A properly selected diet is a guarantee of the animal’s excellent well-being and the quality of the resulting product, whether it be meat, milk or wool. Let’s see if it is possible to give raw potatoes to pigs and whether it will harm them.
Potatoes for feeding pigs
Potatoes as food
The most ordinary potato, plain in appearance, contains many useful and valuable minerals, as well as ascorbic acid, vitamin D, nicotinic acid, vitamins K and group B. The presence of a large percentage of solids and starch makes it very nutritious and energy valuable.
To a lesser extent, it contains fiber with ash, and very little fat. The most unique and important chemical that can be found in the tuber is the protein tuberin, which controls the functioning of intracellular proteins.
Pigs willingly eat potatoes, even if they are simply mixed with dry food. And thanks to its effect, any other food is digested and absorbed much better. For example, with the simultaneous use of potatoes and cereals, protein is absorbed by almost 20% better. This leads to the fact that in such animals sebaceous deposits accumulate and form faster.
But, despite all the positive aspects, the percentage of protein in potatoes and vitamins, they are still not enough. Therefore, it is impossible to completely replace fresh green fodder with it. It can serve as an alternative to cereals, only up to 40% of the total amount of feed. The diet of pigs must be balanced and varied as much as possible, with the inclusion of compound feed in it.
In general, potatoes are one of the few foods that boast good digestibility. Give it boiled or steamed. Raw tubers are used as a vitamin supplement to the main feed in small, strictly limited quantities.
Raw tubers are used as a vitamin supplement
In what form is potato useful for a pig?
You can give potatoes in raw, boiled, canned (silo) and steamed form.
The ensiled or canned product retains the maximum amount of nutrients in its composition and is easy to prepare. They take potato tubers, herbs of gourds, hay and root crops (pumpkin, beets, red carrots, etc.), all this is mixed.
Important! The daily portion per head is calculated according to the following formula: 8:100 (8 kilograms of root crops, for every 100 kilograms of live weight of the pig).
You can feed suckling piglets with 0,3 kg at the time of weaning. A medium-sized female consumes up to 4 kilograms of the product per day. Potatoes are calculated completely, both the one that the individual eats raw and cooked. It is important to prevent the entry of rotten and spoiled tubers, which can be harmful to health.
When cooking, you should follow a few useful recommendations:
- Green and spoiled parts, sprouts, all this is removed without fail. Ideally, a complete cut of the peel.
- Before cooking them, rinse thoroughly under running water, wash off all dirt.
- The water in which the potatoes were boiled is poured out immediately after the end of cooking. All harmful substances, including solanine, settle in it.
- Cool down the food before serving. Animals do not distinguish between hot things and can easily get burned.
Peculiarity! Cooked food is not allowed. At one time, a certain amount of freshly boiled potatoes. Otherwise, it quickly sours and deteriorates. In most cases, animals get severe poisoning.
Proper feeding
The inclusion of potatoes has several important features that you need to know so as not to harm your wards and not spoil the final product, this is meat and lard. Excessive consumption of raw root crops spoils the quality of meat, it acquires a loose structure and almost completely loses its taste. Wheat bran, corn and buckwheat have the same effect. Therefore, in no case should you make it the main dish and serve it better in a thermally processed form.
Excessive consumption of raw root vegetables spoils the quality of meat
Pay attention to the appearance of the tubers. The green tuber speaks of its immaturity and solanine content. Green spots on them also indicate the presence of solanine, a strong and dangerous alkaloid. Such potatoes are also very harmful to humans and are often disposed of as food waste, thus getting to pigs. It is worth remembering that green potatoes should not be given to animals in any form.
Peculiarity! If the pig still eats a bad tuber, then she has an upset stomach. For small piglets, such an omission on the part of the owners can result in death.
Before use, potatoes are carefully examined, and some places (sprouts and under the skin) are completely removed. For young animals, the best solution would be to exclude raw and eat only boiled potatoes.
The boiled root crop is introduced to piglets, already starting from the age of three weeks, due to its calorie content and digestibility. It is also given to females to improve metabolic processes and productivity.
Nutritional value of potatoes
Potatoes are an important carbohydrate feed. It contains up to 20% starch, a lot of protein, sugar and mineral components. A little fat and fiber, which is quite difficult for pigs to digest. Half of all proteins are non-protein nitrogenous compounds.
It is low in beta-carotene, thiamine, riboflavin and ascorbic acid. The nutritional value of potatoes is 0,3 feed units and 12 grams of digestible protein in one kilogram of feed. These are averages and may vary by potato variety.
Product value
The average calorie content per 100 grams of product is about 80 kcal. The presence of solids makes absorption and entry into the body fast and efficient. However, it is impossible to overfeed it, otherwise fat will grow, but growth will be stunted.
Based on the above, it is possible to unambiguously answer the question posed. It is possible, and sometimes necessary, to feed raw potatoes to pigs, always observing precautionary measures.
The potatoes must be of good quality. It is strictly forbidden to use rotten, green and sprouted potatoes. There is a possibility of developing various abnormalities and diseases on a bacterial and viral basis. As well as transferring them to a person by eating bad meat. Most importantly, a bad, non-edible tuber for humans is also not suitable for a pig.
It is important to handle root crops very carefully. In the presence of sprouts and green areas, all this is cut off. It is impossible to give a similar product already in its raw form, the best option is good cooking. It is also steamed for 10-15 minutes with boiling water. With this treatment, it is possible to achieve a minimum content of toxic substances and pathogenic microflora. The peel in this case is also subjected to heat treatment.
It is strictly contraindicated to feed small, fragile piglets with a raw product. They have not yet fully formed the digestive system and a rather vulnerable immune system, so they react much more strongly to harmful substances and microorganisms. It is advisable to introduce the fetuses at the time of weaning them from the mother, it will give them the necessary calories and will not burden digestion.
The best and safest option is silage potatoes. It will not be superfluous to add swede or beets. Thus, the risk of indigestion is minimized, and the concentration of vitamins in the diet is increased. In any case, potatoes will be an excellent supplement to the daily diet of pigs, providing them with additional nutrients and energy for growth and development.
