How to feed little piglets?

Despite the fact that adult pigs are not whimsical in care, piglets still need to be given a lot of attention. They grow strong, healthy and productive only if they are provided with optimal conditions from birth. So what should you feed little piglets?

Little pigs

Raising piglets at home

As already noted, certain conditions are required for raising pig offspring. Among them, the most important are:

  1. Well planned space.
  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 due to the fact that diverse animals react differently to various stresses, illnesses, and require individual care. Accordingly, serving 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:

Suction stage

Suction stage

  1. Suction stage. Lasts about a month. During this time, piglets eat only mother’s milk and do not experience any other food.
  2. Weaning stage. It begins about a week before the mother limits custody of the offspring to exclusively feeding. At this time, there is a gradual transition to other types of food.
  3. feeding stage. Mother’s milk is completely excluded from the diet, and one of the types of full-fledged balanced feeding is used as a replacement.

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

Diet (meat, bacon fattening)

It should be remembered that too abrupt transfer of the animal to a new diet can cause him various digestive problems. Therefore, the transition should be carried out gradually, within 2 weeks. During this time, the amount of selected feed is also increased gradually.

As for the correct diet, it must be selected based on the purpose of keeping pigs. So, in accordance with this paragraph, all fattening options can be grouped into three categories:

  1. greasy. The diet is planned in such a way that the animal quickly gains a high-quality fat layer.
  2. Bacon. With this type of feeding, a special type of pork with layers appears. Of course, this way 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 to obtain the maximum amount of meat with an almost complete absence of fat.

The last two types are most in demand in private farms. What is each of them?

bacon

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

Landrace piglets

Landrace piglets

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 built in such a way that the daily gain from the initial figure of 370-500 g increased to 700-750 g by the end of fattening.

To this end, 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 paid to providing the body of the gilt with all the minerals and vitamins necessary for growth. Be sure to provide plenty of protein. In summer it is given as food with green grass of legumes, in winter with hay of legumes. To supplement the protein composition of legumes, cereals, cake, meal are often added to them.

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

Mandatory at the first stage of bacon feeding are also products of animal origin. Their percentage in the total diet is at least 7%. The most popular among them is whey or reverse. For a day, it is desirable that the mass of such products is at least 1,3 kg. This will greatly enhance growth. Minerals that are added to food with ash, chalk, bone meal and salt will help to supplement all of the above components. One common feed unit in this case is 970 g.

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

It's time to introduce peas

It’s time to introduce peas

In large quantities at this stage, barley, peas and millet are introduced into food. All these products, to a greater or lesser extent, are able to equalize the taste of a meat and lard product. An approximate mixture of such feed 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, it should be protected from excessive physical activity. It is best to limit it to a short walk outside.

All listed feeds must be carefully prepared before serving. Cereals are ground and diluted with warm water, root crops are washed and crushed, green fodder is also crushed, potatoes and fish waste are boiled. All components are mixed and only then ready for use. At the same time, the components should be constantly changed, otherwise the growth will quickly stop.

Meat

For meat fattening, gilts are selected at the age of three months with a weight of 25 to 30 kg. The diet in this case is built in such a way that no more than 4 feed units are consumed per kilogram of growth. This will ensure not only the tenderness of the meat, but also the minimum layer (up to 3 cm) of fat.

This fattening provides approximately the following composition:

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

In the summer, part of this composition is replaced by green grass from pastures.

Fry on the green grass

Fry on the green grass

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

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

The basis of meat fattening should still remain juicy and green food. In winter, sugar beets are optimal, the rate of which rises from 1,5 to 6 kg during the growth of the pig. It can also be replaced with potatoes, which are fed in volumes from 1,5 kg at the beginning to 2,5 kg by the end of fattening.

In the summer, most of the succulent feed is replaced with fresh legumes. Also, for the balance of 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. It also promotes growth.

In the last months of feeding, the amount of succulent feed is increased to 10-15 kg. To improve the quality of meat, oats, cake, fish, meat meal, bard, and soy are removed from the diet. They also increase the amount of dairy waste.

Feeding is carried out 2 times a day, at a strictly allotted time for this. Feed is thoroughly mixed and moistened with water.

Supplements

When feeding small piglets, various additives are also of great importance. The most useful among them are premixes and bioadditives. Premixes are vitamin, mineral and vitamin-mineral complexes, which are aimed at increasing the absorption of nutrients from food, as well as accelerating the growth of the animal. The composition may also include antibiotics, amino acids, enzymes, hormones.

Protein-mineral vitamin supplements

Protein-mineral vitamin supplements

Among bioadditives, the most popular are bmvd – protein-mineral vitamin supplements. The composition of such a substance includes vitamins of groups A, B, D, K and E, as well as a number of mineral components and amino acids. In the complex, the additive increases the immunity of gilts, enhances the absorption of nutrients from food, blood clotting, strengthens the skeleton, and normalizes digestion. The standard rate 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 glutenic acids are used. They replenish the reserves of vitamins in the body. The substance is added throughout the entire feeding period until slaughter at the 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 necessarily contain cereals.

Helpful tips for fattening

In addition to the general rules for fattening piglets, one should also take into account the peculiarities of feeding young animals at each specific age. This will not only allow the animal to more smoothly rebuild on the chosen course, but also provide him with good health, a stable appetite and a rapid increase in live weight.

One month old piglets

Piglets at the age of one month are just beginning to adapt to the feeds more familiar to adult pigs. Adapts to them and their digestive system. But at the age of one month, hydrochloric acid is still practically not released in it. 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, the abrupt weaning of a piglet from its mother and her milk is stressful for the young. It can be accompanied by loss of appetite and sudden weight loss. As a replacement, at first it is necessary to supplement dry food with cow’s milk in the amount of 1-1,5 liters per day per individual. You can replace milk with whey or reverse, but in this case, the rate increases by 2 times.

During this period of development of gilts, you should not drastically change the diet. Dry food, which 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 pastured. But here, too, they should be accustomed to the grass gradually. First, give small portions of green bait, and then let them go outside for a short time with a gradual increase in walking to a value of 1-2 hours 3 times a day by the end of the second month.

Beets and carrots

Beets and carrots

In winter, it is necessary to include beets, boiled potatoes and carrots in the diet. Also, the food should 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 4-35 kg up to 50 months. Dairy remains the basis of nutrition. For 2 months, at least 2500 liters of milk will be needed per head. But it is already increasingly supplemented with compound feed, concentrated and juicy feed.

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

  1. Concentrated feed – 1 kg.
  2. Chopped boiled potatoes – 1-1,5 kg.
  3. Juicy root crops – 1,5 kg.
  4. Hay flour – 0,3 kg.

In the summer, the grass should be at least 2,5 kg per day per individual. The specified composition is mixed, crushed and given several times a day in small portions.

4 month old piglets

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

Piglets eat wet thick mash

Piglets eat wet thick mash

This mixture includes concentrates, root crops, salt, chalk, legumes, whey. You can supplement the composition with bioadditives or a premix. All components are very carefully crushed, mixed and filled with a small amount of 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 corral for meals and accustom young animals to it. Thus, gilts will be constantly clean, which will affect their health and well-being.

Conclusion

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

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author-editor

View all posts by Anna Evans →