weaner pigs, anyone feed them not using bagged pelleted feed?

[lalaland]

this is great - I had searched the internet, read books at the library and standing in the aisle at the feed store, and EVERYONE was telling me I had to use the factory feed.

I was thinking of getting goats for the milk, but really, adding pigs is about all I can handle right now given that I still work in the cities.

My dg will be home though, and can easily do the three feedings a day.

OG, I will plan on putting extra pumpkins in for the hogs. You inspired me with your tales of ham and that pic of that ham slice! woohee!!!


any ideas about why letting the corn and oats soak til they start to ferment?

 

[freemotion]

It is more digestible this way, as it is for humans, too. But since pigs are often given grain as most of their diet, it needs to be really digestible. All seeds also contain anti-nutrients which block absorption of essential minerals, resulting in deficiencies. Soaking and especially fermenting will neutralize these naturally-occuring substances.

Too much of any one grain can cause some serious and even life-threatening deficiencies, so my thoughts on feeding whole grains is to feed a variety and soak/ferment them. For meat animals....well, they generally have a short life anyways, so the deficiencies are less likely to catch up with them.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Free - yep you can feed whole corn - no problem and yep it just makes it more digestible. we like crushed b/c we use it for everyone else... and it makes a smooshier 'cereal' for them. also dont over look regular old corn on the cob! after the combines go thru we glean in a couple fields and wow do we ever get a LOT! its totally worth it to trudge thru the fields.

lala - the ham is soooooooo worth all that pig hatin' you'll do!

 

[miron27]

i used crushed corn and soybean mixed last year on 4 feeder pigs worked great this year i am using pelleted feed seems to be doing good but not like the last 4 i did these ones seem to be growing slow

do you think the meet will taste different ?

why doesn't anyone want to use pellets?

 

[freemotion]

Personally, I don't use commercial feeds because they hide a lot of garbage in them. Also, all the contaminated feeds and pet foods lately....I had no worries at all.

I am learning to raise critters on foods that I could produce myself if I had to.`

OFG, thanks! I know I can get lots of ears of feed corn from the large market for corn stalks for fall decorating. They strip off all the ears so the racoons don't come in and make a mess of the farmstands at night. I know a couple of farmers that would probably let me help strip them or just give me the ears outright. They sell truckloads of the stuff here in the MA & CT suburbs!

I had a batch of moldy hay one year, about 25 bales, and I put it by the road with a sign and sold it for what I paid for it, and very quickly. I indicated that it was for decorating only, not for feed. People came and got 2-3 bales at a time, and left money in a jar. Sweet.

 

[lalaland]

yeah, I don't want to feed them garbage factory food because I don't want to eat that. i try my best not to eat factory food (anything produced in a plant/factory) but of course, if you eat at any chain restaurant you are eating factory food, and if you eat anything that comes in a box or bag, you are probably eating factory food. and darn, some of that stuff actually tastes good, too.

 

[miron27]

i buy my feed by the ton and it is made fresh i have to call it in a couple of days before pick up and they pour the feed in the bed of my truck and i have to unload it by hand. so far it looks more like grounded corn and wheat i have been pretty pleased so far

 

[jellybeanme]

We used to raise up to 20 pigs at a time. I'd like to get a few next spring. We'd get anything left over from the local dairygold distributor. Some days we'd get 100 gallons of ice cream and many gallons of milk, cream, etc. They normally don't like ice cream till it's fermented. Put it all in big rubbermaid barrels and wait, stirring every day. Also barrels with grain, mix in water and milk, let it sit while stirring every day. We'd just keep adding to the barrels every day. Also, a local bread shop, like Eddy's, will sell outdated bread very cheap. Same with getting old or bad produce from grocery stores or restaurants.

Flies can be a problem, and the smell of the fermenting barrels. Next time I plan to try DE around the feed and pen, and see if it cuts down on the flies. Oh, they'll also eat meat. We got some outdated whole hog legs from somewhere once. They went absolutely crazy for them! This was all when I was a kid, we just fed them whatever we got. Never bought premade feed for them, just plain grains and ground it ourself. I want to start raising a few again next year.

 

[me&thegals]

We got some outdated whole hog legs from somewhere once. They went absolutely crazy for them!

Did I read this right? Pigs eating pigs? IDK, but this sounds a little questionable to me...

 

[jellybeanme]

Yeah, I know it sounds weird. They eat meat. I have no idea where we got them, maybe the butcher cause they were old or something? But there were a few whole (big) hog legs. We had like 15 pigs and they were almost eating each other to get to them. They weren't rotten or moldy or bad smelling or anything either. We didn't think they'd eat them, but threw them in the tub anyway just to see.