Feeding pigs

[lutzhomestead]

So, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about these creatures before we actually get any in the future (I like to be as well prepared as can be). The internet and pinterest have pretty good sources of information in a lot of areas on the topic of pigs, but I've yet to find anything stellar on the feeding of pigs. What are your all's take on it?
I've heard pasture fed makes the meat tough. Exclusive scraps make the meat taste funny. Grain fed is expensive.
And I was wondering, has any one ever fed butchering scraps? Like innards (intestines and the likes)? I've seen things about how they used to do that years back, whatever wasn't utilized by the farmer was just fed back to the pigs after butchering whatever was being butchered.
What about fodder? Has anyone fed their pigs grassy fodder?
Thanks everyone!

[dustawaits]

As I always had plenty of milk my butcher hogs were pretty well milk fed.
I also mixed corn, alfalfa, and soymeal in a self feeder.
They had grass to eat if they wanted.
I did not feed them meat.
If a hog is fed chicken it changes the texture of the meat and there are other ill effects.
Hogs like acorns which might make the meat more greasy.
The main thing about hogs is keeping them in a fence strong enough for them. Their snout is very powerful .
Oh they like to eat rocks tooo.

[shellymay]

I raise one pig per year for our freezer, I have tried several breeds and my favorite is the Duroc pig.....this year I could not get a Duroc because my breeder was getting old and he retired and is no longer raising pigs. I couldn't find another close enough to me but I did find a Red wattle pig breed farmer close, of course I have never heard of this breed but after research I realized this will work perfect for us....

(Red Wattle hogs are known for hardiness, foraging activity, and rapid growth rate. They produce a lean meat that has been described as flavorful and tender. The sows are excellent mothers, farrow litters of 10 – 15 piglets, and provide good quantities of milk for their large litters. They have a mild temperament. Red Wattles adapt to a wide range of climates. Their active foraging makes them a good choice for consideration in outdoor or pasture-based swine production. Their gentle nature recommends them to the small-scale, independent producer.)

I raise our pig at the home site, I raise her (usually get a female) in the barn for about 1 month, I always get a pig after it is weaned as I like them young so they can get use to me touching them and teaching her name to her, pigs are smart   While she is in barn kept up for the month she is being fed a complete grower/starter feed for piglets and this has all the nutrients she needs.....

After a month of being in barn I turn her loose on about 10 acres with 10 head of sheep, pigs love company and hate to be alone, so for years since I started doing this the pig year after year BONDS with the sheep because this is what is in pasture, all of my pigs no matter what breed mimic the sheep and learn to eat grass and such right away, I do feed my pig grain ONCE per day to keep tame and for the extra nutrients she may need, Grower starter is more expensive then regular hog feed, but like everything I am one person who believes in the grower started feed for months for any breed of animals I raise, but she will be changed over sooner or later to the hog feed pellets.

MY OPINION is grass fed ANYTHING is better then grain fed, So if you have pasture to run pig on it will be far better then keeping a pig in a small pen and pouring grain to it, but yes I agree that a pig should get the opportunity to eat all your veggie/garden scrapes and what not, but don't expect a pig to live off of this.....my pig is 6 months of age right now and only gets one of those Foldgers plastic coffee cans of grain per day, balance of day she forages.....and it is garden season so she gets veggies tossed into pasture that get to big to eat like squash and of course the sheep join in......

I am not sure like @redfish said, if you are just looking to raise a few for meat or breeding stock, I have never done breeding stock, but I can tell you this, with most breeds of pigs if you raise more then one then they know they are pigs and will rut up everything as they try to compete with each other for the goodies, raising one with sheep they don't know that they are a pig, my pig thinks its a sheep, lol.....with that being said this breed I am raising now is suppose to be a forage based breed and I can tell you she hasn't done any damage to my land as far as rutting it up, and not much rutting with the Duroc breed either but some........

Yes good grass pasture are important if you raise the way we do, can't be all weeds as they are not goats, lol...... another thing is some folks will feed a lot of corn to pigs as it is way cheaper then pig pellets, you need to know that corn fed causes a ton of fat if they are raised on a long term corn diet, my pigs are always lean as far as the meat goes, so the last 4 weeks before slaughter some corn will be added to pellets but only the last 4 weeks, she will also stay free ranged for those last weeks to forage as some folks will pen them up those last 4 weeks, nope not us!

A few more notes......pigs can't sweat like other animals, they need a mud hole that is filled with water during the hot times of the year, laying in the mudd hole is how they cool off, shade is important as well.....My fencing is woven wire fencing, and my pig is also free ranged with 2 livestock guard dogs as well as sheep.

Edited to say I give my pigs no shots, breeder worms them before I pick them up and if shots are needed breeder does that as well, not sure if pigs need shots or not, but I do worm with a pelleted type wormer when pig is 3 months of age and again one more time at 6 months of age, that is all I do for the 10-11 months that I own said pig before slaughter.

 

[lutzhomestead]

Great information and all super helpful!
To clarify for those who were wondering, we will just be producing meat, not breeding stock. We've talked about getting a bred sow the first time if we can find one, keep a boar from her litter, sell the remaining piglets as feeder pigs, and butcher the sow for pork after. Then the next year get a gilt to breed, and keep one of those piglets and sell the remaining and just keep that breeding pair for as long as we can.
I wanted to know about the innards because when we start butchering We are wanting to transition our dog to a raw diet to help with some digestive issues, but intestines are one of those things people suggest you don't feed a dog (not sure why). But, if we're butchering enough animals to feed our family and a dog were going to be waist deep in intestines and I don't want to have to just throw stuff out if it can be used, so it is great to hear that you CAN feed those things to them; I kind of thought that would be the case with them being omnivores, but it's always best to learn from experienced people.
It's also great advice about the cut off a month before butchering on giving them meat stuffs. I never would have thought about that and I'm glad you brought it up!

[Skandi]

If you really want to use everything then intestines are of course sausage skins, there are also many recipes round the world that use them as well. andouilles

[trailrider]

This is a great post. Thank you shellymay for all the good info too.
I raised a couple pigs and sold them at auction at 5 months and 200 pounds each. They were such a delight to raise! So smart and clean and fun to watch. Now I am planning on raising a few more. I don't need to raise for meat for myself as I live alone. But I love having the pigs around I just do it for the auction. I have a good sized well fenced field with a shallow pond and stream. It also has a large run in shed. Since it is fenced to keep my baby goats in and dogs out, it should be good fencing. I think after the first month in the barn, maybe moving them into a partitioned off section of run in shelter and later letting them run with the goats. At first under supervision on the weekend. I had never really thought about grazing pigs. Like most of the country I have only seen pigs housed in pig houses and pig runs. So glad you posted here about your experience. BTW I highly recommend buying weaned baby pigs and raising them up. They bring me as much enjoyment as my goats and dogs!

[trailrider]

Shoot! I forgot why I was posting!
Do any of you feed excess eggs to your pigs? Occasionally I scrambled some eggs for my two pigs in the morning. Now I have several extra dozen eggs a week to use up. Scrambled, boiled, fried?

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2018 1:01:47 GMT trailrider said:

Shoot! I forgot why I was posting!
Do any of you feed excess eggs to your pigs? Occasionally I scrambled some eggs for my two pigs in the morning. Now I have several extra dozen eggs a week to use up. Scrambled, boiled, fried?

Our pigs love eggs. I've feed them raw and cooked - they don't mind how, LOL

How neat to have such a surplus to be able to treat them.

[trailrider]

Yes, I have a surplus indeed. I keep a bunch of chickens, a few geese and ducks and some other birds. Mainly because I enjoy seeing them out in the yard and I enjoy their personalities. I eat an egg a day....sometimes two. But I get more than a dozen everyday. I give away dozens at work....but even my co workers can't keep up!
The local grocery store also saves non sellable produce for me to feed my birds. So the pigs would also get produce along with their regular food. I like to feed cracked corn and soybean meal but migh consider commercial pig diet too. The first two did very well on the corn and soybean meal with extra goodies and lots of surplus goats milk. 

[shellymay]

trailrider, if you are going to feed a surplus of eggs I would cook first, internet says raw white part of egg can cause issues,but cooked is great for pigs, your choice how to cook them but easy and less labor would be boiled, then toss to pigs shells and all .... My poor piggy this year that I amraising is still in barn and very lonely, I am still waiting on two of the ewes to lamb out in pasture that pig will run with, NOTE: never run your pig with livestock thatis due to BIRTH as the pig will be drawn to the blood and birthing fluids and can andwill kill and eat a newborn animal. My last two ewes at home site should lamb within a week, I will wait until lambs are about two weeks old before letting pig out because their umbilical cord should be dried and gone by then

[trailrider]

Ah yes, I would certainly see where a pig would be drawn to the after birth etc and it could start off some terrible habits. I was told by the breeder of my last two pigs that pigs would kill chickens. I do believe her since I found a recently killed chicken in their stall one day. I think it managed to get in there and got cornered or something. I'm am NOT saying the pigs were at fault...nor were they mean.....its just what happens when something small and covered in feathers ended up in their space and couldn't get out of the way.
These days I scramble a dozen eggs every few days for my pea fowl. They love cooked eggs and all kinds of kitchen scraps.

[Bellsbunnies]

We pasture several pigs. We always start our piglets out on grower/starter. We have friends that raise layers and once a week i go get all their double yolk eggs/dirty eggs that the trucks don't pick up. 6-8 cases a week. We have another friend that drives a milk route and he brings us gallons of milk picked up from stores. About once a month we drive a couple hours from here to pick up 55 gallon barrels of crushed candy-cookies. The last 8-12 weeks they are moved to fresh pasture and we supplement with left over vegetables from garden and local corn. We have durocs and large blacks. When we butcher our first stop is by laying houses and then by the milkman house. We have the pastures divided in sections with one strand hot wire and don't have a problem with them getting out.

[Maura]

There is a reason apples were fed to pigs in the fall. It made the meat sweeter. So, when finishing, see if you can get windfall apples to add to your pigs' diet.

I have only ever had pastured pork twice (half a pig) and it was so-o-o good. But, as written above, be aware of what's in your pasture. If the pigs, like any animal, are doing a log of running around, they are going to be tougher, so pay attention to how much they have to run around to get food and water.

[Bellsbunnies]

I don't know how i forgot apples but you are spot on about them being a great food source. I have a good source for them as my dad owns an apple and peach orchard and sells to the public. During summer months we pick up what has fallen off the trees and haul them by the pick-up load and dump in pastures. Dad also saves all his culls in 55 gal barrels for me. Only problem with apples in bulk like this is yellow jackets. But free is free.