Many people think that pigs eat everything. Often farmers are successfully guided by this, and feed their pets food waste. However, experienced breeders will object, because their health ultimately depends on the quality and balanced nutrition of animals. How to feed piglets in order to get good meat, we will consider in this review.
Feeding technology
Sometimes, farmers face the following problem: a pig eats everything, but gains weight poorly. Even a Vietnamese pig can grow very slowly if it is improperly selected. Here you should think about the quality of the diet. Without this, it is impossible to increase the efficiency of animal husbandry.
It is believed that feeding technology should be based primarily on the physiological characteristics of animals. Therefore, the assertion that pigs are omnivorous is fundamentally not true. Of course, they can spend 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. The stomach in these animals is single-chamber and poorly digests fiber.
How to feed piglets? To implement successful livestock farming, attention must be paid to the principle of nutrition in production farms. In this case, two types of feed 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, recently began to massively transfer pigs to wet food. It is more acceptable in terms of the physiological needs of animals.
Types of feed
Let's dwell on this in more detail. To date, the following forms of fattening are used in pig farming: meat, greasy and bacon. They vary in composition. In most cases, meat-type fattening is used in pig-breeding complexes. It means getting high-quality meat with a low percentage of fat. The type of product is influenced not only by the breed of animal, but also by the feed used.
Consider the options available in more detail:
- High-quality feed: allow you to achieve meat with a small fat layer. They consist mainly of wheat, rye, pumpkin, sugar beets, peas, millet, combined silage and dairy waste.
- Second-rate feed: allow you to achieve loose meat. They consist of wheat bran, corn, buckwheat, molasses.
- Third-grade feed: when used, the meat is of rather poor quality. The diet is based on fish waste, oilcake and oats.
When choosing feed for piglets, you should be guided by the rule 40:60, 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 their diet should be no more than 20%. 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 your pig’s diet. 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 meal and fish oil. Prepare such a meal in advance. Spoiled or underfed food should be removed from the feeder in advance.
The main advantage of the diet under discussion is that almost all the ingredients for it can be grown in your own garden, which can save a lot of money. The disadvantage is the complexity of the preparation. For a large number of cattle, it will be very difficult to make a mash.
Liquid feeding
This type of feeding also requires hand-made cooking. Liquid food waste and yogurt can be used in the feed mixture. This diet is especially beneficial for pig farmers who have greens and succulent feed in the farm, as well as a lot of food waste.
Extruded feed and its features
Let's dwell on this in more detail. Growing pigs 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. By extrusion is understood the influence of high pressure and temperatures from 110 to 160 degrees. The result is a compressed feed with preserved taste and nutritional characteristics.
Grain processing is carried out 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 convenient for use. Extruded feed is still subject to sterilization, which allows you to completely destroy any pathogenic microorganisms that have a negative effect on the health of pigs. In addition, fiber treated in this way is easier to digest. This simplifies the process of digesting plant components. It should also be remembered that when using dry food, nipple drinkers for piglets should always be full.
Extruded Feed Benefits
This aspect should be given special attention. The benefits of extruded feed include:
- Good preservation: feed can lie for 3 years without losing its characteristics.
- Due to the special production technology, meat waste that increases the protein content in the diet can be included in the feed composition for piglets.
- High digestibility by the body - up to 90%.
- For production, even those plant components can be used that are poorly absorbed in their pure form.
Recommendations
Even the owners of small households often come up with the question: how to feed the pigs 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 choose are poorly fed and slowly gain weight. The causes of these phenomena are usually associated with malnutrition. Even a healthy Vietnamese pig, if you feed it with food waste, will give meat of terrible quality.
The body of highly productive pigs requires a proper balanced diet. When growing meat breeds of pigs, preference should be given to complete feeds and grain mixtures of high quality. With a competent approach, you can prepare the mixture yourself, however, there will be no special economic benefit in this case.
Rationing
So what do you need to know about this? How should 2-month-old piglets eat? In order for animals to gain weight faster and develop, they need to eat several times a day. The volume of food should be such that the feeders are released approximately 2 hours before a new serving. This type of feeding is usually used for pets.
Restrictions on feeding piglets are needed if lean meat is required as a result to prevent obesity. In this situation, 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 calorie content, giving preference to coarse ingredients. Pig food should be offered at the same time. The number of feeds will depend on the age of the individuals. An automatic pig feeder will help solve the problem of feeding dosing.
When developing a diet for pregnant pigs, you should definitely add roughage. One feeding per day will be enough. Sows are fed twice a day.
Piglets that have only recently been taken away from the female should be given food at least three times a day. A similar diet should be observed for piglets that are rearing or fattening.
Monthly Diet
In the warmer months, pets need to graze. Piglets must be provided with green food. If grazing is not possible, it is recommended to bring fresh culture to the pen. Pigs most like garden tops and dried fresh grass. 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 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 is worth exploring in the first place. Special care should be taken when feeding animals such as pigs. Some plants contain harmful substances that can even cause poisoning in piglets. These include caustic buttercup, horse dill, dog parsley, black nightshade. It is also forbidden to give pigs food with obvious signs of parasites or mold. If you intend to give animals food such as cotton cake or castor oil bean food, be sure to pre-process it. Caution should be given boiled beets. If you leave it in hot water for a long time, it can provoke 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 cannot drink piglets with water in which potatoes were cooked. It is forbidden to give coffee grounds, tea leaves, bay leaves, bananas and citrus fruits to piglets.
How to fatten piglets?
What you need to know about this? The technology for feeding pigs depends on the age of the animal. The weight of the piglet is determined by the stage of its development. In the first days of life, individuals are able to digest only mother'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. This will help the pigs to eat more food and gain weight faster. Intensive muscle growth occurs between the ages of 2.5 and 4 months. At this time, the animal needs a balanced feeding. Thick, nutritious cereals (peas, barley, oatmeal) provide healthy progressive growth. Dairy products and herbal cleansing can also be used.
Young pigs need juicy food to gain weight. It can be tops, carrots, potatoes and grass. In winter, various vegetables, trash, silage, and chopping can be used as an additive.
Conclusion
In this review, we examined in detail 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 farms, self-cooking is quite acceptable. On large pig farms, extruded feed is usually used. In the warm season, fresh greens, vegetables and fruits must be added to the diet of pigs.
As it turned out, it is not difficult to breed piglets. The most important thing is to approach this matter quite responsibly.