mixed (arable and livestock) farmer with his own roller. I think a binful used to cost us a couple of quid. You will need to soak it first.

[Sylvia]

Jack, don't be shy when asking for waste fruit and veg. Retailers have to pay so much per bin to have it taken away and if you're prepared to take everything they will love you. What the pigs don't eat can be put on the compost heap or just trodden into the ground to feed the next lot of grass. Beg shamelessly!!

[oaklandspigs]

Veg is great for supplementary feeding, and adds flavour to the meat, as well as giving interest to the pigs, and I'm all in favour of it.

However you should be conscious of what your pigs need

Food consists of Energy (typically lipids & carbohydrates), protein, vitamins, minerals and water 

Pigs need the right balance of these, and for growing they need not only protein, but the right kind of protein. 

Veg will be good at delivering vitamins and in many cases the minerals, some is good at carbohydrate, and all are good with water, some more than others - eg cucumber !

However most veg is bad at delivering protein, and in the case of pigs the right balance of proteins.

Commercial pig food will almost always contain soya, at that is the closest to the pig's needs for protein, but even this lacks some essential amino acids (building blocks of protein), which are added to the feed such as lysine.  In the old days when swill was fed, this had meat content, which is where pigs got the protein from.

Now protein is what grows your pigs, protein = muscle.  So if you start to feed lots of veg to growing pigs, you can slow their growth, which means that you will be feeding them longer.  So if you are doing this to save money, rather than add flavour, the maths may not work out in your favour.

In the worst case mineral and vitamin deficiency can give them issues, such as bone defects. Now don't panic ! You're unlikely to do the latter if you are feeding pig nuts alongside, and even if you fed exclusively veg it would depend on what veg you are feeding them.

For dry sows who need energy rather than growth, when we have veg, we tend to feed one meal as nuts and the other as veg, that way at least they are getting one fully balanced meal a day.

The point of all the above is that there are rules of thumb, such as 4 times the weight of veg to nuts, but these are rough guides, intended for occasional use.

If you are going to feed significant amounts of veg to growing pigs as a major part of their diet, then you should do some research into pig diets - The best book I know is "The Nutrition and feeding of organic pigs" by Robert Blair.  At £57.50 it is not cheap, but if you save 8 25kg feed sacks you've paid for the book !  Feeding Organic Pigs by Newcastle university is also very good.



 

[JackCobtree]

Thanks,

i'll definitley do some research on barley and see if where we buy the feed for our young farmers stock sell sacked barley 

I have also been looking into fruit and veg and have made contact with a farm shop who may be able to help with that, but i will also do some research on pigs' diet as i hadn't even thought about deficiencies etc so thankyou Oaklands otherwise i may have had a big problem!!

Also Oaklands, am I right in thinking that you do pig keeping courses, because if so, i think we have met a couple of times at the shows?

thankyou to everyone again

Jack