# Feeding Garlic to Pigs - How Much and What Kind?



## Ruff Times (Feb 6, 2013)

I've searched for a topic that may have addressed this but did not find one. Here's a list of questions I have:

1. Do you feed your pig/pigs garlic? 
2. Do you find that it helps? 
3. Does the meat take on any garlic flavor?
4. What type of garlic - clove or powder?
5. How much per lb of feed?

I like the idea of maybe getting a subtle garlic flavor in the meat with garlic.


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## Ruff Times (Feb 6, 2013)

No one feeds garlic to their pigs? That's odd.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

We feed garlic as a dewormer in powdered form. In controlled tests I have done it works very well on internal parasites (intestinal worms).

When I am knocking down a parasite infection in a pig I'll do up to 1 oz for a 500 lb of pig. Not so much for small pigs - think of it as a by weight goal for three days. However I do not tend to do it individually but rather for the entire herd groups in their whey. They need to be acclimated to the taste with progressively larger amounts over a course of days. 

Note that two much garlic (how much?) is theoretically toxic. I've never seen a problem.

See:
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2005/10/14/worms-au-natural/

I don't feed it so long or much that it flavors the meat. If I fed a lot more and frequently I would expect it to flavor the meat. It takes a month to set flavor and three months to complete based on double-blind taste testing we've done. Other research says two weeks to start set.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/


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## Pig in a poke (Mar 27, 2013)

I used to add garlic powder to the pigs' feed. Enough that I could smell it, but apparently not enough to flavor the meat. It seemed to help as a dewomer until I introduced a new pig that must have brought in a heavy load of worms.


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## pmondo (Oct 6, 2007)

i use fresh garlic
for flavoring the meat last 3 months before slaughter 5 whole heads per day per pig also lots of herbs it will flavor the meat from the inside out 
for a dewormer use 2-3 heads per pig for 3 day a month


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Our primary tool with parasite control is managed rotational grazing.
Cold winters also help.
The garlic helps.
An acidic gut helps.
High fiber might help.
Chickens help.
Good general health helps.
We rarely see parasite problems as a result - generally just an unusual weak individual.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Garlic to pigs? I wouldn't.

If I want garlic flavor, I will add it to my marinade or seasonings. If you add something strong to the diet that will flavor the meat, there is no guarantee that you will like the flavor that garlic gives. It's possible it won't be the same flavor as adding a garlic clove to your cooking. Eating wild onion can ruin meat, and that is a closely related plant. An entire pig is a lot of meat if you discover you don't like it.


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## Ruff Times (Feb 6, 2013)

highlands said:


> We feed garlic as a dewormer in powdered form. In controlled tests I have done it works very well on internal parasites (intestinal worms).
> 
> When I am knocking down a parasite infection in a pig I'll do up to 1 oz for a 500 lb of pig. Not so much for small pigs - think of it as a by weight goal for three days. However I do not tend to do it individually but rather for the entire herd groups in their whey. They need to be acclimated to the taste with progressively larger amounts over a course of days.
> 
> ...


That's very good information. I linked through to your Valentine Bloody Mary? mix for your dogs. I see that you use standard garlic powder. I'll pick up a container and give it a try. 

I live in the NW corner of the NW. We get winters but they usually last a week or so. I do not keep pigs Fall and Winter. I think they have around 4k sqft to run around. The majority of the area is canary grass. It has seasonally wet areas. I usually raise 4 pigs. I've cut back to 2. I have never had problems with worms. It has to be a matter of time though. I figure I'll supplement with garlic as a precaution. Thanks for your help


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## Ruff Times (Feb 6, 2013)

oregon woodsmok said:


> Garlic to pigs? I wouldn't.
> 
> If I want garlic flavor, I will add it to my marinade or seasonings. If you add something strong to the diet that will flavor the meat, there is no guarantee that you will like the flavor that garlic gives. It's possible it won't be the same flavor as adding a garlic clove to your cooking. Eating wild onion can ruin meat, and that is a closely related plant. An entire pig is a lot of meat if you discover you don't like it.


Very good point. I will not be feeding for taste then.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

It takes about a month of heavy feeding to induce taste into the meat and about three months to complete the flavor transition. I've done a lot of controlled research on that. The dosing with garlic for parasite control does not seem to effect the flavor of the meat.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Garlic and onion destroy red blood cells in mammals, possibly in birds but no solid info to date. It does take a lot of garlic at once or feeding it for awhile to create visible symptoms. That doesn't mean you aren't weakening the animal so it succumbs to something else. Doing it shortly before slaughter probably wouldn't cause issues because you are killing the animal anyway. I do not give any to animals like dogs though. It's about as bad for their health as using a chemical dewormer that will be even more effective anyway.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Numbers don't jive, Akane. I've had garlic work completely effectively many many times with no negative side effects for the animals. It's a tool. It is a chemical dewormer - it is deworming with the sulfur from what I've read. Key is mammals have a much higher tolerance than the dose needed to kill off the parasites. This is the basic modis operandi of most medications like this.


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