Feed 2 week old piglets. Proper fattening of piglets for meat at home

If you decide to have pigs, you must always remember that feeding young pigs, like no other domestic animal, seriously affects the health, growth and development of the animals under their care. A piglet’s body is not a bucket for food waste, so you need to carefully approach the feeding ration, norms, and diet, which ultimately determine the quality of the final product, on which long-term painstaking work was carried out.

Types of feed

Since pigs have a single-chamber stomach, it is easier for them to digest concentrated feed, and feed rich in fiber is digested more slowly. The degree of deliciousness of the meat product entirely depends on the quality of the feed.

Hence the division of all feeds into 3 conditional groups:

1. These feeds are recommended if you plan to raise an animal for the production of high-quality meat products: pea kernels, millet, barley, rye, carrots, beets, zucchini, potatoes, grass, flour legumes, meat production waste. This nutrition makes fattening pigs effective, since all feeds in this group promote rapid growth, the meat turns out tastier, and the lard is denser and grainier.
2. These are less suitable and healthy foods: bran from rye and wheat, corn, buckwheat. The permissible content of them in the pig diet is no more than half of the total feed mass.
3. These feeds have a negative impact on the final result: oats, soybeans, cake.

Important! To avoid their harmful effects, after the pig reaches a weight of 60 kg, they are categorically excluded from the feed.

The diet of animals is adjusted 2 months before slaughter. Products of the 3rd group are replaced with foods of the 1st group.

Combined feeds are offered to pigs in slightly moistened or dry form. Before use, root vegetables and vegetables are washed and steamed, and the greens are thoroughly chopped after washing.

There are 3 types of nutrition for piglets:

• wet (traditional at home);
• liquid;
• dry.

Wet

Economical option. In a large farm, it is very labor-intensive and suitable for household use. This diet consists of porridge and a mixture of greens, boiled potatoes and vegetables. It is advisable to use human food waste, corn, fish oil, barley cake, wheat, bran. Dishes are prepared in advance.

It is necessary to promptly remove spoiled or uneaten food from the feeder. The advantage of this type of food is that such food is more natural for animal nutrition and almost all the ingredients can be grown in your own household, which significantly saves money, but the disadvantage is that the labor-intensive process of preparing porridges and mashes is not suitable for a large number of livestock.

Liquid

The type of feeding is based on direct manual preparation of feed. When feeding with liquid, liquid kitchen waste (without chemicals) and curdled milk are used in the feed mixture. The liquid type of feeding is beneficial for pig farmers who have greens and succulent feed on their farm, as well as enough liquid food waste.

Dry

The option is unique and suitable for individuals at any period of their life. The dry type involves the use of ready-made experimentally obtained feeds that are enriched with essential microelements and vitamins. Feeding animals this way saves time: you just need to ensure the presence of enriching mixtures of biologically active substances (premixes) in the feeder, and clean water in the drinking bowl.

Important! If pigs are fed dry food, they must have constant access to fresh water.

For households, the method is also less troublesome and time-consuming: you need to grind the grains in advance, mix them with other ingredients, add premixes and distribute the norms to the animals in feeders.

Each grain crop has its own nutritional value, so you need to include 2-3 varieties of grains in your ration, which will help make the food more balanced.

• manure from animals fed a dry diet does not have a strong odor and is suitable for use in the garden after 12 months;
• pigs fed this type of food grow actively and gain weight well;
• protects animals from problems with the digestive system;
• no spoilage or souring of leftover feed in feeders;
• this food provides balanced diet.

Feeding standards

The ad libitum feeding technology is used for little pigs and allows them to eat whenever they want. With this type of feeding, the dishes from which the babies eat are cleaned 2 times a week to remove lumps of leftover food.

Standardized feeding. The piglets are given food several times a day. The volume of food should allow the feeders to be emptied 2 hours before a new portion is offered. This type feeding is used for domestic animals in nursery and sows.

Limited - used for fattening piglets, when it is necessary to obtain lean meat as a result, and for pregnant individuals in order to prevent obesity. The point is this: give the pigs a little less food than they can eat. There are two approaches: either reduce the amount of food, or reduce the calorie content of the food by giving the individuals roughage.

There is a difference not only in the feeding regimes of animals, but also in the systematization of nutritional methods.

Important! It is advisable to offer food to pigs at the same time, and the number of feedings should be varied based on the age of the animals.

Pregnant pigs must be fed with roughage in their diet. One feeding per day is enough.

Sows are fed twice a day.

Piglets weaned from the sow need to be fed at least 3 times a day. A similar regime is being developed for piglets that are fattening or growing.

Diet in different months of life

In summer, grazing in the meadow is required for domestic animals. Pigs need to be provided with green food, so if grazing is not possible, grass should be brought into the pen. The animal loves dried, fresh grass and garden tops. The best feeds are peas, alfalfa, legumes, and clover.

Juicy vegetables and fruits are added to the main dry food. Pigs even eat fruit tree carrion. The winter period passes without fresh greens, so the basis of feeding is dry types of food: hay, cake, beet chips.

The basis of the diet is concentrated feed (1.5 kg per individual). The menu includes silage, dry biofeeds and yeast.

What should you not feed piglets?

Be careful when feeding animals green salads - some plants contain harmful substances that cause poisoning in month-old piglets (horse dill, spurge, caustic buttercup, black nightshade, dog parsley).

Carefully prepare (steam, treat with alkali) castor and cotton seed cakes for feeding, since they contain a poisonous alkaloid (gossypol).

Boiled beets should not be left in hot water for a long time, as it can cause poisoning.

Do not feed sprouted potatoes - you need to remove the sprouts and discard the green tubers. Do not give water in which potatoes were boiled.

Important! Prohibited: citrus fruits, bananas, tea leaves, coffee grounds, bay leaves.

Fattening

Animals of different ages need to be fed differently.

During growing

At the stage from 2.5 to 4 months there is intensive growth muscle mass, which requires a balanced diet and suitable living conditions. Progressive growth of piglets is ensured by thick nutritious porridge (oatmeal, pea, barley), kitchen waste, vegetable peelings and dairy products.

Young pigs also need succulent food: potatoes, carrots, grass, tops from the garden. In the cold season, dust, chaff, silage and all kinds of vegetables are used as additives on a double scale.

suckling piglets

In the first days of their life, newborn piglets are able to digest only their mother's milk. This is due to the fact that babies have an inferior digestive system from birth. By gradually introducing concentrates into the diet of individuals, the gastrointestinal tract system improves itself. This helps the pigs eat more food in the future and, accordingly, grow faster.

Piglets are allowed to their mother 1-1.5 hours after birth and are secured to the nipple. During the first 10 days, babies are given colostrum, which provides invaluable benefits to the animal's immune system.

On days 5-7, suckling piglets begin to be introduced to complementary foods in the form of skim or whole cow's milk (it is most similar to pork). This is especially necessary if sows have insufficient lactation - then the babies do not have enough nutrition. Cow's milk is added to piglets gradually and little by little - 3-4 times a day, 25-30 grams per individual. The product must be fresh and room temperature. Spoiled milk may cause distress in piglets.

With good lactation in lactating pigs, it is difficult to force babies to drink cow's milk. Therefore, they are accustomed to this by lowering the stigma into a container with food. By licking the milk from their faces, the piglets adapt to the cow's drink and begin to eat it themselves. Milk must be exclusively fresh; acidophilic yogurt is also allowed. After feeding, be sure to wash the dishes. To feed one individual before weaning, 5-6 liters of milk are consumed.

On days 15-20, skim milk is introduced into the baby’s menu and continues to be given until weaning from the mother. During the suckling stage, up to 15-25 kg of skim milk is consumed per individual. At first it is given 100-150 grams, closer to the time of weaning from the mother - 700-1000 grams per day. Piglets are fed warm and fresh skim milk, sometimes in the form of acidophilus.

Piglets also need feed mixtures, which are fed dry or steamed. The prepared porridge is flavored with milk or skim milk and given to the young animals. Dry concentrate requires grinding and removing the chaff from oats and barley. With this method of fattening, there should always be a container of water in the feed compartment. The dry method is more preferable than feeding with cereals or wet mixtures, since the latter are perishable and can provoke intestinal disorders in individuals.

To fully fatten and raise young animals, succulent feed is required, to which animals must be accustomed early age. Suckers can be administered as early as 8-10 days boiled potatoes. It is kneaded to a puree, milk is added there and mixed well. From 10-12 days, animals begin to be given pureed raw root vegetables. Over time, they are made into a mix together with milk and concentrated feed.

As an additive to food, babies are given ground dust and hay.

In the warm season, the cubs are accustomed to green food: clover, beet and carrot tops, etc. First, the greens are crushed with a meat grinder. Subsequently, the young animals, together with their mother, are released into the walking yard (only from 5 days old) several times a day. This provides the babies with beneficial mineral supplements and natural vitamins.

Sows

Controlling the feeding of females is especially important during the gestation period, which lasts almost four months. During pregnancy, females must have all the necessary elements and nutrients in their diet; the growing fetus especially needs proteins, calcium and phosphorus.

For the necessary feeling of satiety, the animal requires a certain amount of fiber, otherwise the pregnant individual will be in constant stress due to lack of food and feeling hungry. In the second half of pregnancy, the female requires more highly nutritious feed for successful fetal development and increased lactation.

General rules for fattening piglets

Ideally, it is better to feed piglets at the same time so that they become accustomed to the feeding regime. With this system, babies have time to get hungry and eat exactly their allotted amount. An uncontrolled diet leads to indigestion when individuals overeat. Bottom line: Little piglets need to be given food at specific times.

It is better to give food to animals in parts so that it does not sit in feeders. Otherwise, their appetite decreases and the process of fat growth slows down.

A bowl of water should always be freely available to animals.

Leftover food must be removed immediately. Under no circumstances should you give uneaten food along with fresh food at the next feeding.

Food bowls should be washed thoroughly every time, and scalded with boiling water at least once every 7 days. Hygiene rules are especially important when fattening young animals; small animals are more susceptible to infectious diseases than others.

It is best to feed pigs taking into account the recommendations of pig nutritionists. If rational advice is not taken into account, this will lead to unjustified material costs, stagnation in the growth of production indicators, and poor quality meat product. Fattening pigs according to the rules will enrich the human diet with healthy and tasty meat delicacies.

Despite the fact that adult pigs are easy to care for, piglets still need to be given a lot of attention. They grow up strong, healthy and productive only if they are provided with optimal conditions content. So what should you feed little piglets?

Raising piglets at home

As already noted, raising pig offspring requires certain conditions. Of particular importance among them are:

1. Properly planned room.
2. Enough space for walking outside.
3. Separate area for eating.
4. Suitable temperature.
5. Vaccinations that provide high resistance to disease.
6. Separate diet.

It is worth noting that piglets are raised in separate small herds, which include individuals of the same sex, the same breed and approximately the same age. This is necessary because diverse animals react differently to various stresses and illnesses and require individual care. Accordingly, maintaining a joint herd is much more difficult.

But, regardless of breed and gender, all piglets, without exception, go through three main stages of development. These include:

1. Suction stage. Lasts about a month. During this time, the piglets eat only mother's milk and have no interest in other food.
2. Weaning stage. It begins about a week before the mother limits her care of the offspring exclusively to feeding. At this time, there is a gradual transition to other types of food.
3. Fattening stage. Mother's milk is completely excluded from the diet, and one of the types of fully balanced feeding is used as a replacement.

At the fattening stage, it is already necessary to gradually accustom the piglet to the specific chosen diet. Moreover, what will be included in it should be decided in advance.

Diet (meat, bacon fattening)

It should be remembered that switching an animal too abruptly to a new diet can cause various digestive problems. Therefore, the transition should be carried out gradually, over 2 weeks. During this time, the amount of selected food is also increased gradually.

Concerning proper diet, then it must be selected based on the purpose of keeping pigs. So, in accordance with this point, all fattening options can be combined into three categories:

1. Greasy. The diet is planned in such a way that the animal quickly gains high-quality fat.
2. Bacon. With this type of feeding, a special type of pork with layers appears. Of course, this method of raising pigs is not only more expensive, but also requires more effort on the part of the owner.
3. Meat. The result of such fattening is obtaining maximum quantity meat with almost complete absence fat layer.

It is the last two types that are most in demand in private farms. What does each one represent?

Bacon

To produce bacon, many people use special breeds, such as Landrace, Estonian Bacon, Latvian White. The specificity of their growth and development ensures the highest quality bacon.

But, when using bacon fattening, you can achieve the desired results in absolutely any breed. For this type of feeding, piglets are selected at the age of 2-2.5 months and weighing at least 30 kg. The diet is structured in such a way that the daily gain from the initial figure of 370-500 g increases to 700-750 g by the end of fattening.

For this purpose, nutrition is divided into two main periods:

1. Initial – up to 5 months.
2. Final – from 5 to 8-8.5 months.

At the initial stage Special attention is devoted to providing the pig’s body with all the minerals and vitamins necessary for growth. It is imperative to provide a large amount of protein. In summer it is eaten with green grass of legumes, in winter with legume hay. To supplement the protein composition of legumes, grains, cake, and meal are often added to them.

The amount of concentrate feed during this period depends on the type of feeding. In the concentrated potato version, the percentage of concentrate ranges from 40 to 65%. In concentrated root crops, the amount of grains already reaches 70%. They are introduced into the diet in the form of a mixture of corn, oats, barley, cake, and legumes.

Animal products are also mandatory at the first stage of bacon feeding. Their percentage in the total diet is at least 7%. The most popular among them is whey or reverse. During the day, it is desirable that the mass of such products be at least 1.3 kg. This will greatly enhance the growth. Minerals that are added to food with ash, chalk, bone meal and salt will help supplement all of the listed components. One total feed unit in this case is 970 g.

At the second stage of fattening, all work is focused on improving the quality of meat. One feed unit will already be about 946 g. Removed from the diet completely or to the maximum (leaving only 5%) bone meal, oats, soybeans, waste fish production, cake If this is not done, they will ruin the taste of the pork.

IN large quantities At this stage, barley, peas and millet are introduced into food. All these products are, to a greater or lesser extent, able to equalize the taste of meat and lard products. An approximate mixture of such food includes: legumes - 20%, wheat bran– 10%, barley – 70%. This composition will provide a large amount of quickly digestible protein to the piglet. But at the same time, he should be protected from excessive physical activity. It is best to limit it to a short walk outside.

All listed foods must be carefully prepared before serving. Grains are ground and diluted with warm water, root vegetables are washed and chopped, green feed is also crushed, potatoes and fish waste are boiled. All components are mixed and only then are they ready for use. In this case, the components must be constantly changed, otherwise the growth will quickly stop.

Meat

For meat fattening, pigs are selected at three months of age with a weight of 25 to 30 kg. In this case, the diet is structured so that no more than 4 feed units are consumed for each kilogram of growth. This will ensure not only tenderness of the meat, but also a minimal layer (up to 3 cm) of lard.

This fattening provides approximately the following composition:

1. Legume hay – 11%.
2. A mixture of concentrates and succulent feeds - 55-70%.
3. Waste – about 30%.

IN summer time part of this composition is replaced by green grass from pastures.

Until the piglet reaches a weight of 60-70 kg, the basis of its food should be protein. In this case, it is necessary to frequently walk the animal for more intensive growth of muscle mass. If amino acids are well balanced in the food fed to the gilt, the percentage of proteins can be reduced to 20%.

The general diet should also be supplemented with bone and fish meal, which should be given at least 100-250 g per day. Feeder yeast is also a useful product for growth.

The basis of meat fattening should still remain juicy and green feed. In winter, sugar beets are optimal, the norm of which increases from 1.5 to 6 kg as the pig grows. It can also be replaced with potatoes, which are supplied in volumes from 1.5 kg at the beginning to 2.5 kg at the end of fattening.

In the summer, most of the succulent feed is replaced with fresh legumes. Also, to balance minerals, food must be supplemented with salt (20-40 g) and crushed shell rock (5-25 g). Half an hour after feeding, it is important to provide plenty of water to the animals. This also promotes growth.

IN recent months feeding, the amount of succulent feed is increased to 10-15 kg. To improve the quality of meat, remove oats, cake, fish, meat flour, stillage, soy. The amount of milk waste also increases.

Feeding is carried out 2 times a day, at a strictly designated time. The feed is thoroughly mixed and moistened with water.

Dietary supplements

When feeding small piglets, various additives also play a big role. The most useful among them are premixes and dietary supplements. Premixes are vitamin, mineral and vitamin-mineral complexes that are aimed at increasing absorption useful substances from food, as well as to accelerate the growth of the animal. The composition may also include antibiotics, amino acids, enzymes, and hormones.

Among dietary supplements, the most popular are protein-mineral vitamin supplements. This substance contains vitamins of groups A, B, D, K and E, as well as a number of mineral components and amino acids. In combination, the supplement increases the immunity of gilts, enhances the absorption of nutrients from food, blood clotting, strengthens the skeleton, and normalizes digestion. The standard norm should be approximately 5% of 1 feed unit.

Also, natural acids are often mixed into food, which act as dietary supplements. For this purpose, citric and gluten acids are used. They replenish vitamin reserves in the body. The substance is added throughout feeding until slaughter at a rate of 20-40 mg per 1 kg of piglet weight. Mix with food or water once a day.

All dietary supplements are thoroughly mixed with the pig’s usual diet. At the same time, it must contain grain crops.

Except general rules for fattening piglets, the peculiarities of feeding young animals at each specific age should also be taken into account. This will not only allow the animal to more smoothly adjust to the chosen course, but will also provide it good health, stable appetite and rapid increase in live weight.

One month old piglets

Piglets at the age of one month are just beginning to adapt to the feed more familiar to adult pigs. Adapts to them and them digestive system. But at one month of age there is still practically no visible hydrochloric acid. This means that resistance to bacteria and viruses that enter with food is minimal. Therefore, the cleanliness of the pen and feeder at this time is a priority.

Also, abrupt separation of a piglet from its mother and her milk is stressful for the young. It may be accompanied by loss of appetite and sudden weight loss. As a replacement, at first it is necessary to supplement with dry food cow's milk in a volume of 1-1.5 liters per day per individual. You can replace milk with whey or skim milk, but in this case the norm is doubled.

During this period of development of gilts, there should be no sudden changes in diet. Dry food that was given 2 weeks before weaning should be given for at least another 2 weeks, and after that gradual changes should be made. In the summer, piglets can be grazed. But even here they should be accustomed to grass gradually. First, give small portions of green bait, and then release it outside for a short time with a gradual increase in walking time up to 1-2 hours 3 times a day by the end of the second month.

In winter, beets, boiled potatoes and carrots must be included in the diet. The food should also be supplemented with bone and fish meal.

2-3 month old piglets

Feeding piglets at the age of 2-3 months is still implemented 3-4 times a day. The main goal is to reach 35-50 kg within 4 months. The basis of nutrition is still milk. For 2 months, one head will need at least 2500 liters of milk. But it is increasingly supplemented with compound feed, concentrated and succulent feed.

Gradually, the amount of dairy products in fattening is reduced. At the same time, the share of other feed increases. The approximate diet is:

1. Concentrated feed – 1 kg.
2. Shredded boiled potatoes – 1-1.5 kg.
3. Juicy root vegetables – 1.5 kg.
4. Hay flour – 0.3 kg.

In summer, the grass should be at least 2.5 kg per day per individual. Specified composition mixed, crushed and given several times a day in small portions.

4 month old piglets

By 4 months, the animal is almost completely adapted to all types of food. At this time, you should switch to 2 or 3 meals a day with clearly defined feeding times. The basis of the diet at this time is wet, thick mash.

This mixture includes concentrates, root vegetables, salt, chalk, legumes, and whey. The composition can be supplemented with dietary supplements or premix. All components are very carefully crushed, mixed and poured a small amount water.

It is advisable to give such food to piglets outside the barn itself. The presence of liquid will provide dampness, air humidity and dirt at the feeding site. It is better to allocate a separate area in the pen for meals and accustom the young animals to it. This way, the gilts will be constantly clean, which will affect their health and well-being.

Conclusion

Compliance with the listed standards and recommendations will ensure rapid growth of the number of pigs in the herd and the health of each individual individual. By correctly combining all components of the diet for piglets, the farm owner can significantly increase the survival rate of each subsequent litter and the productivity of his farm as a whole.

Pig breeding is considered one of the most profitable types of business in any country. It does not require any special expenses and quickly pays back the investment. The main thing is to provide the pigs proper care and establish normal feeding so that they grow quickly. In this article we will look at which pig fattening is the most effective and how best to organize it.

The pig breeding business will be profitable if the pig fattening process is properly organized.

The fact that labor costs and financial investments pay off quickly can be judged by the following facts:

• one sow is capable of producing up to 15 small piglets;
• Pigs need to be fattened within one year;
• You can organize production even at home, if you have a separate house.

There are several technologies that allow you to quickly and efficiently fatten piglets for meat at home. As a result, well-fed carcasses with high quality meat grow. From how much effective technique The way you choose to fatten pigs depends on the profit you make.

These rules are simple and suitable for any type of fattening. Let's list them:

• the food that you will give to your charges must be fresh - you should not feed them yesterday’s leftovers;
• before feeding grain, vegetables and other plant foods, it is advisable to chop it up so that the pig’s body assimilates it better;
• It is not advisable to serve it hot - it should be cooled first;
• compensate for the lack of proteins and amino acids in vegetables by adding barley and soybeans, fish meal and other products that contain calcium to your food;
• Salt must be present in pigs' food - up to 40 grams. It helps the stomachs digest food better.

Before feeding grain to pigs, it must be crushed.

Technologies

Depending on what result you want to achieve, i.e., whether you want to raise pigs for meat, bacon or lard, there are corresponding types of fattening. Let's give them a brief description.

1. Meat. By seven months, piglets will gain weight of 100 kilos or more. By this time, their meat will become very tasty and will contain little fat. The edible portion of the carcass will be about 75%. If a grown piglet weighs about 130 kilos, the edible part will increase to 85% of the weight.
2. Bacon. This is considered meat that is evenly soaked in fat. To get this result, you will need to select a special breed of pigs and adhere to a special diet in feeding them. Piglets for fattening are chosen to be oblong in shape, with a wide chest and back, with pronounced legs. Best suited for this purpose:

• Estonian white breed;
• Lithuanian white breed;
• landraces.

By three months, piglets of these breeds are already able to increase their weight by 25 kilos. You can breed them at home, but the breeder will need not only professional knowledge of how to properly fatten pigs, but also attention, as well as significant financial investments at the initial stage.

1. High quality bacon. This option is most in demand in households. Good bacon can be obtained from very fatty meat, for which piglets are selected from a special meat-fat breed. In order to achieve the desired effect, the livestock breeder will have to constantly control the fat content of the meat and the thickness of the bacon. The latter should not exceed 10 centimeters. If you correctly observe the required standards in the nutritional diet of animals, then the total live weight should result in:

• 50% bacon;
• 40% meat.

Depending on the desired end product, it is necessary to select for fattening different breeds pigs.

Principles of beef fattening

Raising young pigs for meat begins with three months. You need to choose those piglets that by this time have already gained from 100 to 120 kilos. Any breed of pig is used, but further results will depend on what exactly you feed the pig and what type of fattening you prefer. The types of fattening pigs for meat are as follows.

1. Low intensity. In this case, the piglets will gain weight gradually. It will take quite a long time for the pig to reach a weight of 100 kilos. This method is used if cheap and accessible feed is intended to be used. This fattening of pigs at home is suitable for those owners who raise pigs for their own needs, in small quantities.
2. Intense. In this case, fattening is carried out in a very short time. This technique is considered the most effective both in terms of timing and profitability. It is necessary to select piglets that by three months have already gained a weight of 30 kilos or more. Further within four months Feeding is carried out according to a special scheme.

If you correctly follow the technology of intensive meat fattening, then:

• per day the weight gain of piglets will be 600 – 650 g;
• by the end of them average weight will reach 120 kilos.

The pig carcass turns out to be very impressive, and at the same time the meat will be soft, juicy and tender, since the pig does not have time to age. In the area of ​​the seventh cervical vertebra, a thin layer of backfat will form in each fattened individual.

For intensive meat fattening of pigs, pure breeds are chosen; these are obtained by crossing pigs specially bred for intensive productivity. For example, piglets from crossing a Large White sow and a Landrace sow are considered good.

The daily weight gain of a pig is about 600 grams until its weight reaches 120 kilograms or more.

To make intensive meat fattening as productive as possible, you need to create certain comfortable conditions for the pigs. These include:

• a suitable room in which the piglets would feel at ease;
• professionally selected food.

The period of raising pigs for meat is conventionally divided into two periods.

Preparation period

This is the longest stage, it lasts until the piglets are six months old. Usually at this time, each fattened piglet gains half a kilo per day. It is better if this period occurs in spring or summer, in which case the question of what to feed will not be so pressing. Green food is suitable for feeding, which should be about 30% in the diet of young pigs. Will do fresh herbs, melons, and root vegetables, your pets themselves will search and find suitable food for themselves.

At the age of up to 6 months, it is necessary to diversify the diet of pigs with root vegetables.

If the preparatory period falls in the winter, then they have to be fed with grass flour, the same root crops and combined silage. During this period, you need to go on a diet that contains 115 g of protein for each individual, which will allow you to lift weight to the maximum. The diet should also contain more vitamins, especially A, D and B, as well as minerals and amino acids such as methionine, lysine and tryptophan.

Final period

It is quite short, only a month and a half. During this period, the weight of pigs per day grows by 750 g, for which the nutrient concentrate is increased by almost 90%, using various supplements. Most often they add to it:

• potatoes, and in such a way that fattening for piglets consists of two parts - first they are given potatoes, then concentrated feed;
• beets, legumes and green grass;
• food waste.

At the final stage, each fattened carcass should contain 100 grams of protein. During this period, it is very important to completely exclude from the diet those foods that can negatively affect the taste of the resulting meat. These include:

• fish;
• bran;
• millet flour;
• soy (remember that it even interferes with normal weight gain).

Bran, fish, millet flour and soy can negatively affect the taste of meat.

At the final stage, the pigs are fed twice a day; water must be present at all times. It is not advisable to disturb them. To make this period as effective as possible:

• the room where the pigs are kept is darkened from bright light;
• pigs need to be taken out for walks less often, reducing this time to a minimum.

Here is a table of effective fattening of pigs for meat

Live weight	Gain per day							Consumption of feed units per 1 kg of gain
		feed units	digestible protein, g	salt, g	calcium, g	phosphorus, g	carotene, mg
20-30	300-400	1,4 — 1,7	175 — 215	14	10	8	5	4,2
30-40		1,5 — 1,7	180 — 225	15	12	9	7	4,5
40-50	400-500	2,0 — 2,3	220 — 265	20	14	10	8	4,6
50-60		2,1 — 2,4	240 — 275	22	15	11	10	4,8
60-70	500-600	2,6 — 3,0	260 – 330	25	16	12	12	5,0
70-80	600-700	3,2 — 3,7	320 – 390	32	17	13	15	5,2
80-90		3,3 — 3,8	330 – 410		18	14		5,4
90-100	700-800	3,9 — 4,4	355 — 415	35	20	16		5,5
100-120		4,0 — 4,5	360 — 420		22	18		5,6

Principles of bacon fattening

This pig fattening technology is good for producing smoked products. For rearing, a pig is required that is already 2.5 months old and has gained 25 kilos by this time. Boars must be castrated at this point.

Then a complete fattening ration is prepared for the piglets, which includes:

• 3 kilos of green food;
• one and a half kilos of concentrate;
• 2 kilos of root vegetables;
• 20 grams of salt;
• special additives.

Pigs need to be fed twice a day. Like fattening pigs for meat, bacon fattening also consists of two stages.

1. Initial. During this period, the norm for live weight gain should be 450 grams per day.
2. Final. It takes three months, and during this time the average daily gain increases to 500 - 600 grams. You should also completely exclude those types of foods that can worsen the taste of meat or interfere with normal weight gain.

Raising pigs to produce bacon requires walking the animals.

Bacon fattening of pigs requires the animals to be taken out for walks. Exceptions should not be made even in winter.

The necessity of walking is explained by the improvement of the animals’ appetite, while food is absorbed better and their weight increases. When fattening for bacon, it is necessary that all individuals first of all develop muscle, there should be a lot of it, but fat deposits, on the contrary, should be small. If you follow all the above rules, you will get juicy meat, evenly permeated with layers of fat. It is usually used for cooking all kinds of smoked products, such as ham, brisket or brisket.

Fattening Vietnamese piglets

This breed is bred specifically to produce bacon pork. There are no particular differences when fattening Vietnamese piglets from other breeds, the rules are simple:

• feed nutritiously, but do not overfeed;
• walk daily.

Approximate composition of feed:

• barley 40%;
• wheat 30%;
• oats 10%;
• peas 10%;
• corn 10% (no more needed, because corn contributes to obesity).

Vietnamese pigs need to be fed well, but in no case should they be overfed.

Principles of fat fattening (for lard)

At effective organization When fattening pigs to fat standards, the resulting carcass can reach 200 kilos. Of this mass, meat will make up only 40% of the weight, the rest is fat. In order to fatten a pig for high-quality bacon, the selected piglet must already weigh 100 kilos. The nutrition for such piglets varies in different periods.

1. At the initial stage, it is permissible to use concentrated feed, which includes corn and wheat.
2. At the final stage, it is already recommended to use concentrates consisting of barley and millet. These components are needed to ensure that the lard is of higher quality.

• 4 kilos of green food;
• 3.5 kilos of pumpkin;
• 3 kilos of concentrates;
• 50 grams of salt.

The weight raised in this way makes the animals inactive, their shape becomes more rounded.

The lard will be of high quality if you use concentrates from barley and millet at the final stage of fattening.

Here is a table of effective fattening of pigs for lard

Live weight, kg	Gain per day, g	Daily requirement for one individual
		feed units	digestible protein, g	salt, g	calcium, g	phosphorus, g
110 — 120	700 — 800	4,1 – 4,6	310 — 375	40	16	14
110 — 130		4,2 – 4,8	330 – 390	43	17	15
130 — 140		4,3 – 5,0	310 – 370	50	19	17
140 — 150	600 — 700	4,4 – 5,1	300 – 360	55	21	18
150 — 160		4,5 – 5,5	270 — 330	65	22	19

Use of growth stimulants

Even if you use a balanced concentrated feed, it is still worth using additional growth stimulants, which make the process of raising pigs more efficient. Especially for the growth of pigs are used:

• antibiotics;
• mineral preparations;
• vitamin formulations;
• tissue preparations.

They are given not only to raise a full-fledged pig, but very often they help treat sick animals, and sometimes even save their lives. Biologically active substances help piglets gain weight faster, improving their:

• metabolism;
• digestive processes.

As a result, the amount of feed that has to be spent in order for the pigs to grow quickly decreases. However, they still need to be used in moderation, observing the required standards.

Growth promoters also have an anti-inflammatory effect, allowing the animal's body to better fight microbes. They are recommended to be given to piglets when they are sick.

Different stimulants are used to achieve different goals:

• It is recommended to feed pigs with vitamins and amino acids so that their nutritional properties increase and the meat becomes denser;
• synthetic drugs stimulate faster growth of live weight;
• special premixes allow animals to quickly gain weight, forming higher quality lard and meat.

By the way, people have been using such “dietary additives” for a long time, literally drawing them from nature itself. For example, lake silt contains a lot of minerals and vitamins, including calcium and copper, magnesium and other substances.

Most often, specially designated premises such as a stable or a converted barn are used for this. The pigsty must be:

• warm (even in winter the temperature in it should not fall below +15 degrees) and without drafts;
• dry;
• spacious and bright;
• with thoughtful ventilation;
• with the ability to dim the light after each feeding.

The normal development of pigs depends on the conditions under which they are kept.

It is advisable to keep strong and weak individuals separately so that they do not harm each other. Also according to the standards:

• the height of the walls must be at least a meter;
• floor area - from three to five square meters to accommodate the sow, and three to four meters for each piglet.

This helps piglets stay healthy and grow quickly. In addition, once a month the room needs to be disinfected and the walls whitened.

Particular attention is paid to the presence of water, especially if dry food is used for fattening. If there is not enough water, the condition of your charges will begin to deteriorate.

Summary

In this article, we explained how to fatten pigs, what growing methods are used in the national economy. Did you find out what kind of feed pigs need for... rapid growth in cases where they are bred for meat, lard or bacon.

We gave brief description existing growth promoters so you can select the ones that are best suited to your herd.

Pigs are fattened to significantly increase meat and fat in animals. To obtain high-quality meat, mainly young animals are sent for slaughter. Young animals begin to be fattened from about three to eight months.

From this article you will learn what technology is used to feed pigs, and what products are best to use to quickly gain weight in animals.

Feeding pigs

It is advisable to start fattening young animals for meat when the animal reaches at least 90 kg of weight. With this type of nutrition, the meat turns out to be tender with a layer of fat over the backbone no more than 4 cm thick. It is this kind of pork that is considered the most valuable in terms of taste and nutritional properties.

Note: When raising young animals for meat, half of the diet consists of succulent feed. In summer, most of the time pigs can eat greens, but maximum growth will be observed with balanced feeding according to standards (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Types of feed when raised for meat: 1 - juicy, 2 - concentrates, 3 - green feed

IN summer period young animals are grazed before the heat (in the morning) and in the afternoon. Young animals are fed in the same way as sows, only taking into account the fact that grass in the diet of young animals makes up more than half. In addition, the grass must be chopped before feeding.

Meat fattening

Among all farm animals, pigs have the highest growth energy. But it can only fully manifest itself when the piglets receive balanced foods with sufficient amounts of protein, minerals and vitamins. An example of a diet for meat fattening is shown in Figure 2.

Note: The methods used to raise pigs depend on the quality of pork that is desired.

Meat fattening is carried out when it is necessary to raise an animal with a high meat content. For this there are various ways and techniques.

Figure 2. Diet table for raising meat pigs

Feeding pigs begins at the age of 3 months when they reach a weight of 25-30 kg. This period lasts approximately 4 months. During this time, the animals gain 75-90 kg in weight.

The entire fattening period is divided into two periods: preparatory and main:

• The preparatory period begins at 3 months of age and lasts up to 5-5.5 months.
• The main period is only two months.

It is advisable to spend the first period in the warm season (spring-summer) due to the presence wide range green and succulent feed. The assortment of bulky products at this time consists of melons and root vegetables, as well as green legumes. In winter, the diet consists of root and tuber crops, different types flour, combined silage.

It is important to ensure that the pigs’ diet during the preparatory period is rich in protein (both animal and plant origin) and essential amino acids (lysine, methionine, tryptophan), as well as trace elements and vitamins A, B, D.

The lack of these substances leads to stunted growth of animals, their premature obesity and, accordingly, to a decrease in the quality of meat.

The second (actually meat) period differs from the preparatory period not only by a change in the diet due to an increase in the amount of concentrates up to 90% in nutritional value, but also by a greater variety of food products.

If the first period is enriched with proteins and amino acids, then in the second period carbohydrate concentrated feeds, less saturated with protein, are fed.

Fattening to fatty condition

When raising a sow to fatty condition, one must also be guided by the standards. Feeds containing a lot of carbohydrates are mainly used - beets, potatoes, barley, corn, etc.

Note: When the animal's weight exceeds 100 kg, hay meal begins to be introduced into the diet, although concentrates and succulent feeds also remain an important part of the diet.

Figure 3. Products for raising pigs to fatty condition: 1 - barley, 2 - hay flour, 3 - free-range feeding

In order to get high growth from pigs, they are regularly grazed, especially in the summer, and released for walks in the winter. Food is distributed 2-3 times a day in thick mash, but the animals are given enough to drink (Figure 3). It is not recommended to feed fish and meat waste. Recommendations for keeping, breeding and feeding adult pigs are given in the video.

Feeding standards

Considering that the goal of meat fattening is to obtain tender meat with a thin layer of fat on the backbone, pigs must be fed so that their average daily gain at the first stage is 400-500 grams, and at the final stage - 600-700. In this case, during the entire growing period, no more than 4.5 feed units per 1 kg of growth should be consumed.

The diet contains a wide variety of products: root vegetables and feed, food and grain waste, green mass and products from milk processing, fish and meat and bone meal.

Figure 4. Table with an example diet for pigs

It is with a rationed diet that promotes the development of appetite that it is possible to obtain maximum growth during fattening.

The diet for pigs is shown in the table in Figure 4.

How much feed does it take to raise a pig?

You should know that the growth and development of each individual depends both on the amount of feed consumed and on the regularity of feeding.

Therefore, depending on the breed, gender, and age, the owner must be able to determine the appropriate amount of food. To determine it correctly, it is necessary to regularly (every month) and every age period measure the weight of animals. Knowing the weight of an individual, you can most accurately calculate the required amount of food.

Note: For example, daily requirement in feed for piglets up to 40 days old is 0.5 kg, while for feeding adults 2-3 kg will be needed.

Feeding standards for a boar are significantly higher than for a female, and a pregnant sow eats 1 kg of feed more than a single sow.

As you can see, the amount of feed is a relative concept, since in addition to the recommended costs, there are also individual characteristics animals. Therefore, accurate preliminary calculation of feed is quite a difficult task.

Pig diet

The diet of pigs mostly consists of concentrates, while roughage and succulent feed are consumed by animals in much smaller quantities. These dietary features are due to the fact that pigs have a single-chamber stomach, and therefore it is much more difficult for them to digest fiber.

In traditional wet feeding, the diet includes a wet mash consisting of food waste, cooked vegetables, grass and grain. This type of feeding is more labor intensive and less efficient. Examples of food products for pigs are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Popular feeds for pigs: 1 - porridge, 2 - grain mixtures, 3 - green grass, 4 - silage

When feeding dry foods, various crushed grain mixtures with the addition of vitamin-mineral complexes and cake are used. If pigs eat dry food, they need to be given plenty of water to protect them from gastrointestinal disorders.

Food must be given as much as the pig can eat at one time, since uneaten leftovers cannot be reused. This is especially true for mash, because they sour quickly.

A complete diet should include the required amount of vitamins. In summer they can be obtained from fresh grass, and in winter from silage. A good source of vitamins is also dried nettle and needles.

Bread, feed or brewer's yeast can completely satisfy the need of animals for vitamin B, and all dairy products are an invaluable storehouse of vitamins.

In general, the entire diet can be divided into the following groups:

• Components that provide the body with energy (cereals, corn, fat);
• Products containing proteins - meat and fish meal, beans, peas, skim milk, yeast;
• Juicy feed - potatoes, cabbage, beets, green grass and silage;
• Various food and kitchen waste.

Methods of feeding young animals

The age of the animal, its condition and the purpose of fattening influence the choice of feeding method: ad libitum, rationed or limited. Let's look at them in more detail.

Feeding ad libitum

This feeding of pigs is used when raising very small piglets weaned from the sow. At this age, they grow quickly and gain weight, so there is always unlimited food in their feeder. This type of feeding is the least profitable from an economic point of view due to the high consumption of feed.

Rated feeding

The normalized method involves feeding several times a day. This approach requires some experience as it is necessary to constantly monitor the pig's appetite and determine the next amount of feed based on observations.

For these purposes, you need to know exactly what diet is preferable for pigs in at different ages. In addition, the feeding ration differs in the direction of productivity.

Limited feeding

Restricted feeding is used for pregnant sows and for fattening meat with minimal fat content. It involves replacing succulent feed with roughage, and therefore less nutritious.

Preface: there is a lot of literature on feeding piglets, the information is generally similar, but after reviewing several different sources, I decided to focus on German textbook for farmers (the level of our vocational schools). I liked the brevity and simplicity of the presentation of the material. Nutritional standards and examples of feeding strategies were taken from the article “New recommendations for feeding piglets” by Dr. Wolfgang Sommer. If there is a need to expand on any of the questions outlined in this article, please leave comments or write to info@ soft-agro. com.

This article is about how to properly feed small piglets. There is a separate material.

Goals

Goals for raising piglets:

• case less than 12%
• birth weight more than 1.4 kg
• weaning from a sow at 28 days (4 weeks) weighing more than 8 kg
• daily weight gain from weaning (8 kg) to sale or fattening (30 kg) at 450 g
• age with a weight of 30 kg about 11-12 weeks

Physiology of piglets that determines feeding

The first feed for piglets (prestarter) is offered from 5-7 days of life. The purpose of this is to teach animals to eat compound feed. Prestarter is offered 5-6 times a day in small portions. You can also give piglets peat, silaged corn grain or extruded grain, but be sure to highest quality and hygiene!

Small portions of prestarter can be poured directly onto the floor or into flat feeders. To arouse the curiosity of animals every day, several times at a certain time, you can offer them portions of food in the feeder, and then take the feeder from the nest. The food must be fresh. Bags of prestarter cannot be stored in a room with animals, since the milk components it contains will very quickly become saturated with the smell of a pigsty.

The early start of complementary feeding allows the enzyme system of the body of small piglets to timely switch from milk feeding to plant food, and this greatly facilitates the process of weaning piglets from the sow. And in large nests, starting from the second or third week, sows cannot fully provide piglets with all the necessary nutrients. Feed conversion for small piglets is 1:1, which means that since one piglet eats about 0.5 kg of prestarter before weaning, it must gain 0.5 kg of live weight during this time.

Weaning piglets from the sow

- room temperature

28°C in the nest. Warmth helps piglets cope better with stress during weaning.

- warm water

The piglets are accustomed to the sow's warm milk. Before weaning, little piglets receive about 0.75 liters of fluid per day through milk. And they cannot replenish this liquid, which is suddenly gone, from nipple or cup drinkers. Providing piglets warm water in open containers can replenish the lack of fluid and due to this, feed consumption will also increase. It is necessary to ensure that the drinking cups are clean, as well as the quality of the water.

- habituation to food

The longer piglets go without eating after weaning, the more the small intestinal villi are destroyed and the more prone the animals are to overeating after fasting. Because of this, diarrhea and edema may occur. Therefore, it is necessary to feed the piglets several times a day with small portions of tasty food so that they begin to eat on their own as soon as possible.

- a place near the feeder

The feeder must have enough space for each piglet.

- limited feeding

If from 4 to 10 days after weaning, feed is not given to piglets in abundance, but as much as is allotted for each, you can easily avoid overeating, and therefore avoid diarrhea.

- slow feed change

Each change in diet should be carried out very carefully and gradually, over the course of one week. Especially when transferring animals from prestarter to starter (compound feed for growing piglets). You can leave low lighting at night.

— medicinal (dietary) feed

If animals, despite observing all the above conditions, still begin to experience diarrhea, they need to be fed with more expensive, high-quality dietary feed for piglets.

What feed can be considered dietary:

— high fiber content: dietary feed should contain from 4 to 5% fiber. Crude fiber stimulates intestinal motility and prevents excessive proliferation of pathogenic bacteria in it. The source of fiber is dry beet pulp, bran, etc.

— low protein content: Dietary feed should contain no more than 17% protein. Too much protein increases the buffering of the feed and increases the pH in the stomach. Because of this, the number of pathogenic bacteria increases, protein digestion worsens and diarrhea may occur.

— Easily digestible protein is used: the composition should include raw materials of animal origin, such as fish meal (about 3%) and whey powder (about 5%). Potato protein (about 3%) is also good as a source of easily digestible and highly concentrated protein.

— low mineral content: The calcium content should not exceed 6 g per kg of feed, because minerals also increase the buffering capacity of the feed, i.e. reduce acidity in the stomach.

— feed acids are used: feed acids reduce the pH in the stomach, improve protein digestibility and reduce the risk of diarrhea. Formic acid (about 1%), fumaric and sorbic acids are especially suitable.

— dairy components used: they improve the palatability of the feed and are easy to digest. Powdered skim milk is best.

—other feed additives, such as probiotics (lactic acid bacteria), prebiotics (oligosaccharides), encapsulated acids and phytobiotics (herbal extracts, aromatic oils, etc.) serve to stabilize intestinal health and are usually used in the manufacture of dietary food for piglets in feed mills. (in Europe, the use of feed antibiotics for adding to animal feed is prohibited - trans.)

Nutrient requirements for piglets

*) dietary feed for feeding piglets in case of diarrhea (for a limited time)

**) lysine: met+cis: threonine: tryptophan = 1: 0.53: 0.63: 0.18

***) digestibility in the intestine 90%

****) using phytase

It is necessary to feed piglets so that they receive a sufficient amount of macro- and microelements, as well as vitamins.

The piglets' need for macro- and microelements is presented.

See the vitamin requirements of piglets.

During weaning, piglets continue to be fed prestarter, and then are gradually transferred to compound feed after weaning or to compound feed during growing I.

Diet preparation

Providing amino acids

A pig weighing 15 kg produces the same amount of protein per day as a fattening pig weighing 100 kg. The amino acid composition of the feed is responsible for how high the piglets' weight gain will be. The ratio of lysine to energy should be 0.9:1. In order to provide this high lysine content, while maintaining the maximum crude protein content in the feed at 18% (threat of diarrhea), it is necessary to use a mineral feed with a high percentage of synthetic amino acids.

*if the diet contains more than 20% corn, then there is no need to introduce tryptophan

Providing energy

The optimal energy content in feed for piglets should be about 13.0 MJ (12.5-13.5). Compound feed for piglets must include 1% feed oil. Thanks to this, the energy content increases by 0.25 MJ of metabolizable energy and the feed becomes dust-free.

Switching from feed to feed

Every significant change in the feed ration means a loss in productivity. Therefore, if necessary, the transition from food to food should be carried out smoothly within one week.

Density of animals per feeding place

During the weaning phase, each piglet needs a separate feeding area. During the growing phase, there should be no more than 4 piglets per feeding place. The consequence of a higher stocking density is low weight gain, a large difference in the weight of different animals, and cases of cannibalism.

Examples of ready-made diets for piglets

Examples of ready-made diets for piglets and more information about feeding strategies.

More examples of ready-made diets for piglets are given (scroll down, they come after sow rations).

Please leave questions and suggestions for future articles in the comments below!

I look forward to your feedback and comments. Thank you very much!