[JedM]

I've been offered a huge pile of old potatoes from this year free!  Can I feed them to my pigs in fairly large quantities?  I've been told I will have to cook them first but I was wondering if there is any harm in feeding them raw?  Thanks

[Bionic]

I don't think they can be fed raw but can't remember why. I have had some left over potatoes and have been cooking them in a microwave in the garage. Having said that they only get a few at a time because I didn't want the pigs to get over fat.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

They cant digest the starch Jay. The effect is that it will go through them and they wont be able to break it down or get any benefit from them. Just the same as if we atr raw spuds. Sticking a handful in the microwave as Bionc does is a great idea. Or Rosemary boild hers.


Everyone does this using outdoor kitchen equipment of course to prevent the risk of contamination from meat products in the kitchen.

[Bionic]

Everyone does this using outdoor kitchen equipment of course to prevent the risk of contamination from meat products in the kitchen.

The microwave in my garage is usually used for dyeing fleece but just to make sure that I don't get any chemical dyes on the potatoes they are all boiled in those microwave bags you can get. It works well, isolates the spuds and is enough for a few of them at mealtimes over a couple of days.

[harmony]

I know of a potato producer who keeps a pedigree herd of pigs who eat no end of raw potatoes with no consequence other than being fat.

[hughesy]

I've fed a lot of raw potatoes to ours. I'm aware that they're better nutritionally when cooked but I've only ever fed raw. The pigs love them and there was no noticeable effect on their growth or carcass condition. Maybe if your pigs were brought up on a diet of purely spuds some adjustments would need to be made but A few here and there won't make any difference. Ours have survived several days feeding nothing but raw spuds on occasions. As they have swedes and carrots.

[SallyintNorth]

According to the 'Newcastle document', eating raw potatoes impairs protein digestion.  It may therefore be a false economy to feed raw potatoes.  However, the document does say that ad lib raw potatoes plus some supplemental protein can provide the nutritional needs of a dry sow, but that total raw potato should be limited to about 6-8 kgs per sow per day, plus 1kg protein supplement, to avoid fatness.  It postulates that feeding the protein in a separate feed to the potatoes may improve the protein digestion of the protein feed.

It says that feeding cooked potatoes to weaned pigs will reduce the killing out percentage due to increased gut weight.  Feed at up to 25% of dietary dry matter at a rate of 1kg cooked potato replaces 0.25kg barley.

[hughesy]

It can't be false economy if the spuds are for nothing

[SallyintNorth]

It can't be false economy if the spuds are for nothing

It could be. It depends on the amount by which feeding raw spuds reduces the protein they digest. 

I don't have figures that quantify the reduction in protein digested, but if you replaced 1/4 of their ration with raw potatoes, and it reduced the protein they get from the remaining ration by 1/3, then you'd have to feed more protein with the spuds than without!

[Kitchen Cottage]

It is a false economy unless these are adult pigs because they need 18-25% protein to grow.  Potatoes don't have that and so they aren't enough.  If you then feed additional protein, if the potatoes aren't cooked it won't be metabolised. 

I tried this years ago and the piglets were stunted.

[oaklandspigs]

Agree with the thrust of all the previous.

Pigs can't get much nutrition from raw potatoes, and generally feeding to growing pigs will lengthen time to fatten.

We feed raw occasionally to dry sows when we get them for free, as they like the taste, and of course they are fully grown.

Cooking (outside a domestic environment) is better, but is you are justifying on economics rather than giving the pigs variety,  you'd probably spend more on fuel than you'd gain from free potatoes which don't really help growth. 

A few now and then will do no harm !

[JedM]

Thanks all,  I have a few weaners I am fattening so I'll just feed a few every now and then to them. 
I also have 2 sows which I am about to put back in pig, so would it harm to feed potatoes while in pig?

[oaklandspigs]

As long as its a small part of their diet

[hughesy]

How many pigs are we talking about here? And how many potatoes? Unless you're a fairly serious pork producer we're talking small numbers here and any effect of less than perfect nutrition is going to go unnoticed in all probability. Taking on board what has been said there is another side to this. If you're operating a pork producing business as opposed to raising a few weaners, there are times when you don't want pigs to grow as fast as possible, so feeding a filling but less than ideal ration might actually be a good thing at times. Also consider that not all that long ago in the mists of time pigs were fed on whatever was to hand, not perfectly balanced rations in pellet form, and the world didn't go short of pork.

[Azzdodd]

Mine love raw spuds! I get them by the tonne cheap as chips an give it then mixed with whole fodder beats aswell they love it an can gaurentee every sow gets some as it takes them longer to eat