Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
...
Carbadox in pig feed
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freemotion
Food Guru
I got to see them doing it many times. I finally experimented by tossing in a wheelbarrowful of mixed pumpkins, in all stages from good to difficult to pick up even with a shovel because they were so stinking and liquid in the middle. Guess which ones they went hog-wild over!big brown horse said: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.
FarmerChick
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since this isn't a pot belly pig (one that should stay on the smaller side) you will have a MONSTER on your hands big time. Any hog will grow very large. Your girl will be huge....so I wouldn't be thinking pet ya know
plus if you do breed her, in the end the sow becomes huge and fat. so fat sometimes they can't barely stand......then ya almost have to do away with her. and that meat isn't great then.
just a reminder on livestock
what is cute now grows up to yikes later
I agree. No meat for hogs. I feed absolutely nothing but local grain feed by my local mill. It keeps the taste consistent and clean.
plus if you do breed her, in the end the sow becomes huge and fat. so fat sometimes they can't barely stand......then ya almost have to do away with her. and that meat isn't great then.
just a reminder on livestock
what is cute now grows up to yikes later
I agree. No meat for hogs. I feed absolutely nothing but local grain feed by my local mill. It keeps the taste consistent and clean.
ohiofarmgirl
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here is my overview of feeding them:
http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-grow-out-feeder-pigs-part-2-feed.html
if your pig is smalll(ish) you'll need to make sure she gets enough protein. unfortunately soy is an easy cheap and available for smaller pigs which is why its in their chow. we start ours on this but switch as soon as we can to milk and eggs
if you dont have a source for milk or eggs you might want to try calf manna until they get enough body mass to go root up everything they need. we only use one bag a season of calf manna and probably only use 3-5 bags of hog chow the entire summer for 2 pigs.
one thing about the eggs - make sure they are hard cooked. sure they'll eat eggs raw, but it has a protein inhibitor so you are just working against yourself if you dont cook them.
see Kelly Kelly Klober's Storey's Guide (is that the book thats coming? i love that guy). he's all about feeding hog chow but he has a LOT of good nutritional info and a heap of common sense. you might be able to mix your own food based on his recommendations.
the thing is, if you dont get enough protein into them (at a young age) their grow levels off. and no matter what veg stuff you throw to them, they wont budge. this is where we really saw the magic of calf manna work.
but i strongly second Neko's advice against feeding meat on a regular basis. they'll get all the grubs and stuff they need and there is no sense in encouraging them to eat your chickens.
BR feeds hay (he cuts his own) and his horde of hogs love it. he'll feed it for one meal, but then corn, milk eggs, veggie scraps etc for the others. aside from the initial couple bags of hog chow he doesnt use it either and says the meat quality from soy-hog chow isnt as good. but FC and JMH only feed chow.
we finish entirely on corn, milk, pumpkins, and fall apples for exceptionally fine meat. i know you dont want to feed corn but with pigs you get what you put into them. the corn puts on the fat and marbles the meat. even tho its industrial seeds we get all of our corn locally grown.
and yep. they like stinky stuff. ours loved the whole pumpkins and loved to chase them all over the yard. but sometimes a rotten whatever is what they want (pigs = weirdos).
and it bears repeating... even tho we all do it there are regulations against feeding UNCOOKED 'garbage' to pigs. so you may or may not be able to get leavin's from stores and such, depending on your area. i couldnt pry it out of the hands of the grocery stores but the farm stand guys couldnt wait for me to back the truck up.
thats my $0.02
http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-to-grow-out-feeder-pigs-part-2-feed.html
if your pig is smalll(ish) you'll need to make sure she gets enough protein. unfortunately soy is an easy cheap and available for smaller pigs which is why its in their chow. we start ours on this but switch as soon as we can to milk and eggs
if you dont have a source for milk or eggs you might want to try calf manna until they get enough body mass to go root up everything they need. we only use one bag a season of calf manna and probably only use 3-5 bags of hog chow the entire summer for 2 pigs.
one thing about the eggs - make sure they are hard cooked. sure they'll eat eggs raw, but it has a protein inhibitor so you are just working against yourself if you dont cook them.
see Kelly Kelly Klober's Storey's Guide (is that the book thats coming? i love that guy). he's all about feeding hog chow but he has a LOT of good nutritional info and a heap of common sense. you might be able to mix your own food based on his recommendations.
the thing is, if you dont get enough protein into them (at a young age) their grow levels off. and no matter what veg stuff you throw to them, they wont budge. this is where we really saw the magic of calf manna work.
but i strongly second Neko's advice against feeding meat on a regular basis. they'll get all the grubs and stuff they need and there is no sense in encouraging them to eat your chickens.
BR feeds hay (he cuts his own) and his horde of hogs love it. he'll feed it for one meal, but then corn, milk eggs, veggie scraps etc for the others. aside from the initial couple bags of hog chow he doesnt use it either and says the meat quality from soy-hog chow isnt as good. but FC and JMH only feed chow.
we finish entirely on corn, milk, pumpkins, and fall apples for exceptionally fine meat. i know you dont want to feed corn but with pigs you get what you put into them. the corn puts on the fat and marbles the meat. even tho its industrial seeds we get all of our corn locally grown.
and yep. they like stinky stuff. ours loved the whole pumpkins and loved to chase them all over the yard. but sometimes a rotten whatever is what they want (pigs = weirdos).
and it bears repeating... even tho we all do it there are regulations against feeding UNCOOKED 'garbage' to pigs. so you may or may not be able to get leavin's from stores and such, depending on your area. i couldnt pry it out of the hands of the grocery stores but the farm stand guys couldnt wait for me to back the truck up.
thats my $0.02
ohiofarmgirl
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HA here i am quoting you and you are typing the same thing!!! ha ha ha haFarmerChick said:since this isn't a pot belly pig (one that should stay on the smaller side) you will have a MONSTER on your hands big time. Any hog will grow very large. Your girl will be huge....so I wouldn't be thinking pet ya know
plus if you do breed her, in the end the sow becomes huge and fat. so fat sometimes they can't barely stand......then ya almost have to do away with her. and that meat isn't great then.
just a reminder on livestock
what is cute now grows up to yikes later
I agree. No meat for hogs. I feed absolutely nothing but local grain feed by my local mill. It keeps the taste consistent and clean.
freemotion
Food Guru
Huh. Maybe that is why mine were so small, although given all they could eat and more. I thought maybe it was the breeds (heritage mix) and still could be, but they refused the commercial grower and milk and eggs were in short supply here when the pigs were young. What is the age range that they need the extra protein, and how much milk/eggs per pig would that be? I'll be more attentive next spring.ohiofarmgirl said:
Wifezilla
Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
There was a big thread on this over on BYC. The consensus was there is no consensus. Some fed meat some did not. I don't think it matters because if you pass out in the hog pen, it will eat you weather it has been raised on tofu burgers or hamburger.
freemotion
Food Guru
I'm with that, WZ. I feed my hens cooked meat and they don't suddenly start eating each other. I can't imagine the pigs will know that cooked meat is from fresh, living meat. Mine never bothered the hens, even though they ate a dead chicken that the eagle killed. It was an old kill, hidden somewhere in their pasture. The batch of broody-raised chicks from this past spring would spend their days in the pig pasture, cleaning up spilled feed and even pecking in the pans while the pigs were eating. I am still surprised that all nine of those birds survived that behavior.
ohiofarmgirl
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hey free!
all of BR's pigs (all from different places and he raises up to 17 at a time) have figured out his chickens and ducks taste like chicken. he's always had a problem and all his critters are well fed and they have a huge area. i'm not sure why his hog herd turns into The Lord of the Flies.. but if they left your hens alone chalk it up to luck or fast chickens. remember that hogs will eat anything they can smell.
to our knowledge we didnt loose any hens but only the buckeyes went in the pen and they were fast. we kept the ducks out at all costs. (really low hot wire)
as for feed %'s...and again we figured this out when our pigs just leveled off. when they do this we back off on the grain and pour on the protein. once they got a kick start (for whatever reason i dont know maybe FC does...) they started growing steadily.
pretty much we'd go out there look at the pigs everyday and say "are they growing?"
answer: yep = keep on keepin' on
answer: nope = increase protein
but for the real McCoy.....
* consults Klober's work.... *
umm.. this is what we came up with, based on his guidelines in bold:
New/young pigs (8 to 12 weeks): hog chow + Calf Manna + goat milk + hard cooked eggs
recommended protein level: 17-18%
Middle of summer (pigs are about 100 - 150 or so pounds): gradually mix half and half cracked corn and hog chow + Calf Manna + goat milk + hard cooked eggs.... and by this time we should have some fruit available.
recommended protein level: 11 - 15%
Two weeks or so later: switch entirely to corn + goat milk + hard cooked eggs and by this time we should have some fruit available. And finish up the remainder of the bag of Calf Manna
recommended protein level: 15% to finish to market weight
so thats what i know.
as far as the heritage vs 'regular' pigs... our heritage ones have been the best. i already placed my order for two Tamworths for next year and i cant WAIT.
go meat!
all of BR's pigs (all from different places and he raises up to 17 at a time) have figured out his chickens and ducks taste like chicken. he's always had a problem and all his critters are well fed and they have a huge area. i'm not sure why his hog herd turns into The Lord of the Flies.. but if they left your hens alone chalk it up to luck or fast chickens. remember that hogs will eat anything they can smell.
to our knowledge we didnt loose any hens but only the buckeyes went in the pen and they were fast. we kept the ducks out at all costs. (really low hot wire)
as for feed %'s...and again we figured this out when our pigs just leveled off. when they do this we back off on the grain and pour on the protein. once they got a kick start (for whatever reason i dont know maybe FC does...) they started growing steadily.
pretty much we'd go out there look at the pigs everyday and say "are they growing?"
answer: yep = keep on keepin' on
answer: nope = increase protein
but for the real McCoy.....
* consults Klober's work.... *
umm.. this is what we came up with, based on his guidelines in bold:
New/young pigs (8 to 12 weeks): hog chow + Calf Manna + goat milk + hard cooked eggs
recommended protein level: 17-18%
Middle of summer (pigs are about 100 - 150 or so pounds): gradually mix half and half cracked corn and hog chow + Calf Manna + goat milk + hard cooked eggs.... and by this time we should have some fruit available.
recommended protein level: 11 - 15%
Two weeks or so later: switch entirely to corn + goat milk + hard cooked eggs and by this time we should have some fruit available. And finish up the remainder of the bag of Calf Manna
recommended protein level: 15% to finish to market weight
so thats what i know.
as far as the heritage vs 'regular' pigs... our heritage ones have been the best. i already placed my order for two Tamworths for next year and i cant WAIT.
go meat!
freemotion
Food Guru
Hah! My pigs must've though the feathers were too much work, and naked people legs looked so much tastier....
Hope my plan of milking four does works! Can't seem to get my laying flock up....my 18 Americauna pullets that I bought in the fall are down to 5 now. *&^$ hawks and eagles. I'm seriously considering getting an incubator so we can have enough chicks for us AND the birds of prey, and will finish the big chicken tractor to raise them under cover from aerial attacks until they are almost grown to full size. They left the white meaties alone, go figure. No taste for frankenchickens.
Hope my plan of milking four does works! Can't seem to get my laying flock up....my 18 Americauna pullets that I bought in the fall are down to 5 now. *&^$ hawks and eagles. I'm seriously considering getting an incubator so we can have enough chicks for us AND the birds of prey, and will finish the big chicken tractor to raise them under cover from aerial attacks until they are almost grown to full size. They left the white meaties alone, go figure. No taste for frankenchickens.
