# milk fed pork



## mpete (Mar 4, 2008)

We were going to be raising a pig to butcher on goat milk, but then someone said that the meat didn't taste right... I was thinking it may have been the way it was cooked, but was wondering if anyone else has had this issue.


----------



## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Were you intending to feed it anything else? I've had milk-fed pork and it didn't sit well with me at all - bland to the point of tastelessness, fatty and soft. While I don't like tough meat, I do like to bite into something that has better texture than wet cardboard.

I feed my pigs milk but they also get solid food to give them flavour and muscle tone - but it's all down to personal taste. Mine goes with your "someone".

Cheers,
Ronnie


----------



## cooper101 (Sep 13, 2010)

I've always read the opposite about milk-fed pork. We've raised a couple batches of pigs with LOTS of milk and they've been excellent. I think anything can be overdone. I always make sure they get a good variety. Give him a bunch of hay, some scraps, a little grain when there's no milk. Pigs like variety and I think it's good for the meat, so mix it up a little and you shouldn't have any trouble. They mob me for the milk they like it so much, but if I have a glut of it and keep the trough filled for a day or two, I notice them ignore it and move to other food. They love it, but they get tired of just milk.


----------



## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

That's the point I was making Cooper. I've had pork that was 100% milk reared, nothing else at all and it really was not very nice. Pigs love milk and do well on it but, in my opinion, it should be part of their diet, not all of it. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


----------



## bruceki (Nov 16, 2009)

Walter Jefferies pigs are raised primarily on dairy; maybe he'll weigh in on the taste. 

In fact, it appears that Walter is going to start a dairy just to feed milk to his pigs. Here's the quote: 

_*"Here's an ironic twist: We have a pastured pig farm and will be adding goats and cows to produce dairy to feed to our pigs. Milk prices are in the pits, and have been for a long time. But if we take the grass of our pastures, feed it to cows and goats, milk them and feed it to our pastured pigs who eat pasture/hay plus dairy then we get a big value added product from start to finish. So both of us are ending up at this same point of dairy and pigs but starting from different points."*_

You'll find the original message from Walter here. 

I think that dairy farms are the hardest sort of animal endeavors. I'll be interested to see how it turns out for him. 

As a part of a wider diet, I think that milk is fine. We regularly get dairy in our operation - mostly condensed milk or expired homogenized milk - and just dole it out as a part of their diet. The pigs do enjoy it. 

Bruce / ebeyfarm.blogspot.com


----------



## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

mpete said:


> We were going to be raising a pig to butcher on goat milk, but then someone said that the meat didn't taste right... I was thinking it may have been the way it was cooked, but was wondering if anyone else has had this issue.


Milk is an excellent part of a pig's diet and has been used in pig raising traditionally because it is both a way to get rid of excess milk and whey as well as the milk being an excellent source of calories and protein for the pigs. In particular the dairy provides lysine, a limiting amino-acid for pigs. We free feed pasture/hay and dairy for the vast majority of our pig herd's diet. The meat is delicious with a slightly sweet flavor. The fat tastes far better than the grain fed.

The proof is in the sales - we sell pork weekly to a wide variety of high end restaurants and stores throughout Vermont. We've been doing this for years so this is not a short term or one time thing. The demand is so high that we are in the process of building our own on-farm slaughterhouse, butcher shop and smokehouse to handle the processing of our livestock.

If you have milk available, make it a part of your pig's diet. Do note that I say, "a part". Variety is the spice of life and makes for a more complete diet.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

we use it as part of the diet and had good results from the pigs we raised. I wouldn't use it as the sole food source though.


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

milk prices are in the pits and have been for some time...LOL
all last summer they were at record levels, certain organic co's were putting on 3 and 5 dollar bonuses.....


----------



## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

sammyd said:


> milk prices are in the pits and have been for some time...LOL
> all last summer they were at record levels, certain organic co's were putting on 3 and 5 dollar bonuses.....


This is part of what makes us consider having our own dairy. We can't sell the milk for enough to make it worth doing the job. If we milk the cows for our pigs instead of milking for human consumption then it eliminates a lot of effort and regulations. The milk then becomes value added by getting fed to the pigs to produced pasture+dairy fed pork which is high quality. We get paid top dollar for that pork. Thus we farm grass so we can raise cows so we can feed pigs so we can sell the hot dogs and hams. It's about increasing that value.


----------



## mpete (Mar 4, 2008)

Thank you so very much. Yes, it was only going to be "part" of the diet... sorry, I should've explained better but I had bad news yesterday and was not thinking straight. I really appreciate your in-put. Right now, the chickens get all the left overs, but I would split those with the pig, a little of commercial feed and also offer the left over "millings" from the flour company in town.

btw:  on the dairy issue: It is illegal to give/sell goat milk for any purpose here in Ca.... not even if you sell a bottle kid, unless you are a grade A dairy, but we get calls asking if we would sell milk. I hate telling people no, but my 6 year goal is to have a small (no more than 9 milking does)dairy. A good dairy goat will give over 2 gallons a day. So do your homework on the better dairy breeds.  And make sure they are CAE neg....


----------



## Brooks WV (Jul 24, 2010)

We're feeding excess milk to our next slaughter pig, a pastured Old Spot. He get's all the excess milk & whey- maybe a gallon a day on average. Our pasture a done for the season, but there are still plenty of forage in the wood. We also have 22% protein organic alfalfa that he loves. We'll try to do side-by-side taste testing with our last Old Spot that had no milk.


----------



## Carol K (May 10, 2002)

If I milk for the house I generally only milk a gallon or two. When I "pig milk" I don't wash udders or bother too much with cleanliness, so it is quicker and easier. I also freeze a lot of milk, better to fill the freezer with milk for the pigs if there is room for it. The pigs love the milk as part of their diet.

Carol K


----------



## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

When people milked cows and sold cream they fed the seperated milk to pigs, usually it was the only protein supplement they got.


----------



## oink (Dec 28, 2010)

Brooks WV said:


> Brooks, do you grow your own alfalfa? If not what do you have to give per ton?


----------



## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

oink said:


> Brooks, do you grow your own alfalfa? If not what do you have to give per ton?


I also feed Alfalfa hay. My pigs love it. Here in Missouri i paid 150 bucks
for big round bales. Around 1400 lbs.


----------



## oink (Dec 28, 2010)

Gerold, do you feed free choice alfalfa, if not approx how many lbs/head/day?


----------



## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

oink said:


> Gerold, do you feed free choice alfalfa, if not approx how many lbs/head/day?


I give them 10 lbs a day for 6 york Gilts and one boar.
They also get 50 lbs of Corn/Oat/Mineral ground mix per day.
They eat all the Corn mix first and eat the Alfalfa at different times of the day.


----------



## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

I feed a lot of milk, but only after it has clabbered, it's mixed with ground corn to make a soupy slop. They get kitchen scraps, garden and orchard surplus and when I can get one fresh road kill deer, I also put a large round bale of good hay in the pen. They do quite well on this diet,


----------

