Re: Raising Pigs

April 6, 2003

Some grocery stores have compost bins as well. I haven't raised pigs,

however, we are getting a couple in about six weeks...I have raised chickens,

ducks, pheasants, turkeys and goats. My first batch of chickens I tried to

raise with my own mix. Although I researched it all thoroughly and thought I

had the mix right it was a nightmare. I had crooked beaks, leg problems,

etc. A few of them survived but I lost a lot of them. Not that big of a

deal when you are talking about a $1 item...I'm assuming your little pigs

will cost you more than $1 each. My next batch I started on an organic

commercial ration that wasn't medicated and it's made locally. I used it

three weeks, then moved them outdoors and put them on my own mix. It worked

fine. The third batch was hatched from my own hens and they were a breeze.

The mama hen did all the work. They were raised outdoors from day one and

they are the healthiest chickens yet. The mama hen made sure they ate the

things they needed as all they had was my mix and whatever they could get

outdoors. I just finished another batch, (again without a mama hen - these

were from the hatchery) this time I put each of the foods in separate bins so

they could pick and choose what they needed. Another nightmare...it seems

the natural instinct is bred out of the chicks to pick the right foods and I

had tons of health issues. From my experience, what I've learned, if you're

starting for your first time, use a commercial mix and supplement with the

natural things you have access too. Keep some to re-breed and let them train

the young with what to eat, this time trying your own mix, or a mix of your

own and some commercial stuff. I think some of the natural forage instincts

have been bred out of the livestock we have access to. I spoke with one

fellow that has raised chickens for several years, each year hatching his own

trying to get away from the soy and raising them on his own mix. It took him

13 batches of back-breeding before he felt he had strong chickens that had

the natural instincts to pick and choose what they needed in order to be

healthy. I think it's the same with us as humans when we take on the

Nourishing Traditions book. We don't one day decide from that point forward,

everything we eat will be prepared appropriately from " the book " , we try one

recipe at a time, making gradual changes as we figure them out. Had I tried

to change everything overnight we would have starved as my first loaves of

bread were as heavy as bowling balls and as hard as rocks, and my first batch

of carrots exploded all over the refrigerator. Whatever you do, it will be

far superior to anything you find in a store.

April 6, 2003

Rhea-

I hope some farmers answer you, because I've never been farmed or raised

livestock, only gardened, so I'm by no means an expert or anything like one.

However, as always, I'm more than happy to chime in and offer my two

cents. <g>

I would strongly, strongly, strongly recommend that you avoid all

commercial feeds, especially medicated feeds.

I would also urge that you avoid all grains and soy, and maybe all

legumes. Pigs, like all animals, aren't really adapted to these modern

foods, and also, in a way and to a degree, you eat what they eat when you

eat them.

As I understand it -- and there are large gaps in my knowledge of what pigs

are supposed to eat -- pigs are better-suited to root vegetables, so

turnips and potatoes and the like would probably make much better pig

feed. Pigs also deposit lots of vitamin D if they're fed skim milk and

allowed to roam around in the sun a lot eating grass, bugs, windfall fruit,

nuts, and whatever else they come across and want. In some parts of the

world, pigs are fed lots of nuts, so nuts might be a good supplement to

tubers and root vegetables, but they are a lot more expensive, especially

if you seek nuts with more saturated fat and less polyunsaturated oil.

Last but certainly not least, good luck!

-

April 6, 2003

Find a couple of restaurants that will allow you to take their food

scraps from them. You will have to provide the containers and be prompt

about picking the stuff up.

They will work with you but you have to be consistent, restaurants can't

have stuff sitting around waiting for you to get it from them.

also find a butter maker close to you, skim milk is the best for pigs

they really get fat on it (so do humans) .

pasturing pigs is good to but it takes alot of pasture and management

and they will still need a external source of food to balance out their

diet.

The land any more doesn't have the minerals to provide any animal with

sufficient minerals, any feed mill will help you out on that as well as

a supplemental grain or mash source.

Good luck, you might try and contact Salatin he raises pasture pigs

and can give you good start on that but beware 95% of the grazing

instincts of pigs have been breed out of them, so if your a die hard

pasture fed person you will have some very skinny pigs if you don't buy

very old foundation bred pigs.

Any situation you put your pigs into will be a far better place than

where they would normally end up if that's any help soothing your

conscience.

Tim

Rhea Richmond wrote:

> I really hope someone here can help me out or point me towards a book

> or

> something. My daughter wants to raise pigs and sell them. We don't

> have

> the piglets yet, and already she has two customers. So I really need

> to

> know, what is best to feed pigs??? All that I have found so far (in

> three

> books on raising pigs) is about purchased feed. The best book said

> not to

> buy medicated feed, but that was it. Does anyone here know, or know

> where I

> can look, to find out what would be good to feed pigs? We want health

> and

> weight gain, and fat, lots of fat. ; ) I am so hesitant to go with

> commercial prepared feed. Unless maybe there's a good one out there?

>

> Thank you ever so much!

> Rhea

>

April 6, 2003

www.greenerpasturesfarm.com This site will have info about raising Chickens

with this lady's homemade feed, thought would be interested. The only

comment I have about the pigs is I talked to a pig farmer who had a lot of

property and he normally feeds soy (which is why I'm not interested from buying

from him) but he said he bought some pigs and put them out and they went out

and foraged for food for two weeks and wouldn't come in to eat. Apparently they

had all they needed on their own and didn't need any from him. Unfortunately he

coaxed them in to eat his soy feed. You would probably need a lot of property

for pigs to find their own food though.

Michele