# Choosing what to grow to raise pigs



## KIT.S

Anyone successfully feed their pigs the whole corn plant? I'm suspecting I would have to run the stalk through the chipper/shredder, but I know they like the corn and cobs. And can I leave the corn to grow until the ears are ripe before cutting the stalk and feeding the whole thing? 

I've never grown corn, but I have friends who have offered to grow produce to feed the pigs and I will keep and raise a pig for them. I have brewer's grain to add to whatever we come up with. We've been trying to figure out what to grow, and have the following thoughts:

Beets, sugar beets, mangles: so far my pigs don't like whole, plain beets. They'll eat it if it comes to them cooked, but I figure if I run them through the chipper raw, then mix with brewers' grain, they ought to learn to like it.

Peas: They like the peas and vines, and peas grow quickly so we could get several harvests. I also think they're pretty high in nutrition.

Corn: But if they won't eat the stalks, that's a lot of volume going to waste. We do have meat calves, so if the cows eat the stalks, at least they won't be wasted.

Zucchini: They love it, it grows well, but I don't think it's very high in nutrition.

Winter squash is good, but it's late in the season. I would expect the pigs to be ready for the freezer not long after the winter squash is ripe. However, the seeds are good wormers and the sheep like them, and the sheep will be here all winter.

We don't have the equipment to either plant or harvest grain or alfalfa, and we're trying for something that takes a minimum of physical effort as we all have jobs, too. 

There are a couple acres that have been truck gardens (they've been losing money every year, so they're not going to sell veggies any more, just raise what we all can eat plus pig/sheep food) and the basic planting equipment is available. Anyone with suggestions?

Thanks!
Kit


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## Whisperwindkat

I found the corn to be a waste of my time. They tired of it quickly and didn't particularly like eating it off the cob for very long. Field peas worked well for us and were a good source of protein for them. They weren't real fond of beets unless cooked, same with pears. But they would eat all that I would cook for them. What I found was that they really liked variety. There wasn't any one particular thing that they liked for a long period of time. This worked well for us mostly because we didn't have a lot of any one thing. We had a little of this and a little of that which suited them just fine. So this year we will just plant extra of everything so that they have variety again, just more of it. Blessings, kat


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## birdman1

corn is the tried an true hog staple ,but all veggies- carrots; turnup greens;peas vines and all do you milk a cow any surplus wheather sour or butter milk or whey from cheese are all enjoyed and help your pigs grow . but corn in or shelled is the main stay.you can feed em about any grain or mixture therof stale bread potatochips . BUT !! before butchering feed mostly corn at least a month to get good firm meat and bacon; pigs won't eat corn stalks or leaves feed these to the cows .when i was younger we kept a slop bucket for all leftovers, scraps and peelings the pigs loved it.


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## Hagler's Farm

I used to give my girls whole corn stalks as a suppliment or "treat". Mine had no problems eatting the whole stalk everything except the root ball and I even caught them playing with them. Like Wisperwindkat mentioned, they do get tired of the samething rather easily-our girls eat apples as treats for about 2 weeks and than wouldn't touch them, we switched to carrots and after about 2 weeks back to apples and always throw a handfull of eggs in for them. Eggs are great suppliments, if they tire of them we boil them and it's like a brand new treat.


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## highlands

I try to grow corn but don't usually do well. It's our soils and climate. I have excellent success with growing rape and kale out in the pastures as well as pumpkins, sunflowers, squash, beets, turnips and mangles in the winter paddocks which make up several acres of excellent gardens in the warm months. We also seeded heavily with alfalfa and clovers out in our fields to increase the protein content of the forages.

I'll second the eggs being a great source of food. Cooking them doubles the available protein. We keep hundreds of chickens for their organic pest control ability and the result is lots of eggs for weaners and growers.

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


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## bruceki

What are you feeding those hundreds of chickens, Walter? 

On forage, they typically don't get enough calories to support egg laying. And in the winter there's no forage.


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## ChristieAcres

We grew all kinds of veggies for our hogs, saw Comfrey wasn't on the list. That is about 19% protein and good for them. Borage, in the same family, are also good for them. Ours ate the corn cobs in their entirety (raw or cooked). When we cook meats to feed our hogs, we add potatoes, squash, beets, and other tough veggies. Then, we mix in a variety of grains and uncooked veggies. The hogs inhale this! Oh, once source of meats, were the chickens we culled.

Walter, would appreciate knowing about your Winter chicken feeding, too


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## Laura Workman

We managed to grow a little bit of very stunted Golden Bantam corn this past summer. Whenever I threw some of the stalks, with little tiny cobs, to my AGH, there wasn't a scrap of anything left.


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## "SPIKE"

We have had a couple of nights that got into the low teens and a couple of days that did not get above freezing. 
I should have planted more of everything, but Had no idea winter was going to start so mildly. I just throw it to them raw and un cut. It just disappears.









I have never let swiss chard grow into the winter. It just keeps growing. The pigs eat all of it, leaves, stems, and roots. I never noticed it grew such a big stem. The pigs just crunch it up like the whole mangels.









SPIKE


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## KIT.S

Thanks, folks. We don't want to plant perennials (comfrey) as the people who farm will rotate, and may go back to row crops again. I guess we're going to try corn, mangels, field peas to feed green, and whatever else we have seed for. Plus winter squash. The sheep will eat any of that left over after the pigs are butchered, so nothing will go to waste.
Kit


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## Aussiemum

I have put in sunflowers, spinach, pumpkins, peas & we have fruit trees & the excess goat milk & eggs add some grain & they are pretty happy


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## highlands

In the warm weather we don't feed the chickens. They get plenty of calories from the pasture. The problem with making claims like "they don't get enough calories on forage" is you're not actually looking at what they're really eating. Chickens eat some plant matter but they also eat a tremendous number of insects, earthworms, grubs, etc. That is their real function - organic pest control. In the winter, after the fall cull down, we feed them meat to make up for the insects - after all, we're taking pigs to market weekly so there's enough scraps for the flock. They also get veggie scraps and hay. It works.

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


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## bruceki

There have been a number of studies on how various cultures raise chickens. When a chicken isn't fed feed, any egg produced, or the chicken itself, is a net benefit to the household. But eggs produced were strictly seasonal, and not very plentiful. They reported 10 to 12 eggs a year for the native chickens typically. 

So one scientist decided to see how US chicken breeds, black australorp, barred rock and white leghorn, would do in that sort of husbandry, and found that although the chickens had the genetic potential of 200 to 250 eggs per year per hen (which is what we're getting from most of the hens in the USA who are grain-fed) these chickens in africa produced a few eggs, but not as many as the local breeds did; about half. 

So when I say "they don't get enough calories to produce eggs", I mean, unless you're offering something in addition to forage they're not going to lay. Maybe they're eating the whey or bread or whatever it is you are feeding the pigs that day. 

10 eggs a year isn't what most folks think of when they think of a laying hen.


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## Rogo

I don't feed chicken feed to my poultry. They get the same dog food as my dogs and they have for years. The kibble is lamb and beef based, no grain except rice. 22% protein. That along with 100% food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). The birds and the pigs both get the excess eggs. The free roaming birds lay and hatch eggs all year around with no lights added. The egg laying slows down when the birds are 8 to 10 years old.


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## RonPaulRooster

Rogo said:


> I don't feed chicken feed to my poultry. They get the same dog food as my dogs and they have for years. The kibble is lamb and beef based, no grain except rice. 22% protein. That along with 100% food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). The birds and the pigs both get the excess eggs. The free roaming birds lay and hatch eggs all year around with no lights added. The egg laying slows down when the birds are 8 to 10 years old.


Rogo , who makes it , what is the name , where is it available ,
how much does it costs ?
Thanks .


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## Karen in Alabam

On one of the other posts, its says they eat acorns. We have plenty of oak trees--pin and water types.

I know humans can eat acorn flour--after much processes as it will rip your stomach open. So it sounds like pigs are pretty tough, so is this a good fall winter food supply?

Still thinking about the pigs.

Also--liked what to do with the chicken remains--culling a few Monday.

Thanks


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## highlands

bruceki said:


> 10 eggs a year isn't what most folks think of when they think of a laying hen.


We get more like 0.6 to 0.8 eggs per day per hen. That's about 219 to 292 eggs per hen per year. This is without commercial feed/corn/soy, etc. We pasture our poultry. In the warm months they eat a lot of insects. That's their job - organic pest control. In the winter I feed them meat. I've mentioned this many times. You are welcome to feed your pigs and birds corn or commercial feeds but not everyone finds it necessary. Your inability to accept the fact that someone else can succeed where you fail is amusing at best. Open your mind. New ideas might alight.


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## mitchell3006

I agree Walter. If the pasture is good for pigs and other stock then it is good for fowl. They find enough fawna to eat that they boost their protein levels. I am trying to improve my pastures forage potential for my cattle and working for my pigs right along with it.


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## barrybro

I put these in another post but maybe more relevant in this post. We have a fall pumpkin patch that includes a 1/8th of an acre "mini" corn maze for little kids. I have 6 pigs that have taken down all of the stalks and eaten the corn. I figure the corn stalks get me even since I am growing these pigs in winter vs. summer in terms of purchased feed intake.

Barry


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## BobbyB

Karen in Alabam said:


> On one of the other posts, its says they eat acorns. We have plenty of oak trees--pin and water types.
> 
> I know humans can eat acorn flour--after much processes as it will rip your stomach open. So it sounds like pigs are pretty tough, so is this a good fall winter food supply?
> 
> Still thinking about the pigs.
> 
> Also--liked what to do with the chicken remains--culling a few Monday.
> 
> Thanks


My grandfather said acorns will grow a hog quick and fat, but the meat and fat will be very soft and " rolly " as he put it. He always said the best was to to grow 'em on acorns and finish on corn for flavor and texture. 

the quality of finishing on corn I can vouch for first hand. The acorn part I can only repeat what I was told by Pawpaw


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## HoosierHog

I grow about an 1/8th of an acre of sweat corn and i feed all the stalks to my hogs and they eat it all. corn as a grain is a perfect feed for pigs but not a complete pig feed you have to add in a good protein source. here in central indiana its corn country. my experience is it takes about 10 bushes of corn and 3-4 bushels of soybeans to take a 40lb feeder to 260lb finished. the big farmers here can get 200 plus bushel to the acre. but me i dont have 50000$ planters and nor do i spend out the kinda of money it takes in fert and seed. so when i grow corn for grain i do 1/2 to 1 acre patch and i get about 100bushel enough to finish a full litter of feeders. I try not to feed soy i use an organic protein supplement. but if corn grows well in your part of the country then yes its a good feed. and yes your hogs will eat the whole plant but they do like it better green like right after you pick your sweet corn. also corn is a heavy feeder it takes alot of fertalizer and minerals from the soil to make a nice tall corn plant so it helps the soil to turn the stalk back in to the soil to add some organic material.

I have heard that beets, mangels and such make great fodder but i have not had much luck with them. the weeds always grow faster and by the time the mangles or beets sprout and get to were i can tell what is a beet and whats a weed the weeds are a foot tall. also i like pumpkins for a treat plus they act as a natural wormer. i like to plant jerusalm artichokes and cow peas in my paddocks then turn the pigs loose when the plants are good and mature they really like that.


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## wwubben

Hogs will eat the entire corn plant.You can plant rape in with the corn and graze the whole thing when the corn is mature.I have cut and fed corn plants for years to the hogs.


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## gerold

wwubben said:


> Hogs will eat the entire corn plant.You can plant rape in with the corn and graze the whole thing when the corn is mature.I have cut and fed corn plants for years to the hogs.


Plus one.
Rape is a good cover crop and the hogs like it. Corn is the main food my hogs get. They never seem to tire of corn.


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