# what should I not feed my pigs?



## sixofus09 (Nov 20, 2011)

Title says it all. Just want to know some things I shouldn't feed them.  They are 12 weeks old.  Duroc whites and Duroc yorks.


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## Royd Wood (Nov 20, 2011)

Heres 3 I wouldnt feed
Fish, onions and garlic.


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## 77Herford (Nov 20, 2011)

Besides raw meat, I haven't found a food they can't eat.  Younger pigs you need to be more careful with.


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## Truscifi (Nov 20, 2011)

Garlic is a natural treatment for intestinal parasites.  It is won't hurt them.  I have read that you shouldn't feed them avocados, though I don't remember why.


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## MillieMoo (Nov 20, 2011)

Raw taters


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## animalfarm (Nov 20, 2011)

Raw eggs, boiled are fine.


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## Cornish Heritage (Nov 23, 2011)

> Raw eggs, boiled are fine.


We feed our pigs raw eggs regularly & never had a problem. (Many other pig breeders do the same.) Now some folks out there say that cooked are better as the pig actually gets more nutrients out of them but there are times when I don't have time to cook them. If we get a load then I will cook up a big potful & mash them with the potato masher. Now of course I am talking here about eggs from here on the farm. I make ice cream for us with raw eggs & it is delicious but I always caution folks when purchasing eggs from the store - that is a totally different matter - goodness knows what conditions those eggs have been in!

Liz


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## SowdersHomestead (Nov 24, 2011)

Anyone feeding grass clippings and shredded leaves?


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## MillieMoo (Nov 24, 2011)

SowdersHomestead said:
			
		

> Anyone feeding grass clippings and shredded leaves?


Yes, all the time.


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## animalfarm (Nov 24, 2011)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > Raw eggs, boiled are fine.
> 
> 
> We feed our pigs raw eggs regularly & never had a problem. (Many other pig breeders do the same.) Now some folks out there say that cooked are better as the pig actually gets more nutrients out of them but there are times when I don't have time to cook them. If we get a load then I will cook up a big potful & mash them with the potato masher. Now of course I am talking here about eggs from here on the farm. I make ice cream for us with raw eggs & it is delicious but I always caution folks when purchasing eggs from the store - that is a totally different matter - goodness knows what conditions those eggs have been in!
> ...


*The following is an exert from the Merck Veterinary manual. www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/182701.htm

Biotin:
This vitamin is present in a highly available form in corn and soybean meal, but the biotin in grain sorghum, oats, barley, and wheat is less available to pigs. There is evidence that when these latter cereal grains are fed to swine, especially breeding animals, biotin may be marginal or deficient. Reproductive performance in sows appears to improve with biotin additions. Though not as clear, there is evidence that reproductive performance also is improved with addition of biotin to corn-soybean meal diets. In some instances, biotin supplementation decreased footpad lesions in adult pigs. For insurance, biotin supplementation is recommended, especially for sow diets. Raw eggs should not be fed to pigs because the egg white contains a protein, avidin, that complexes with biotin and renders it unavailable.
*

I have a lot of spare eggs around here with all my chicken projects running amok. I also feed a diet based on wheat and since I am breeding my sows, I boil the eggs. I chose not to take the chance of raw eggs with the volume they get. I have been known to throw some dirty or cracked raw eggs in their direction rather then risk breaking yet another egg in my pocket on the eventual trip back to the house. The source of the eggs is not relevant to the effects they have on the pig; just on us.


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## animalfarm (Nov 24, 2011)

Double post. Sorry.


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## Cornish Heritage (Nov 24, 2011)

animalfarm said:
			
		

> I have been known to throw some dirty or cracked raw eggs in their direction rather then risk breaking yet another egg in my pocket on the eventual trip back to the house.


LOL! How many times have we done that! The kids will come running up to me with an egg they are so proud of, I stick it in my pocket, forget all about it & a few seconds later I feel something wet - UGH! Our aim here is to eventually feed a hundred plus eggs a day to the pigs (not each but to the herd!) & at that point I will do my best to cook them but for now with the eggs so spread out I rarely bother. And yes like you, I throw ours to the pigs if they are dirty - no point wasting time & energy try to wash all the dirt off when there are plenty of clean ones that just need a wipe.

Liz


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## sixofus09 (Nov 25, 2011)

Thanks for the info guys.  My 3 little girls and 1 boy have been enjoying a lot of leftovers from the 17 preschoolers.  No meat has been my #1 goal. Can they have a lot of dairy? I'm talking about half a gallon of milk for the four of them (skim) , a day.


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## Cornish Heritage (Nov 26, 2011)

> Can they have a lot of dairy? I'm talking about half a gallon of milk for the four of them (skim) , a day.


A gallon of milk between the four of them is actually NOT a lot and yes dairy is a great food for pigs. Our aim here on the farm is to eventually switch from grain to feeding all milk & eggs. We have the cows - just haven't started milking them yet & by next spring should have around 250 eggs a day, if we can find the eggs. Chickens love playing "hide & seek" with us.

All the best & glad you are enjoying your pigs,

Liz


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## zimmerman (Dec 21, 2011)

MillieMoo said:
			
		

> Raw taters


Really? They need cooked?


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## Cornish Heritage (Dec 21, 2011)

Pigs have a digestive system very much like a humans so they can eat pretty much anything. I personally do not like to eat raw potatoes but every time I am cutting up raw potatoes my kids will "steal" them & crunch them as if they are candy! I am always amazed but it certainly doesn't do them any harm. In all things, it is important to have balance. Yes if you fed a pig 50lbs of raw potatoes at one sitting it would probably have an upset stomach but them so would you if you ate the same! Feeding them a few potato peelings or some old potatoes from your garden is not going to do them any harm. 

Liz


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## arabianequine (Oct 5, 2012)

I give raw eggs all the time in shell and all...they eat it all. Never been a problem.


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## that's*satyrical (Oct 5, 2012)

pork products


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## PFSfarmer (Oct 5, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > Raw eggs, boiled are fine.
> 
> 
> We feed our pigs raw eggs regularly & never had a problem. (Many other pig breeders do the same.) Now some folks out there say that cooked are better as the pig actually gets more nutrients out of them but there are times when I don't have time to cook them. If we get a load then I will cook up a big potful & mash them with the potato masher. Now of course I am talking here about eggs from here on the farm. I make ice cream for us with raw eggs & it is delicious but I always caution folks when purchasing eggs from the store - that is a totally different matter - goodness knows what conditions those eggs have been in!
> ...


Ice Cream.... Raw Eggs.... Interesting. Are you supposed to do that? I dont remember, but home made ice cream was rare and long ago.


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## Cornish Heritage (Oct 6, 2012)

> Ice Cream.... Raw Eggs.... Interesting. Are you supposed to do that?


LOL! Our bodies actually need some raw food every day - full of good enzymes. Cooked food has most of the enzymes depleted & we are only born with so many in our body - once they are gone, that is it! Of course the government would have us all believe that everything should be processed to the hilt. Hence the "scare" on drinking raw milk. 

NOW saying that, would I use raw eggs from the grocery store? NO! The eggs we use are freshly laid here on the farm. And yes we drink raw milk here all the time from our own cows - absolutely delicious. When I make ice cream it is made with raw eggs & raw cream. Yum! Yum!

Some foods are better for you cooked. It has been proven that alfalfa sprouts are actually not good for you raw so do your research.

Liz


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## secuono (Oct 6, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > Ice Cream.... Raw Eggs.... Interesting. Are you supposed to do that?
> 
> 
> LOL! Our bodies actually need some raw food every day - full of good enzymes. Cooked food has most of the enzymes depleted & we are only born with so many in our body - once they are gone, that is it! Of course the government would have us all believe that everything should be processed to the hilt. Hence the "scare" on drinking raw milk.
> ...


I love raw bacon. 
Are there plants or home grown veggies/fruits that are a no-no for pigs?
I've been tossing my trio all the tomatoes and cukes from my garden, they go nuts for them. They had some cottage cheese the other day, I thought they would learn to fly, that's how much they were loving it!


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## Cornish Heritage (Oct 6, 2012)

> I love raw bacon. big_smile


HaHa! Just in case there is someone here reading this that doesn't realize you are joking you should not feed raw pork to anything. We even cook up the pork left over from butchering - all the icky bits - for our dogs. We do not feed it raw. 

Pigs are pretty smart. A long time ago, before I knew better, I threw some pigs all the tops of the potato plants. They would not eat them. Now move forward to the future, when we should have known better we lost nearly a whole litter of piglets to cyanide poisoning! They ate some berries from the wild cherry tree. We knew the leaves were poisonous when falling in the fall but didn't even think of the berries! (The berries made great jam this year.) SO if you have a wild cherry tree on your farm make sure it is well fenced from the critters. 

Liz


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## secuono (Oct 6, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > I love raw bacon. big_smile
> 
> 
> HaHa! Just in case there is someone here reading this that doesn't realize you are joking *you should not feed raw pork to anything*. We even cook up the pork left over from butchering - all the icky bits - for our dogs. We do not feed it raw.


Why is that? 
"smoked" bacon, is that technically raw or cooked?


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## Cornish Heritage (Oct 6, 2012)

Smoked bacon is normally smoked cold BUT you then cook it when you want to eat it. At least when we smoked it, we did a cold smoke. It would not be very palatable to eat raw - yuk!

Pork was known in the past to cause Trichinosis if undercooked. As it says below in an article I found on the internet, it has declined but I have heard of cases in recent years so it is definitely not eliminated.



> http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Pork_From_Farm_to_Table/index.asp Pork must be adequately cooked to eliminate disease-causing parasites and bacteria that may be present. Humans may contract trichinosis (caused by the parasite, Trichinella spiralis) by eating undercooked pork. Much progress has been made in reducing trichinosis in grain-fed hogs and human cases have greatly declined since 1950. Today's pork can be enjoyed when cooked to an internal temperature of 145 F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.
> 
> Some other foodborne micro-organisms that can be found in pork, as well as other meats and poultry, are Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. They are all destroyed by proper handling and thorough cooking.


If you want to be totally grossed out read this Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinella_spiralis

For that reason we always cook pork well. In fact we cook all our meat well as Richard cannot stomach seeing blood ooze out as he cuts his meat!

Liz


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## secuono (Oct 7, 2012)

My family has been eating raw smoked bacon forever, never had any issues because of it. And it tastes great, plus a hell of a lot less fat if eaten raw. We give all the white fat to the dogs.


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## PFSfarmer (Oct 7, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > Ice Cream.... Raw Eggs.... Interesting. Are you supposed to do that?
> 
> 
> LOL! Our bodies actually need some raw food every day - full of good enzymes. Cooked food has most of the enzymes depleted & we are only born with so many in our body - once they are gone, that is it! Of course the government would have us all believe that everything should be processed to the hilt. Hence the "scare" on drinking raw milk.
> ...


OMG I bout fell out the chair!     Alfalfa sprouts? Alfalfa HAY sprouts?


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## Cornish Heritage (Oct 8, 2012)

> My family has been eating raw smoked bacon forever,


Are you serious? We must be talking about two different things here. Smoked bacon to me looks exactly the same as regular bacon - completely raw meat just with a smoked flavor ready to be cooked. Are you sure yours is absolutely "fresh from the pig raw?"



> Alfalfa sprouts? Alfalfa HAY sprouts?


Please note that I am talking about when you sprout your own seeds so buy them already sprouted for you in the grocery store. Here is a quote from the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon:

*"There is only one seed we do not recommend in the sprouted form (or in any form) & that is surprisingly - Alfalfa! After mung beans (bean sprouts) alfalfa is the variety of sprout that has caught on in the health food world. Unfortunately it seems that all the praise heaped on the alfalfa sprout was ill advised. Tests have shown that alfalfa sprouts inhibit the immune system and can contribute to inflammatory arthritis & lupus. Alfalfa seeds contain an amino acid called canavanine that can be toxic to man & animals when taken in quantity. (Canavanine is not found in mature alfalfa plants - it is apparently metabolized during growth." )*

Liz


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## secuono (Oct 8, 2012)

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Eckrich-Sweet-Smoked-Bacon-16-oz/20934733
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Oscar-Mayer-Smoked-Uncured-Bacon-12-oz/20512749
http://www.walmart.com/ip/John-Morrell-Hardwood-Smoked-Bacon-12-oz/20692164

And the such. Some do taste terrible and end up fried, but I forget which brands those are, oppsies.


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## Nathan Sampson (Oct 9, 2012)

All of these are a cold smoked product for flavor and the oscar myer uncured one is just un american uncured bacon I thought in order to be real bacon it had to be cured pork belly.


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## PFSfarmer (Oct 9, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > My family has been eating raw smoked bacon forever,
> 
> 
> Are you serious? We must be talking about two different things here. Smoked bacon to me looks exactly the same as regular bacon - completely raw meat just with a smoked flavor ready to be cooked. Are you sure yours is absolutely "fresh from the pig raw?"
> ...


Very Inteesting.


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## Cricket (Oct 9, 2012)

Yep, alfalfa sprouts are great tasting and it's unfortunate they're not that great for you!


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