Up to date prices for pig food

[Leo217]

Looked around in the obvious places but can't seem to get any prices.
Can anyone point me in the right direction please. (Weaners to pork weight)

Leo

[oldjerry]

Where are you based Leo ? Prices vary from area to area(abit) and from week to week.Also,depends upon the numbers your'e planning on keeping,indoors outdoors etc,and wether you want to self mix.I can give you some decent upto date info if you can expand a bit! Best Wishes Jerry

[Leo217]

Thanks jerry

Relocating to Somerset shortly i.e. the plan is mid December, but we are in the hands of the legal profession and they can drag things out sometimes...

Haven't had any pigs since '84 so our plan is to just put some pork in the freezer.

Indoors to start with, buildings are good, water & electricity etc.

We did have a look at Mole Valley site, but no prices that we could see.

t.i.a.

L

[John Headstrong]

Stoney has a costing from july last year http://stonehead.wordpress.com/2009/07/ ... hat-piggy/ it should give you an idea of costs

[Leo217]

Thanks John

Useful numbers - even if last years - and we can get a fair idea from them.

Today's figures will no doubt be total rubbish by next week/month anyway, but enough to get a spreadsheet going!

L

[oldjerry]

Leo,loads has changed re pig keeping since 84,you probalby know but check out theDEFRA site anyhow.I always self mix,but your only going to keep the things a few months so the first few weeks will be what the guy whose weaned them has weaned them onto.I vaguely remember Mole Valley from when we were in the SW.I get Oat\Barley \Field bean\mollasses mix from a local farmer whogrows \mixes his own for barley beef.It 's about 14% so it just needs taking up with a bit of soya.Good luck with your move we're currently going through that trauma.

[pigchicks]

Really late in replying to this, sorry!

I have been paying £10 per 25kg bag from a nearby Organic farm - this would be the best situation I reckon - just get a nearby good quality producer to add a few bags on to their regular delivery.

I used the feeding formula found in 'Get Started in Pig Keeping' and got fantastic results with my 3 Gloucester Old Spots:

0.45kg per day for each month of its life from weaning upto 6 months (after six months don't increase!)
This is enough to keep a pig very happy - and remember to reduce the pig feed a little if you are feeding them kitchen scraps!

My pigs reached a perfect slaughter weight in about 5 1/2 months.

Hope this helps!

[oldjerry]

Don't ,repeat,don't,feed your pig kitchen scraps,EVER.It's illegal,and it's stupid.There are lots of ways to economise on pig feed,please ask,but thats not one of them.Best Wishes.

[Green Aura]

I don't have any livestock so my question is purely academic, but can you explain why you can't use kitchen scraps?

If you're sensible and don't give them meat, cooked or rotting - so basically veg scraps - if the pig is purely for your own use what's the problem?

Surely this is how pigs have been fed throughout time and whole populations have survived.

I can understand if you're selling your pigs or pork, of course, but I find it hard to get my head this otherwise.

[boboff]

The answer Green Aura is "red tape"

Jerry is right, as soon as the food enters your kitchen, you can't feed it.

So you can strip your veg outside and give the bits to the pigs, thats ok, you take them in the kitchen and do it and suddenly the same stalks will mean the animals will all develop a madness and sexual desires for Flamingo's which is passed on to Humans.

However I would disagree with Jerry's use of the term "stupid" It certainly is not stupid. John Seymour recommends that you wash your plates in a little water when competely dirty and mix this "first rince" water in with the pig food.

As for Food you can get growers pellets for around £7 a bag, not organic though. This is going up though.

When I kept 3 pigs it costed out at £3.14 a kg killed out weight unorganic, the organic pig I have just kept in a co-operative worked out about £4.50 a kg.

[oldjerry]

Ididn't mean to offend(for once).The 'stupid 'referred to the telling,not the doing.

[boboff]

Sorry, we are agreed, although I just saw a picture of a Flamingo and felt a slight twinge....

[oldjerry]

Personally, I don't do pink....but hey,live and let live!

[boboff]

Personally, I don't do pink....but hey,live and let live!

* Cough, brown man? Cough..... runs and hides,


Sorry,

[pigchicks]

I grew too many potatoes last year and gave quite a few to my 3 pigs - cooked mind you as they digest them easier! Most of our excess veg went to the hens and pigs - definitely a good way of feeding your animals without wasting anything!