NH homesteader
Herd Master
Pigs will follow you to the end of the earth if you have food! So yes, feed them where you want them to go at night.
Just doing my research beforehand but how aggressive are pigs?
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FriendsHerd
Exploring the pasture
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Thank you! and one more actually, should veggies and extra stuff be given only as a treat or can I give it as feed or mixed in with feed? Right now we give most of our fruit and veggie scraps to the chickens but I read a post that one lady fed her pigs veggies and milk, and another post about a man who fed his pigs yogurt. Is there a limit to veggies and dairy for pigs? I'm sorry for all of the questions guys and thank you for all of the advice and answers!
newton the goat
Herd Master
If you have any compost or excess food (preferably not pork) give it to them and just mix it in with their food they can eat anything and will eat anything!
NH homesteader
Herd Master
No you're fine! I give them all the fruits and veggies, plenty of whey when I make cheese, and yogurt. I don't give them a lot of bread. And no meat, cause ew. Lol but no limits on veggies and fruit, except maybe introduce it slowly when they're babies.
misfitmorgan
Herd Master
Yes veggies, fruit, and dairy are perfectly fine as are eggs. In the fall we do fallen apples, pumpkins and squash.
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FriendsHerd
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Would I be able to supplement pig feed with fruits and veggies? Or is pig feed a must? Or is there ingredients I could use to easily make my own pig feed?
newton the goat
Herd Master
We didn't really use pig feed but that's because we didn't know much at the time. Depending on the pig feed it will at most times have minerals and things they need mixed in with it so I do suggest at least mixing it with their food (we started pig feed later on and probably should have started it earlier). Btw another food I suggest which mine went insane for was beer grain! Go to any local brewery out here and they will glad fill a bin of any size for free! Idk where you are so I can't vouch for the ones out near you. But the beer grain has lots of good nutrients for them so mix in a bit of that and they will love it! (Though I suggest starting with a smaller portion because once it's sat for a week and a half especially in the heat, the smell is horrible) and I can honestly say there is probably a way to make your own but idk how you would. So pig food should be good to get lol
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FriendsHerd
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Beer grain? I've never heard of it lol I will definitely ask around though! 
newton the goat
Herd Master
It's the excess stuff that is removed from the beer, so whatever grains they take out of the initial beer lol its useful to have around and the pigs love it. Plus if you decide to be creative, depending on the grains used (when I was doing my co-op for school in a brewery/family restaurant we used the excess beer grains in pizza dough and boy was it good lol) you can cook with them too but idk if I would want to... depends on the brewery.Beer grain? I've never heard of it lol I will definitely ask around though!
misfitmorgan
Herd Master
The main grain in beer is usually barley but depends on what they are making it could also have wheat, corn, rice, etc and most beer also has hops in it. Pretty much any cereal grain could be used.
For the pig food yes you can make your own to a point. You need corn and soybeans or some other beans or something like corn gluten and then you also need either oats or wheat or sometimes barley. Those things are mixed depending on their protein content to make 16-21% protein feed depending on which feed you want and then they mix in a hog mineral mix at a certain ratio. You could buy the corn, another cereal grain and something high in protein and take it to a mill and have it milled other then that making your own feed is not esp realistic.
Pig can survive on anything but if your wanting to raise pigs for meat you want them to grow reasonably fast and if they are lacking minerals/vitamins, protein, food in general they will grow at a much slower rate like 8-12 months to butcher weight instead of 6 months. By the time you make your own feed to save the money on the regular feed and feed them for all of those extra months your not getting ahead esp if you hit cold weather. Assuming the feed you make doesnt cover all of their needs.
If you do get the grains and take them to the mill they mill will make it correctly but most mills require at least a ton to be mixed at a time which for us locally cost about $240-260 when it is all said and done. That price includes our corn and oats, the mills soy or ots and the mineral mix plus the milling. We come out at approx $12-13 per hundred pounds mixed at a 18% protein with a pig and sow mineral mix which contains extra calcium. If we buy directly from the mill their standard pig and sow mix it is 16% protein and $15.75/100 because they raised their prices a couple months ago. They did raise the mill cost too to have your own stuff milled, it used to be $80 for the soy for 1 ton and now it is $126 for the soy for 1 ton.
If your just trying to find a cheaper pre-made pig feed check your local mills or co-ops instead of the box stores. Brant flour mills will mill animal feed, they also work with a few distilleries so they may have a line on some spend grains for you. The only issue i can see with Brant is that they may not know the proper mineral mix to add to the feed or may not offer it. Your also only about 35minutes from Quick Feeds in Copetown so you might try there too. They also have B-W Feed & Seed in New Hamburg that offers feeds and custom milling.
For the pig food yes you can make your own to a point. You need corn and soybeans or some other beans or something like corn gluten and then you also need either oats or wheat or sometimes barley. Those things are mixed depending on their protein content to make 16-21% protein feed depending on which feed you want and then they mix in a hog mineral mix at a certain ratio. You could buy the corn, another cereal grain and something high in protein and take it to a mill and have it milled other then that making your own feed is not esp realistic.
Pig can survive on anything but if your wanting to raise pigs for meat you want them to grow reasonably fast and if they are lacking minerals/vitamins, protein, food in general they will grow at a much slower rate like 8-12 months to butcher weight instead of 6 months. By the time you make your own feed to save the money on the regular feed and feed them for all of those extra months your not getting ahead esp if you hit cold weather. Assuming the feed you make doesnt cover all of their needs.
If you do get the grains and take them to the mill they mill will make it correctly but most mills require at least a ton to be mixed at a time which for us locally cost about $240-260 when it is all said and done. That price includes our corn and oats, the mills soy or ots and the mineral mix plus the milling. We come out at approx $12-13 per hundred pounds mixed at a 18% protein with a pig and sow mineral mix which contains extra calcium. If we buy directly from the mill their standard pig and sow mix it is 16% protein and $15.75/100 because they raised their prices a couple months ago. They did raise the mill cost too to have your own stuff milled, it used to be $80 for the soy for 1 ton and now it is $126 for the soy for 1 ton.
If your just trying to find a cheaper pre-made pig feed check your local mills or co-ops instead of the box stores. Brant flour mills will mill animal feed, they also work with a few distilleries so they may have a line on some spend grains for you. The only issue i can see with Brant is that they may not know the proper mineral mix to add to the feed or may not offer it. Your also only about 35minutes from Quick Feeds in Copetown so you might try there too. They also have B-W Feed & Seed in New Hamburg that offers feeds and custom milling.
