# Can pigs eat potatoes?



## and202 (May 14, 2017)

Ok so we are raising 2 feeder pigs right now. We feed them all our fruit and veggie scraps and bread and all that good stuff plus their swine feed. I've just heard so many different things about feeding pigs potatoes. I've had a few friends who also raise pigs tell me to never feed them potatoes. I;ve also read a lot online already but I haven't really found a solid answer. We live right down the road from a preschool and they have been giving us their food scraps which has been awesome, but recently they have been giving us potato skins for the pigs. So can pigs eat potatoes, and what is the reason they can't? What would happen if they did eat potatoes?


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## Gabesgram75 (Jun 20, 2016)

Potatoes are in the nightshade family, so NO part of the vine should ever be fed. Nightshade plants can be/or poisonous to animals and humans.

We fed potatoes all winter, HOWEVER, I looked at each potato to make sure there was no mold, bad spots, green spots or sprouts, all of which can make your pigs sick, and then cooked them. Our pigs didn't like raw potatoes.

It was alot of work, we were feeding 16 at the time. If the potato skins are cooked, you are probably ok, however, if the school is sending raw skins, I would ask them to stop as you don't know if there are any moldy/rotten, green spots or sprouts mixed in because as I mentioned earlier any or all of those things can make your pigs sick.

After we compared the price of 50# of potatoes vs the cost of 50# of corn, the cost to go pick the potatoes up (1 hr one way) cooking time, it was much more cost effective to drop the potatoes and stay with the corn. I believe there is much less food value in potatoes.


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## Jamie Sadler (Apr 19, 2017)

We only feed potatoes if they are cooked. They cannot eat them raw. Our girls only gets potatoes if they are given to us or as craps we never specifically purchase them for food. Its simply not worth the effort.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Feed taters need to be cooked to be digestible. Too many raw spuds can cause internal blockage which in turn can be fatal. A few incidental raw spuds doesn't cause concern to me. 

I had a few tear up a couple hundred feet of row last year, no ill effects to them. They destroyed more than they ate, looking for bugs and such. All the same I kept a close eye, no problems. 'Course I ran short on spuds so I had to put their gravy on brown rice. Good but just ain't the same.


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## dyrne (Feb 22, 2015)

Another advantage of sweet potatoes


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Love those sweet taters.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Our pigs eat the leaves and vines and don't seem to have had any ill effect. They can and do eat the raw potatoes. I would not worry about green potatoes - it takes a huge amount to have much effect. I've read that raw potatoes can give them mouth sores but have never seen it. This may be one of those issues of quantity. To get the most nutritional value cook the potatoes. Freezing also improves digestibility of many tubers like radishes, turnips, potatoes, etc - something that works for those of us in the colder climates.

-Walter

PS. Please fill in your location information which makes it easier to answer questions. At the very least your zone. See this thread:

https://www.homesteadingtoday.com/threads/please-fill-in-location-info.505485/


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## and202 (May 14, 2017)

highlands said:


> Our pigs eat the leaves and vines and don't seem to have had any ill effect. They can and do eat the raw potatoes. I would not worry about green potatoes - it takes a huge amount to have much effect. I've read that raw potatoes can give them mouth sores but have never seen it. This may be one of those issues of quantity. To get the most nutritional value cook the potatoes. Freezing also improves digestibility of many tubers like radishes, turnips, potatoes, etc - something that works for those of us in the colder climates.
> 
> -Walter
> 
> ...


I'm in Northern Vermont!


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Excellent. Adding it to your profile will make it easy for conversations. Being in northern Vermont you'll get the fall frosts that help make a lot of things more digestible. Sweetens them.


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## and202 (May 14, 2017)

Thanks everyone! This is all great information. Basically I just wanted to know if I threw in potato peels by accident with the rest of the scraps that pigs wouldn't get super sick. We have enough food scraps and pig feed that we don't need to be spending time boiling a bunch of potatoes for them but I guess if we ever had a bunch that we needed to get rid of we could do that. So that's good to know!


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

They'll be fine. I think the folks that have had bad times were probably feeding tons. Moderation in all things.


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

Pigs can and do eat nearly anything and be just fine....


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