[County Dangler]

How viable is it to grow the most part of your pigs fodder?

I am looking at getting a couple of wieners to fatten up this coming spring and the resarch i have done suggests that a large part of the cost is feed. I have plenty of room to grow fruit and veg but there must be a good reason why many don't grow there own? i understand that there has to be a change in diet come fattening time and was thinking i could make the protein part up with perhaps fish?

Is it worth the hassle of growing your own fodder and if so what should i be looking at growing?

cheers

[Liam_86]

its worth looking at, you can grow fruit and beg which means you will get extra tasty pork.

The feed is expensive, but this last time i fed my pigs on a 'general mix' from the feed mill. This is generally fed to cattle but the pigs seemed to like it and mixed with a good amount of fruit and veg the pork has turned out fantastic!!

The cost of pig nuts in my area is about £8 per 25KG sack...the general mix worked out at half that.

[SallyintNorth]

It's a good idea to grow fruit and veg and give the waste / spare to the pigs - they'll love it and you'll taste it in the meat 

But in terms of growing and,mixing the entire ration yourself... You would need to look into the legality of using fishmeal as protein. You would also need a license for mixing your own feed.

Alternative protein sources include milk, peas, soya.

If you haven't seen it already, have a look at Prof Sandra Edwards' document on raw materials for feeding pigs.  You can download it from the BPA here

[shygirl]

laziness is the reason we never grew much for them! as we have to garden by hand.
if we had a little harrow, tractor etc then i would love to grow an acre of tatties, greens, neeps etc for them.
simples

[Bodger]

Fruit and veg is a tasty addition but you wont fatten weaners on them alone. As I say a tasty addition to a weaners diet but the majority of their food will still have to be grain based.