[Wildman]

With the cost of pig feed right now a lot of people are saying it is to expensive to keep them. I keep 6 and feed S&W pencls morning and night, lots of bannanas and Qs and it is lllllots. Some say I could do away with the S&W feed, what do you think, is anyone keeping them without this type of feed.

[Hilarysmum]

I believe without some form of proprietary pig food or at least a very good protein source the result tends to be fattier and of course slower growing.  We feed pencils and loads of veggies, this works for us.

[Wildman]

Thank you for that, we feel the same but it would be nice to see how others get on.

[Hilarysmum]

Carole has some good ideas on feeding, her last lot were spot on, might be worth asking her.

[Wildman]

Carole, can you let me know

[chickens]

sorry to be thick but what are 'pencils' and 's & w's please?

thanks

[Farmer Giles]

Yes please same for me, what are pencils??  ( I should know )

I only give ours farine and veggies etc. and they all grow well with moderate fat but interested to learn more about suppliments and other feeding methods.

[carole]

Hi all,
This is a topic which I am always questioning and the results are for me when the meat is returned from the butcher, I feed a variety of both dry and wet feed.
It also depends on the season and to what is available at that time.
In my stock feed area at the moment, to which I alternate daily and on each feed is, sorgham, french equivilant of tabioca,
pig nuts, soya ground and whole, crushed maise, fresh carrots, and farine. I tend to mix the stale bread and household waste with the farine.
I am looking forward to when there is a glut of veg and fruit as all the people in my village either arrive with it or offer me to go and pick my own.
As HM says vegetables are a good food and full of the necessary feed values, but again this can only be fed here when a source is available.
I tend to source my feed from local farmers who in turn after a while put me in touch with larger suppliers, currently paying 13 euros for 25kgs of pig nuts and for all the other dried food 15 cents a kilo. Also a bonus the chickens love sorghum and the other cheap feed.
Looking forward to hearing what other food you all feed your pigs, I am currently searching to see if sunflower seeds have any nutritional value as I have been offered them very cheap ie 10 cents a kilo.

Carole

[Malc]

We feed a combination of sow and weaner pencils (rolls of cereal feed) and rolled barley bought in from a nearby farm at £6 a hundredweight. I've planted half-an-acre of potatoes which will go into the mix later this summer. Experience so far and advice from people far more knowledgeable than me suggest that pencils should always form the basic daily ration if the pigs are to be finished satisfactorily.

[Rosemary]

Carole, there's a thread running somewhere, started by Russ, on growing sunflowers for oil and using the husks as animal feed. I'm sure there's alik on the post to something more in depth on sunflowers.

[rustyme]

yep ...put the seed through an oil press and get 40%-50% by weight of oil from the seed and then you have the waste solid (cake/meal) of the seed which is very nutritious :
http://www.soyatech.com/sunflower_facts.htm
An acre of sunflowers will give about 70 gallons of oil , for biodiesel or to use straight as fuel or cooking/eating oil , about 5-10 tons of stalks for silage/compost and then (I think) about 1/2 a ton+ of cake feed. Hope thats of some use....

Russ

ps: http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php/topic,665.0.html

[MrRee]

Nutrition Facts and Information about Sunflower Seed:
Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, copper, tryptophan, phosphorous and zinc. They also contain very good amounts of selenium, folate, iron, potassium and calcium.

Vitamin Content:
Sunflower seeds contain excellent levels of vitamin e and thiamin. They are also very good source of vitamin b1, niacin and riboflavin. Sunflower seeds also contain good levels of vitamin b5 and vitamin b6. Traces of vitamin c and vitamin a can also be found in sunflower seeds.

Calorie Content:
Sunflower seeds are high-calorie foods as 100g contains 584 calories of energy. They contain high levels of protein.

Health Benefits of Sunflower Seed:
Sunflower seeds helps in preventing hearth disorders, lower cholesterol levels, asthma, high blood pressure, migraine, headaches, indigestion and inflammations related to bones.

Taken from www.organicfacts.net .........Ree

[Hilarysmum]

Sunflower seeds sound very beneficial, my only worry would be would they be the same as uncooked whole maize and pass straight through?  Would they be difficult to roll or crush to make them more digestible for pigs?

(Interested not criticising).

[carole]

Thanks for the replies regarding sunflower seeds, I know what you mean HM about whole maize, luckily my neighbour has a machine which will grind into smaller pieces or to flour, depending how I am feeding it that week. Maybe I will see if this machine can do sunflower seeds.

Thanks again
Carole

[rustyme]

I would think that any machine that would crush or roll barley , would do the same to sunflower seed. Mind you I haven't tried it !! , but if I remember correctly ? there is enough adjustment to cater for the sunflowers larger seed size.

Russ