Selfsufficientish.com

hi everyone,
anyone know if it's ok for pigs to eat lawn clippings. i emptied the lawnmower into one of the pig paddocks today and they went bonkers over them. it's not like they're short of grub or anything but it was comical watching them running round with big green mouthfuls of grass.

cheers,

paul

I have no idea Paul, but that does sound really funny!

Nev

Gidday

If you were really stuck for a feed you could eat em yourself. No worries.

Jack wrote:Gidday

If you were really stuck for a feed you could eat em yourself. No worries.

the pigs or the lawn clippings ? just got 4 old spots today 2 @ 6weeks and 2 @ 8 and they like em too hope they're not gonna get bellyache wouldn't like to see our boar in a bad mood he's got a mean set off tusks

cheers paul

I could be entirely wrong about this, but I thought grass could only be digested by ruminants - animals with more than one stomach who need to chew the cud. The trick is, AIUI, getting certain bacteria to break down the cellulose in the plant before the animals' own digestion can deal with it. I don't think there is much else in grass.

I guess this doesn't mean that pigs (or you) can't eat the grass, just that it probably won't do a whole load other than maybe give them indigestion.

Or alternatively, it might encourage digestion, as roughage in humans does...

Muddypause wrote:I could be entirely wrong about this, but I thought grass could only be digested by ruminants - animals with more than one stomach who need to chew the cud. The trick is, AIUI, getting certain bacteria to break down the cellulose in the plant before the animals' own digestion can deal with it. I don't think there is much else in grass.

I guess this doesn't mean that pigs (or you) can't eat the grass, just that it probably won't do a whole load other than maybe give them indigestion.

think your right stew but i don't think the pigs know that i once caught one in my garage trying to eat nuts and bolts

Gidday

A pigs gut is the closest thing to a human's that the Good Lord made. You eat salads don't you? So what are salads, just green vegetation.

Why do you never see a surplus of grass where free range pigs are kept, cos they eat it.

I personally wouldn't like to sit down to a feed of lawn clipping, but if I was hungry enough I wouldn't turn my nose up at it.

The biggest trouble with it is there is no protein in it so you will need the slugs to go with it.

I read somewhere - think it might have been John Seymours self sufficiency - that pigs are more omnivorous than humans as pigs can eat grass. - whether cut grass would be a problem I dunno.

Pigs are grazers too and will eat grass including your lawn clippings, but whatever they haven't eaten after a day or two, take out and put in your compost, as it will start heating up. I know that this is a problem with ruminant animals and although pigs aren't i wouldn't want to take the chance of feeding it for any longer than that. Chances are they would ignore them after a couple of days anyway.

Jack wrote:You eat salads don't you? So what are salads, just green vegetation.

I like to think that even my salads are palpably different to grass clippings.

Red remembered right; I just had a look at John Seymour's Complete Book of Self Sufficiency - he seems to know a thing or two:

"It is even more omnivorous than man, because a pig can eat and digest grass while we cannot. A pig will not thrive on grass alone, but it can make a substantial part of its diet."

Doesn't say anything about nuts and bolts, mind.

Uncut grass and lawn clippings are a little different in that the lawn clippings are toxic if not absolutely fresh. Better to make silage from them or put them in the compost.

I agree with autumnleaf. Fresh clippings only! Old clippings are ok for chooks to fossick through, so if they've sat at all, especially where little air moves (like in the grass catcher of a mower), I just chuck them at the chooks to play with. Otherwise, it keeps pigs busy for hours!

Our kunekune pigs eat just about only grass when the grass is growing well; they make fine grazers (as do chooks, turkeys, geese, ducks....).

Cheers
Andrea
NZ