Carbadox in pig feed

[bibliophile birds]

so, i'm scrambling around trying to figure out this pig feed situation. since my pig was a Christmas surprise, i wasn't as informed as i would have liked. my brother brought a bag of feed home with it and i've been using it until i found a better option. well, today i was looking closely at the label to get an idea for comparison and i saw that the feed is medicated- a big no for my animals. it contains carbadox which Wikipedia says is

a drug that combats bacterial infection in swine, particularly swine dysentery. In early 2004 it was banned by the Canadian government as a livestock feed additive and for human consumption. The European Union also forbids the use of Carbadox at any level. It is approved in the United States for use in swine for up to 42 days before slaughter.

no big shocker there, that we're still allowing a drug that everyone else has banned, but i still don't really know what exactly it's combating. is it just broad spectrum? what does cause swine dysentery?

soooo, the question really is, what do you feed your pigs and what do you avoid? my pig book comes in the mail in 2 days, so hopefully that will answer a lot of questions, but the bag of feed is almost gone and i'm going to need to make some quick decisions. i don't like medicated feed anyway, but i really don't like medicated feed that i don't understand.

oh, i also don't love throwing corn and soy at everything. a little corn is fine but we don't use ANY soy.

 

[freemotion]

They love veggies/fruit that we view as spoiled. Really spoiled. Liquifying. Really.

 

[bibliophile birds]

good to know. she's definitely loving any scraps i give her. today she got some turkey hot dog that were a little bit past their use by date and she went crazy. loved them.

so rotten fruit is good. what about slightly moldy bread?

eta: feeding her apple slices is how i bribed her into liking me. it worked really well!

 

[freemotion]

Just to clarify, is this a pet or for breeding or for the freezer? Check out my pig thread for all the things I fed mine. But they were for the freezer, so long-term cardiovascular health was not a concern.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Pigs' digestive systems are pretty much exactly like humans'. They can probably eat lots of things we'd consider not fit for consumption, but I'm not sure I'd give them spoiled feed on a regular basis though, just my opinion.

 

[bibliophile birds]

breeding or freezer, we haven't really decided yet. the goal was to get a couple for the freezer, but my brother's fiance picked out a girl... who is really starting to grow on everyone, so for now we're holding judgment. i'm picking up 2 boys from a different farmer in a few weeks, so those will most likely end up being our freezer pigs.

 

[big brown horse]

We gave our pig lots of stuff.

He loved bananas, but you can only give a pig one a day...other wise they get too much potassium. (I think that is the only thing you have to watch out for.)

He got cheap store bought eggs. I threw hard boiled eggs all around his pasture/forest so he would get some exercise. DrakeMaiden would also donate her excess duck eggs when they got too old to sell or use. (She is getting some pork in return.)

He hated bread. :/

Acorns--thank you freemotion.

He also got milk.

All the kitchen scraps and forgotten leftovers went to him. (I miss having that garbage disposal feature..now I have to divide the "good for compost scraps and leftovers" from the bad.)

Oh, and QVC (grocery store) they "sell" what they call "chicken feed". Which was produce that got too old to sell in the produce department. It was next to nothing.


I splurged on raw pumpkin seeds and gave him a handful every time I fed him. I also bought pumpkins after Halloween for him. Supposed to be a good dewormer. I only had him chemically dewormed once and that was b/c he was a wild piglet full of fleas, worms etc. (and uncasterated).

I sat at the counter in a diner (rare for me) one day having coffee and watched the waitresses literally dump MOUNDS of hash, hashbrowns, bacon, ham, eggs and toast right into the garbage. If you had the time maybe you can ask to volunteer for an hour or so and scrape dishes into your own big doggy bag. I dunno, just a thought. The amount of waste was out of this world and I was only there for about 30 minutes while I was waiting on the ferry. Not implying that you can't afford to feed your piggy by the way...it was just such a huge waste. (I would have done it, but I just don't have the time.)

 

[freemotion]

Pigs' digestive systems are pretty much exactly like humans'. They can probably eat lots of things we'd consider not fit for consumption, but I'm not sure I'd give them spoiled feed on a regular basis though, just my opinion.

To clarify.....buckets and wheelbarrows and barrels of fresh, wholesome produce were dumped into my pig pasture. The pigs ignored much of it until it was liquified, then they dug into it with enthusiasm. For example, many pails of decent tomatoes were piled in there. They waited 2-3 weeks until the tomatoes expanded, then flattened. Then they ate them all in a day or two. Same with the pumpkins. They'd eat the seeds right away, then let the rest almost liquify before they scarfed it down.

I stopped sorting our household waste for them. The older and moldier, the better, in their opinions.

 

[Wannabefree]

Pigs' digestive systems are pretty much exactly like humans'. They can probably eat lots of things we'd consider not fit for consumption, but I'm not sure I'd give them spoiled feed on a regular basis though, just my opinion.

To clarify.....buckets and wheelbarrows and barrels of fresh, wholesome produce were dumped into my pig pasture. The pigs ignored much of it until it was liquified, then they dug into it with enthusiasm. For example, many pails of decent tomatoes were piled in there. They waited 2-3 weeks until the tomatoes expanded, then flattened. Then they ate them all in a day or two. Same with the pumpkins. They'd eat the seeds right away, then let the rest almost liquify before they scarfed it down.

I stopped sorting our household waste for them. The older and moldier, the better, in their opinions.

Just sayin'

 

[big brown horse]

Free, I noticed the same thing except I thought it was the chickens that finally finished off the rotting produce. The chickens had a revolving door into his pasture. I thought he was a picky eater, however, now that you said it, it was probably him.