How to feed piglets? Rules for growing piglets at home and in a pig farm

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Many people think that pigs eat everything. Often, farmers are successfully guided by this, and feed their pets with food waste. However, experienced breeders will object, because their he alth ultimately depends on the quality and balanced nutrition of animals. How to feed piglets to get good meat at the exit, we will consider in this review.

Feeding Technology

Sometimes farmers are faced with the following problem: a pig eats everything, but does not gain weight well. Even a Vietnamese piglet, with the wrong choice of food, can grow very slowly. Here you should think about the quality of the diet. Without this, it is impossible to increase the efficiency of animal husbandry.

There is an opinion that feeding technology should be based primarily on the physiological characteristics of animals. Therefore, the statement that pigs are omnivorous is fundamentally not true. Of course, they can live for some time on food waste, but in this case, the quality of the meat will be appropriate. It is also not recommended to feed the pigs with one grain. Stomachthese animals are single-chamber and do not digest fiber well.

How to feed piglets? To implement successful livestock production, it is necessary to pay attention to the principle of nutrition in the conditions of production farms. In this case, two types of food can be considered: dry and wet. In our country, as well as in the territories of Canada and America, the dry type is more popular. It allows you to fully automate the feeding process, as well as maintain sanitary and hygienic standards at the required level. With such a system, 90% are feed mixtures and dry feed. The full range in this case depends on the type of fattening and the age of the animal. In some foreign countries, such as Denmark, Ireland and Germany, pigs have recently been massively transferred to wet feed. It is more acceptable in terms of the physiological needs of animals.

Types of food

Let's take a closer look at this. To date, the following forms of fattening are used in pig breeding: meat, tallow and bacon. They differ in their composition. In most cases, pig-breeding complexes use the meat type of fattening. It involves obtaining high-quality meat with a low percentage of fat. The type of product is influenced not only by the breed of the animal, but also by the feed used.

Let's take a closer look at the available options:

1. High quality feed: allows you to achieve meat with a low fat layer. Composed mainly of wheat, rye, pumpkin,sugar beets, peas, millet, combined silage and dairy waste.
2. Second grade food: allows you to achieve loose meat. Consist of wheat bran, corn, buckwheat, molasses.
3. Third-rate food: when using them, the meat is of rather poor quality. The diet is based on fish waste, cake and oats.

When choosing feed for piglets, you should be guided by the 40:60 rule, where 40% is the feed of the first group, 60% is the feed of the second group. If you plan to use third-rate species, then there should be no more than 20% of them in the diet. 2 months before slaughter, it is desirable to completely exclude animal feed of the third grade.

To improve the quality of meat products, you can also add fresh vegetables to the diet of pigs. However, these products degrade the quality of fat: it becomes too soft and flabby.

Wet food

So what is he like? How to feed piglets? For households, the use of wet food is suitable. Such a diet consists of a mixture of greens, vegetables and boiled potatoes, as well as cereals. You can use bran, wheat, barley cake and fish oil. These meals should be prepared ahead of time. Spoiled or undereaten food should be removed from the feeder in advance.

The main advantage of the discussed diet is that almost all the ingredients for it can be grown in your own garden, which allows you to save a lot of money. The disadvantage is the complexity of preparation. For large livestockit will be very difficult to make a cattle mash.

Liquid feeding

This type of feeding also needs to be prepared by hand Liquid kitchen waste and curdled milk can be used in the feed mix. Such a diet is especially beneficial for pig breeders who have greens and succulent feed on their subsidiary plots, as well as a lot of food waste.

Extruded feed and its features

Let's take a closer look at this. Growing piglets in a pig farm is usually accompanied by the use of extruded feed. Such varieties are created in the process of special processing of grain crops. Under extrusion understand the impact of high pressure and temperatures from 110 to 160 degrees. The result is a compressed feed with preserved taste and nutritional characteristics.

The grain is processed within 30 seconds, so it retains all the necessary nutrients and vitamins. This technology allows you to combine all the components of the grain mixture into a single structure, compress and grind it into granules that are convenient for consumption. Extruded feed is still subject to sterilization, which allows you to completely destroy any pathogenic microorganisms that have a negative impact on the he alth of the pigs. In addition, fiber processed in this way is easier to digest. This simplifies the process of digestion of plant components. It should also be remembered that when using dry food, nipple drinkers for piglets are alwaysmust be complete.

Benefits of extruded feed

This aspect should be given special attention. The benefits of extruded food include:

1. Good preservation: food can lie for 3 years without losing its characteristics.
2. Due to a special production technology, meat waste can be included in the feed for piglets, increasing the protein content in the diet.
3. High digestibility by the body - up to 90%.
4. Even those plant components that are poorly absorbed in their pure form can be used for production.

Recommendations

Even owners of small households often face the question of how to feed their pigs in order to get quality meat. Many people think that the most important thing is to buy good piglets, and they are very surprised when the animals they have chosen are malnourished and slowly gain weight. The causes of these phenomena are usually associated with malnutrition. Even a he althy Vietnamese pig, if you feed it with food waste, will produce terrible quality meat.

High-producing pigs require a proper balanced diet. When growing meat breeds of pigs, preference should be given to complete feed and high quality grain mixtures. With a competent approach, the mixture can be prepared by yourself, however, in this case there will be no particular economic benefit.

Rationing

So what do you need to know about this? How should 2 month old piglets eat?In order for animals to gain weight and develop faster, they need to be given food several times a day. The amount of food should be such that the feeders are empty about 2 hours before a new serving. This type of feeding is usually used for pets.

Restrictions on piglet feeding are needed if the result is lean meat to prevent obesity. In this scenario, the pigs are given a little less food than they can eat. Two approaches are possible here: either reduce the amount of food consumed, or reduce the calorie content, giving preference to coarse ingredients. Food to pigs must be offered at the same time. The number of feedings will depend on the age of the individuals. An automatic piglet feeder will help solve the problem of feeding dosing.

When developing a diet for pregnant pigs, be sure to add roughage. One feeding per day will be enough. The sows are fed twice a day.

Piglets that have just been weaned should be given food at least three times a day. A similar diet should be followed for weaning or fattening piglets.

Meal plan by month

In the warm season, pets need grazing. Pigs must be provided with green food. If grazing is not possible, it is recommended to bring fresh crop into the paddock. Pigs like garden tops and dried fresh grass most of all. The best food for them is clover, legumes, peas.and alfalfa.

If the diet of pigs consists mainly of dry food, then fruits and juicy vegetables should be added to it. Even carrion fruit trees are suitable for food for pigs. In winter, it is difficult to get fresh greens, so dry food is also suitable: cake, hay, beet chips.

What can not be fed?

This aspect should be read first. Special care must be taken when feeding animals such as pigs. Some plants contain harmful substances that can even cause poisoning in piglets. These include pungent ranunculus, horse dill, dog parsley, black nightshade. It is also forbidden to give pigs food with clear signs of the presence of parasites or mold. If you are going to feed a product such as cottonseed or castor oil cake to animals, be sure to pre-treat it. With caution should be given boiled beets. If you leave it in hot water for a long time, it can cause poisoning. Sprouted potatoes should not be given to pigs. Sprouts must be removed before feeding, and green tubers are generally not suitable as feed. Also, you can not water the pigs with water in which the potatoes were boiled. It is forbidden to give coffee grounds, tea leaves, bay leaves, bananas and citrus fruits to piglets.

How to fatten piglets?

What do you need to know about this? The technology of fattening pigs depends on the age of the animal. The weight of a piglet is determined by its stage of development. In the first days of life, individuals are able to digest onlymother's milk. This is due to the inferiority of the digestive system. If concentrated food is gradually introduced into the diet, the gastrointestinal tract will improve itself. This will help the pigs eat more food and gain weight faster. At the age of 2.5 to 4 months, there is an intensive growth of muscle mass. At this time, the animal needs a balanced diet. He althy progressive growth will provide thick nutritious cereals (peas, barley, oatmeal). Dairy products and plant-based cleansers may also be used.

Young pigs need juicy food to gain weight. It can be tops, carrots, potatoes and grass. In winter, various vegetables, rot, silage, chaff can be used as an additive.

Conclusion

In this review, we took a closer look at how to feed piglets so that they quickly gain weight. There are several possible options: liquid and wet feeding, as well as the use of dry food. In small private households, self-cooking is quite acceptable. On large pig farms, extruded feed is usually used. In the warm season, fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits must be added to the diet of pigs.

As it turned out, breeding piglets is not difficult. The most important thing is to approach this matter quite responsibly.