can I ask a pig question?

[5minpins]

am getting 3 pigs next week, never had pigs before. do pigs need a mineral or salt block? I have a friend that works at the grocery store and I can get the reject dairy and bakery stuff for them. will feed grain too. But I wasnt sure if they have some sort of mineral requirement...

 

[TexasBred]

am getting 3 pigs next week, never had pigs before. do pigs need a mineral or salt block? I have a friend that works at the grocery store and I can get the reject dairy and bakery stuff for them. will feed grain too. But I wasnt sure if they have some sort of mineral requirement...

Basically you're going to be feeding "slop" and a little grain....He'll render out a lot of "lard" and fat meat....I'd get a good pig starter..it should have the necessary vitamins and minerals in it for the pig.

 

[1982vett]

NO. Hogs should not be fed salt and most minerals have salt in them.

 

[5minpins]

Thanks!! that is what I wanted to know. the price of pig feed is retarded these days. can buy plain ol COB for cheaper than pelleted pig feed. They will be somewhat pasture raised...as long as they stay in the double fenced field lol. two strands HOTwire and 2x4 welded wire behind that. Pork Chop anyone....?

 

[I luv herfrds]

Keep away from the bakery stuff it will just make the pigs fat. Go ahead and give them the vegtables and some fruit. Mine never liked the orange or grapefruit peels.
What type of grain do you plan to feed them? I always fed them barley that I soaked overnight. the kernels were so hard that they didn't like it until I started soaking. Go ahead and feed some commercial pig feed.
Wash the veggies before you feed it to them.
Also any veggie scrapes from your own kitchen are fine. No meat though.

 

[5minpins]

am going to feed them dry COB, corn oats barley, pasture and some dairy from the grocer, and whatever is left out of my garden plus any apples off my trees. Dont mind to much if they get a little fat on them. I am not a fan of really lean meat. I do pay attention to the labels on the livestock feeds I buy, I was pretty amazed at the amount of chemical preservatives they put in some of those feeds. plain ol rolled corn from one place has like 6 different chemicals sprayed on it as a preservative...I dont want to eat that stuff, that is the point of raising my own, I have been ill lately and need to stay away from the chemicals and its really hard to avoid even in your animal feed! I found a place to buy fresh feed that doesnt have to much extra stuff added or sprayed on it.

 

[shorty]

All you need is finely ground shelled corn with soybean meal mixed in to give you 16% protein and feed it free choice in a self feeder.

 

[john250]

Keep away from the bakery stuff it will just make the pigs fat. Go ahead and give them the vegtables and some fruit.

Uhhh...isn't "fat" the end goal here? Still, if you go for the veggies and fruit, I'd get them a treadmill. Those hogs will be "ripped" before they go to ham heaven.

 

[grannysoo]

No salt or minerals....

A pig can survive on your pasture with no additional feed, but you don't want skinny pigs. They won't have the flavor that one that has been grain fed will have. Good ole' corn will do just fine.

Soak it for a few days in water and let it swell up. Might get your pig a little drunk too. :banana:

Just be aware of the fact that they are going to root up every square inch of your pasture if given enough time. That's what pigs do.

 

[5minpins]

I am aiming for the fat pig. the pasture isnt big enough to feed them anyway so its just a small bonus for them to have. will give the grain a good soak though! I have another friend that gives their pigs beer. I saw an ad not to long ago for spent brewers grain for free, might try to see if that is still available.
I dont mind if they root up this pasture, it needs reseeded anyway so after the pigs are gone I might spray it and then seed it in the spring.
I remember when I was a kid, pork chops always had a nice rim of fat around them and they tasted sooo good! didnt eat the fat of course but it added lots of flavor...pork chops now...plain and lean. dont like em. will have fat pigs fed clean food.
how many people on here raise a pig for their freezer? I love good biscuits and sausage gravy!

 

[I luv herfrds]

John there is "fat" then there is fat when it comes to a pig.
Sister bought a finished pig from a guy that fed his pigs nothing but old bakery stuff. That pig had over an inch and a half of fat on the hams and pork chops. That is too much fat.
The ones I raised had a half inch of fat on the same cuts.
Using the brewers grain should give you some happy pigs. ;-)
Since my ducks and geese have taken over my pig's pen, we trade a guy a 1/4 beef for a whole hog. He free ranges his hogs. They taste alot better that way.
You know years ago the farmers would feed the pigs the 2% milk that was left over after seperating the cream off.

 

[john250]

John there is "fat" then there is fat when it comes to a pig.
Sister bought a finished pig from a guy that fed his pigs nothing but old bakery stuff. That pig had over an inch and a half of fat on the hams and pork chops. That is too much fat.


The ones I raised had a half inch of fat on the same cuts.
Using the brewers grain should give you some happy pigs. ;-)
Since my ducks and geese have taken over my pig's pen, we trade a guy a 1/4 beef for a whole hog. He free ranges his hogs. They taste alot better that way.
You know years ago the farmers would feed the pigs the 2% milk that was left over after seperating the cream off.

I was having some fun. An inch and a half is too much fat.
Yes, those were happy hogs on that milk. My ex brother in law was a member of the "Hog Farm" commune back in the hippy days. They picked up garbage, boiled it and fed it to hogs. When they weren't tripping. There are 10 thousand ways to feed a pig. That is why they have remained a popular food source.
I'm from Indiana, but I know next-to-nothing about feeding hogs.

 

[grannysoo]

how many people on here raise a pig for their freezer? I love good biscuits and sausage gravy!

Cows, pigs, chickens, etc. Don't want to buy the hormone filled grocery store meat. My wife however is not crazy about the pigs...

And, as has been said, there is "fat" and then there is "FAAAAAAAAAAAT". Just like with people, a little fat is ok, but obese is not.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

We raise 3 pigs every year... NEVER have trouble selling the two we don't need. Ours are grain fed but still have a yard to "root". Just make sure they have clean water at all times and they don't overheat... they need a away to get out of the sun. Light-skinned ones will sunburn BAD. Our set-up is an inside (large) stall with their food trough, then an outside electrified pen with their water. When we first bring them home we stick them outside with their water. Once they potty outside with their water we open the door for them to run between the inside and out. This way, they seem to always defecate/urinate outside where their water is. I've also heard of people raising their pigs where they want the following year's garden...makes good fertilizer.

 

[Keren]

Just wondering why no one gives their pigs a vit/mineral mix?

We raise a few pigs for the freezer, and because we live in a (normally) good grain area, usually we sell a few to clean up the old grain for people.

We feed whatever is around, but at the moment we are feeding lupins and barley (not soaked or cracked, whole) and we also put in a premix for pigs.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

Just wondering why no one gives their pigs a vit/mineral mix?

We raise a few pigs for the freezer, and because we live in a (normally) good grain area, usually we sell a few to clean up the old grain for people.

We feed whatever is around, but at the moment we are feeding lupins and barley (not soaked or cracked, whole) and we also put in a premix for pigs.

Keren,
Just speaking for ourselves.... we don't feed cracked corn exclusively... our elevator has a mix of cracked corn with (starter, grower, finisher)... all purina pelleted product that gets mixed in. I'm assuming the pelleted feed has all the vitamins/minerals they need. Also, here we can finish pigs relatively quickly (4-5 months to market).

 

[TexasBred]

am going to feed them dry COB, corn oats barley, pasture and some dairy from the grocer, and whatever is left out of my garden plus any apples off my trees. Dont mind to much if they get a little fat on them. I am not a fan of really lean meat. I do pay attention to the labels on the livestock feeds I buy, I was pretty amazed at the amount of chemical preservatives they put in some of those feeds. plain ol rolled corn from one place has like 6 different chemicals sprayed on it as a preservative...I dont want to eat that stuff, that is the point of raising my own, I have been ill lately and need to stay away from the chemicals and its really hard to avoid even in your animal feed! I found a place to buy fresh feed that doesnt have to much extra stuff added or sprayed on it.

Preservative on oats?? Out of curiosity would you list them for me? A lot of what you think is a preservative may not be..... You feeding plan is not going to give you "some fat"...you're going to have a lot of fat...

 

[TexasBred]

Just wondering why no one gives their pigs a vit/mineral mix?

We raise a few pigs for the freezer, and because we live in a (normally) good grain area, usually we sell a few to clean up the old grain for people.

We feed whatever is around, but at the moment we are feeding lupins and barley (not soaked or cracked, whole) and we also put in a premix for pigs.

Pigs need vitamins and minerals like other animals.......just make sure it's a premix for swine...complete feeds purchased already contain this premix.

 

[FarmGirl10]

Make sure that whatever you decide to feed them doesn't have too much protein in it. The feed mill that we used to go to was putting way too much protein in sow feed when we used to have a farrow to finnish hog farm. Too much protein in hog feed makes them really mean, especially when the hogs are yorkshire and yorkshire crosses (yorkshires have a bad name in our area for being mean and aggressive). I still have a couple scars from being bit by a pig.

 

[5minpins]

[quote

Preservative on oats?? Out of curiosity would you list them for me? A lot of what you think is a preservative may not be..... You feeding plan is not going to give you "some fat"...you're going to have a lot of fat...[/quote]


no not on oats, Rolled corn. Dels Rolled corn has preservatives sprayed on it. Not sure where they buy their rolled corn, but the ingredient label says rolled corn and lists some other long names that I cant spell as preservatives. I asked them what the point was and they said its so it doesnt get moldy, they want a long shelf life. thats fine, I dont buy it. next time I stop at Dels I will get the names and send them to you.
I'm not quite sure how my feeding plan is going to make my pigs any fatter than anyone elses. Dry Cob or a complete pig feed isnt going to make that much of a difference except in taste and my bank account. I dont plan on feeding them free choice all day long. the dairy cast offs from the grocer will not be a daily feed, more than likely a weekly bonus for them. so if they get fat thats ok, what doesnt make a pork chop or ham and bacon will go into sausage, gotta have some fat in the sausage