# How to make your own feed mix?



## remadl700 (Sep 23, 2010)

Can anyone post  recipes they have with corn or wheat being the main energy source?


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## freemotion (Sep 23, 2010)

I am feeding my pigs anything I can get my hands on, and fermented whole corn when the scraps aren't as plentiful.

My grandfather fed fermented oats to his pigs.  He was a farmer and grew oats and potatoes, primarily.  He probably fed them boiled 'taters, too, most likely.  He would put the whole oats in a bucket and fill it with water, letting it sit for a few days until it got really bubbly.  Then feed it with the liquid along with any other veggies and scraps, milk, whey, etc.  I don't think very young pigs can eat this, though.  Mine chewed it and spit the shells out.  I think they need to be about 5 months before they can really use oats (wheat probably, too.)

I can get whole corn here so I ferment it in the same way and they love it.  I fed whole fermented corn from the day I got them at 2 months or so.  I give them whey from cheesemaking, any milk that is not good for human consumption (rare in our household, but it happens), any garden scraps...they particularly love rotting tomatoes...and the neighbors are having a good time throwing stuff over the fence now, I often don't have to feed them at all.  Tonight there was about 4-5 gallons of tomatoes, 5 pumpkins, and about 3 dozen ears of sweet corn that I did not put in their pasture.  Putting the word out was the best thing I could've done!

I go for variety in the diet and have even thrown in acorns and have picked dandelion greens when variety was slim for a few days.  They LOVED the dandelions!  Their main food is the corn but I give them anything else I can get my hands on.


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## Shootingstars (Sep 23, 2010)

freemotion said:
			
		

> I am feeding my pigs anything I can get my hands on, and fermented whole corn when the scraps aren't as plentiful.
> 
> My grandfather fed fermented oats to his pigs.  He was a farmer and grew oats and potatoes, primarily.  He probably fed them boiled 'taters, too, most likely.  He would put the whole oats in a bucket and fill it with water, letting it sit for a few days until it got really bubbly.  Then feed it with the liquid along with any other veggies and scraps, milk, whey, etc.  I don't think very young pigs can eat this, though.  Mine chewed it and spit the shells out.  I think they need to be about 5 months before they can really use oats (wheat probably, too.)
> 
> ...


Thank you for sharing this.  I am trying to supplement my pig's feed with anything I can also get. I have a ton of rotting fruit on the ground and the dang pig won't eat it.  He does love old  yogurt and spoiled milk.


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## freemotion (Sep 23, 2010)

Mine wouldn't eat the tomatoes until they got really disgusting.  Then they snarfed them all up!  Not a trace left!


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## remadl700 (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks for the replies -

Any suggestions with adding Flax or Soybean meal, such as percentages by weight?


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## freemotion (Sep 27, 2010)

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you looking to make your own version of a commercial mix, and feed that only to confinement pigs?  If so, I'd think you could use something like Pearson's square and get the proper protein percentage for what you are trying to accomplish, using what you have available as the bulk of the diet (corn and wheat) on one corner of the square, and go from there.  That is what I'd do.  It is how I balanced my poultry's feed when I first started out feeding whole grains and wanted to balance the protein with soybean meal.

My goals may be different from yours, though, as I was determined to go soy-free, and now sprout the small grains to up the protein.  I will do this for the pigs when the ground freezes.

I've not had to add protein yet, since mine are on pasture and they find plenty in the dirt.  But they have a large area surrounded by trees on three sides, so I'm sure there are plenty of grubs and worms in the soil.


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## remadl700 (Sep 27, 2010)

freemotion said:
			
		

> It depends on what you are trying to accomplish.  Are you looking to make your own version of a commercial mix, and feed that only to confinement pigs?  If so, I'd think you could use something like Pearson's square and get the proper protein percentage for what you are trying to accomplish, using what you have available as the bulk of the diet (corn and wheat) on one corner of the square, and go from there.  That is what I'd do.  It is how I balanced my poultry's feed when I first started out feeding whole grains and wanted to balance the protein with soybean meal.
> 
> My goals may be different from yours, though, as I was determined to go soy-free, and now sprout the small grains to up the protein.  I will do this for the pigs when the ground freezes.
> 
> I've not had to add protein yet, since mine are on pasture and they find plenty in the dirt.  But they have a large area surrounded by trees on three sides, so I'm sure there are plenty of grubs and worms in the soil.


I haven't heard of the "Pearson's Square". I'll look it up. 

What I have right now for back ground purposes are 1500 lbs of wheat, 600 lbs of corn and 3 weaners. With the addition of a protein to this volume its approximately 2600 lbs of total feed. By my calculation I am approximately 1000 lbs short to get them to full butcher weight of 250 lbs a piece. I was able to pick up the corn and wheat for $120 dollars. I have my own grinder so I just keep it whole until I am ready to feed and grind what I need and soak in what ever I have been able to scrounge from family and friends.


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## freemotion (Sep 27, 2010)

Here is where I found it originally:  http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html

You will need to do the simple algebra to get the average protein percentage of your corn and wheat (great deal!!!) and put that in one corner, with your target protein, to figure out the percentage of the soy.  You also need to know what form of soy you will be using and the percentage of protein it has.  It should be simple after you have those numbers.

You can skip the grinding if you presoak the grains, even in plain water.  I soak the corn....it never sprouts, but gets quite yummy to the pigs when it gets all fizzy.  I add whey or sour milk when I have it, nothing when I don't.  They hoover it up either way.


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## remadl700 (Sep 27, 2010)

freemotion said:
			
		

> Here is where I found it originally:  http://www.lionsgrip.com/protein.html
> 
> You will need to do the simple algebra to get the average protein percentage of your corn and wheat (great deal!!!) and put that in one corner, with your target protein, to figure out the percentage of the soy.  You also need to know what form of soy you will be using and the percentage of protein it has.  It should be simple after you have those numbers.
> 
> You can skip the grinding if you presoak the grains, even in plain water.  I soak the corn....it never sprouts, but gets quite yummy to the pigs when it gets all fizzy.  I add whey or sour milk when I have it, nothing when I don't.  They hoover it up either way.


Thanks


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## gallopingfrog (Nov 17, 2011)

Okay, so I am totally resurrecting this post from the dead! :bun

I read through the other threads about feed, but I have a few questions. I know how to figure Pearson Square formulas, etc., but I'm having trouble coming up with a ration for pigs based on the following for a three phase feeding program for weaned pigs through 40 lbs (approx.)

For example, the first phase you feed a pelleted diet of 20 - 22% crude protein (know how to figure this with a ration!) and 1.45% lysine. This feed also includes 4 - 5% plasma protein, 20% food-grade whey, 10% dried skim milk, 4-6% cheese-by prodcut, 2-3% egg protein and 4 - 6% soy oil.

Except now that I'm looking at it, it seems entirely too complicated. Does anyone have any idea of the lysine content for most feeds? Or just a feed ration that they mix for themselves for their pigs that gives off really good meat? I'm trying to not overthink it, but I go into super research mode when I'm getting a new animal. We don't have a lot of scraps, from the garden/other animals/etc. yet, because we're still building up, so they would need to be on an actual ration. However, I love coming up with my own feeds to give, rather than using commercial - its a hobby. 

Any info would be great! Thanks!


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## gallopingfrog (Nov 18, 2011)

*echo* Hello? *echo*

Anyone?


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## 77Herford (Nov 18, 2011)

Don't know about that equations math stuff, lol.  I get alot of my feed from local grocery stores and fruit stands.  All their food waste makes for good pig food.  You can boil it for several minutes and make a super stew, which no man would eat but the pigs love it.


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## animalfarm (Nov 18, 2011)

For pigs I mix 2 parts field peas, 3 parts wheat, about 1.5 C yeast, 1.5 C kelp. I grind this fine and mix it with water to make sloppy pudding when I feed it. I just go by the look of the pigs being fed to determine how much I feed. Too fat, feed less, too thin feed more. I feed a clover, alfalfa, treefoil, timothy hay as well during the winter. There is usually boiled eggs available as well. Both peas and wheat are high in lysine and I don't worry about it.

For piglets, I am using the same feed with fresh skim cows milk. I don't really know how this is going to work out, but so far so good for my first batch. I weaned them at 5 weeks because they were just too big; there wasn't enough room for them to all nurse and mom was getting too thin. They are 8.5 weeks old now and bottomless pits. I cannot beleive how much hay and straw 11 of them eat in one day. I can't seem to keep any bedding in their hut for more then a 1/2 day. They get fed 1.5 gallons of the grain mixed with 1gallon of milk & 1 gallon of water 2x day and they are squealing for more. I was going to ask Royd how long it takes him to get his LBs up to butcher wt. because I may get there a lot sooner then I expected. I am more concerned that they put on the wt too quickly (too much fat) but they seem good so far. I judge the amount by the fact that they clean it up in about 5 minutes.



Edited to change 3 gallons to 1.5 gallons of grain per feed.


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## gallopingfrog (Nov 18, 2011)

animalfarm said:
			
		

> For pigs I mix 2 parts field peas, 3 parts wheat, about 1.5 C yeast, 1.5 C kelp. I grind this fine and mix it with water to make sloppy pudding when I feed it. I just go by the look of the pigs being fed to determine how much I feed. Too fat, feed less, too thin feed more. I feed a clover, alfalfa, treefoil, timothy hay as well during the winter. There is usually boiled eggs available as well. Both peas and wheat are high in lysine and I don't worry about it.
> 
> For piglets, I am using the same feed with fresh skim cows milk. I don't really know how this is going to work out, but so far so good for my first batch. I weaned them at 5 weeks because they were just too big; there wasn't enough room for them to all nurse and mom was getting too thin. They are 8.5 weeks old now and bottomless pits. I cannot beleive how much hay and straw 11 of them eat in one day. I can't seem to keep any bedding in their hut for more then a 1/2 day. They get fed 3 gallons of the grain mixed with 1gallon of milk & 1 gallon of water 2x day and they are squealing for more. I was going to ask Royd how long it takes him to get his LBs up to butcher wt. because I may get there a lot sooner then I expected. I am more concerned that they put on the wt too quickly (too much fat) but they seem good so far. I judge the amount by the fact that they clean it up in about 5 minutes.


That is immensely helpful - may I steal your recipe?  

Holy...errr...piglets! I'm so glad you mentioned all that about the piglets because I was thinking about later....after I get the hang of things...about breeding my own - for the same reason I'll be doing my own chickens; I won't have to buy new ones, I can just magically make my own. But now, at least, I am prepared for the monstrosity that is a piglet's appetite!




			
				77Herford said:
			
		

> Don't know about that equations math stuff, lol.  I get alot of my feed from local grocery stores and fruit stands.  All their food waste makes for good pig food.  You can boil it for several minutes and make a super stew, which no man would eat but the pigs love it.


Thank you for the advice! I will definitely keep that in mind when I get the little buggers.


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## animalfarm (Nov 19, 2011)

animalfarm said:
			
		

> For pigs I mix 2 parts field peas, 3 parts wheat, about 1.5 C yeast, 1.5 C kelp. I grind this fine and mix it with water to make sloppy pudding when I feed it. I just go by the look of the pigs being fed to determine how much I feed. Too fat, feed less, too thin feed more. I feed a clover, alfalfa, treefoil, timothy hay as well during the winter. There is usually boiled eggs available as well. Both peas and wheat are high in lysine and I don't worry about it.
> 
> For piglets, I am using the same feed with fresh skim cows milk. I don't really know how this is going to work out, but so far so good for my first batch. I weaned them at 5 weeks because they were just too big; there wasn't enough room for them to all nurse and mom was getting too thin. They are 8.5 weeks old now and bottomless pits. I cannot beleive how much hay and straw 11 of them eat in one day. I can't seem to keep any bedding in their hut for more then a 1/2 day. They get fed 3 gallons of the grain mixed with 1gallon of milk & 1 gallon of water 2x day and they are squealing for more. I was going to ask Royd how long it takes him to get his LBs up to butcher wt. because I may get there a lot sooner then I expected. I am more concerned that they put on the wt too quickly (too much fat) but they seem good so far. I judge the amount by the fact that they clean it up in about 5 minutes.


Ok, I am awake now. I am feeding the piglets 1.5 gallons of the peas/wheat 2x a day. NOT 3 gallons. the milk/water is correct. I am going to add a 3rd feeding soon.


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## animalfarm (Nov 19, 2011)

gallopingfrog said:
			
		

> Holy...errr...piglets! I'm so glad you mentioned all that about the piglets because I was thinking about later....after I get the hang of things...about breeding my own - for the same reason I'll be doing my own chickens; I won't have to buy new ones, I can just magically make my own. But now, at least, I am prepared for the monstrosity that is a piglet's appetite!


Feel free to use the recipe, but beware; it is still undergoing trials and I cannot vouch for its success or if there will be any problems. I will be pasturing my pigs in summer in lieu of hay.


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