[harry]

so would wet mash would be more digestable without any further processing

[robert waddell]

yes just feed it      but you have to get it fresh   it is also very warm when fresh hence it goes mouldy if kept in the bags

[harry]

is this sort of mould dangerous to pigs.... ie pig feed mould is dangerous.... mould onfruit/  veg etc is ok

[robert waddell]

mash has a very nice smell when fresh
before it gets to the mouldy stage it goes sour     you can smell the difference
does mouldy windfall  give pigs an upset stomach
 

[harry]

dont know thats why ime asking....... too many fresh apples give them an upset stomache..... but is that the worst mould in this trype of grain will  ............. mentioned it to someone today and they said if i cover it in black plastic it will last 6 months plus

[robert waddell]

the mould in grain is a different  more toxic mould
farmers put the mash in silage pits as well as potatoes      it has to be sealed to stop air getting into it  then vermin come to it

[harry]

i have arranged to get some spent grain from a small brewery...lucky for me its about 6-10 X 20 klo sacks per 2 weeks so not to much to go sour ...i believe protien value is about 30% so any advice on amount to feed a 7 month growing kune kune (i have 7 of these) they currently have about 1.5 to 2 lb of sow rolls daily as a winter ration...also looking for some meat day old chicks to clear it up.

[robert waddell]

are you sure the protein is 30% that is very high for a spent product
the highest concentrate is 22%  if your 6-10 bags are like the bags we get you will not be able to use it all feeding kunies   at 7 months feeding a high protein feed they will layer the fat on 

[harry]

think i got it wrong its 30% of feed ration recomended...      had a look here http://www.fao.org/ag/aGa/agap/FRG/afris/Data/468.HTM         better get a shed load of growing poulrty for meat then untill ime ready for new piglets,,,,,,, is there a prefered breed for feeding this grain,,,,, dont want huge pigs maybe a medium breeed. ALSO FOUND THIS ON GOOGLE
 I can only give you my experience - and I know other people on the forum have come up with different views.

I have a micro-brewery and our spent grain has been going for some time past to a local small-holder as pig feed - I don't know what proportion of their diet the spent grain constitutes, but he's had no problems.

We have kept pigs ourselves outside the brewery and have fed them almost exclusively on spent grain mixed with bits of waste beer and wort (unfermented beer). The 2 we have just sent to slaughter only had 4 bags of pig nuts between them over the 5 months we had them - the rest of their diet was grain beer and wort, plus what they got from clearing a half-acre enclosure. And they were happy, healthy and taste delicious.

Ours have been used to the diet from a young age - I don't know how they would react to a sudden change. Also we nearly always feed them the grain as a sloppy mix with beer or wort mixed in and a handful of nuts. I know other contributors have said when this question has been raised before that you should limit the %age of grain fed to a rate much lower than what we feed to ours - but as I say, I can only give you my experience.
 #2 by Pel 25th February 2009 at 14:44
 I've got nothing against feeding any free feedstuffs, and also know of a brewer round by me who feeds his pigs all the left over stuff (good ale too), they do get nuts as well, and his pigs seem to do well off them. However one reason i give a limited % on these matters is that they (pigs) cant digest the grains as good as ruminants, so excrete a lot of the goodness (so if you had sheep etc be better to give it to them), also if we on here were to say go ahead and feed over 50% of the grains to them and they did, and the pigs died because of it who'd get the blame?
By only feeding 10% to begin with the owner can see whether or not the pigs like it and whether or not they get an ill effect from it, if they don't then you can increase if you so wish to..

[robert waddell]

if you continue to get the mash a change will need to happen get rid of the kunnies and get hampshire piglets or have sheep as the quoted report states
hampshires wont layer the fat on as other breeds  pigs can digest the mash as it is broken up by the process of brewing (it is only whole grains they cannot digest the husks are the only thing they will not digest)
we feed the mash to the sheep and boy are the lambs growing   once the piglets are weaned we will feed them with some

[windymiller]

when we were tenant farmers, before we bought where we are now, were were on an estate not far from hook norton brewery and could get as much brewers grains as we wanted.
When fresh it smells malty and sweet, it goes off quickly in summer but will keep a week of so easily you can tell when it goes rancid, it stinks, we used to feed two plastic dustbins a week per pig with some nuts and some fodder beet. now were too far away 70 miles, but have made some inroads into getting some from the brewery at cleobury mortimer

[harry]

ok...will be ready for new piglets this spring... so i will see about hampshires, anyone else got any breed suggsetions for feeding grain as a large part of their ration, they will also free range............. 2 bin fulls a week is a lot more than i would have thought ,,,,were they a huge breed............................................. googled hampshires dont think i like the sound of them for a small smallholding ie a bit big, a bit aggressive (small children about) and big diggers, still sounds like a med breed and a 100 chickens is tha way to go

[windymiller]

no not massive, 6 oxford sandies, would expect that they got a bucket each? maybe more, they did once escape and eat thelot in one sitting, got a bit drunk and slept for a couple of days... funny really though i was worried at the time

biggest thing is not letting it go rancid as then it will make them bad and get the runs or beer belly!

[robert waddell]

there is only one thing for you to do  pick a breed of pig feed them the mash and wait and see first how big they grow and second how long it takes them to get there and third how fat they are when killed

mash is only grain that is a byproduct of brewing   so feed in large quantity's they will layer the fat on
Hampshire's are the least likely to go to fat in the same depth as every other breed   you could also try Duroc or pietrain all other breeds will layer the fat on
what breed to get for temperament  every breed can escape every breed can be aggressive  it is how you manage them if it is docile pigs you want get lops  i have a friend that has welsh pigs    they are meant to be aggressive but his are as docile as the lops
in the end it is your call     all we can do is point you in one direction

[harry]

ime off to the poultry pages to ask the same