The content of piglets at home is very profitable, but quite troublesome. First of all, you need to develop the right balanced diet for animals. There are several technologies for feeding pigs, which must be known to those who want to achieve good results in this matter.
What you need to know
Fattening piglets for meat at home is made with the following recommendations:
- The stomach in pigs, unlike cattle, is single-chamber. Therefore, the basis of their diet should not be coarse, but concentrated feed. Since there is not so much protein in cereals, animals should be fed with cake, special yeast, legumes, skim milk , skim milk and fishmeal.
- The volume of the prepared portion is determined by how much the grown pigs can eat at a time. The remaining mash in the trough must be thrown out, without waiting for its souring.
- Concentrated feed for these animals is usually given in crushed form. Whole grain of wheat, barley, oats, etc. they are absorbed very poorly.
How to choose a piglet for fattening
When buying, first of all, you should pay attention to the development, breed and health of the animal. Good little pig:
- has a broad back, a long body and strong legs,
- during the run does not suffocate and does not wheeze,
- does not suck, and eats the proposed food with appetite.
How to choose a piglet for fattening in this way is not a particularly difficult question. Next, we consider the actual methods of growing these animals in relation to the diet.
Types of Feeding Technologies
So, the basis of the diet of these farm animals is cereal feed and vegetables. There are only two types of fattening pigs: meat and fatty conditions. In this article, we will examine in detail the features of the first technology. It, in turn, is subdivided into two more varieties: actually meat and bacon. Both of these methods can be used to feed all breeds that breed in our country.
Features of the preparation of the diet in different periods of the life of pigs
The “menu” of pigs largely depends on their age. In this regard, only two growing periods are distinguished:
- Milky . Depending on the age at which the pig was purchased, this period can last from three to four months. At this time, the animal is fed very often (5-6 times a day) and little by little. Until four weeks of age, the basis of the piglet’s diet is cow’s milk. At the end of this period, the animal is transferred to the shot. Cereals are usually given in mixed form. Also in the diet of small pigs include boiled potatoes and carrots.
- Actually fattening. This period begins after the animals have reached a weight of about 20 kg (as a rule, this is about 2.5-3 months old).
Pig meat
This technology is used in our country most often. With its use, pigs can be raised with very tasty tender and juicy meat, with a layer of fat on the ridge of 2.5-4 cm, which is in high demand among the population. Piglets begin to be fed at home using this technology when they reach a weight of 25 kg (at the age of about 3 months). Finish - by 6-8 months. By this time, the weight of pigs reaches about 90-120 kg.
Method Features
Fattening piglets for meat at home by this technology is divided into two main periods. Before reaching a weight of 70 kg, pigs undergo intensive muscle growth. At this time, the lion's share of the diet of animals - in addition to cereals and potatoes - should be feed rich in protein. This can be, for example, peas, green mass of legumes, reverse, fishmeal , etc. After reaching a weight of 70 kg in the diet of pigs, the amount of crushed grain and succulent feeds is increased. In both of these periods, animals must be given 10-35 g of salt per head per day and 5-25 g of chalk.
Bacon Feeding Pigs
This method is a type of meat technology. Its difference is, first of all, that with its use it is possible to raise animals with very high-quality bacon meat, to which high demands have always been made. Using this method, pigs weighing 80-105 kg can be obtained. Apply it mainly only to animals of special bacon precocious breeds. Like the usual meat method, this technology is divided into two main periods. Up to 5.5 months, pigs are fed so that the increase in live weight is about 400 g per day. Next, I develop the menu in such a way that this figure increases to about 600 g.
The diet of piglets for fattening by bacon technology consists of such feeds as barley, vetch, peas and other legumes, millet, as well as various kinds of additives of animal origin. Particular attention is paid to the compilation of the menu in the second period. At that time, such deteriorating properties of feed meat as fish waste, oilcake, soybean, etc., are completely excluded from the pig’s diet.
Simplified scheme
Fattening piglets for meat at home according to the technologies described above allows you to get ultimately a very high-quality product. However, their contents cost, in the case of the development of a special diet, is quite expensive. Therefore, very often the owners of private households feed pigs according to a simplified scheme, choosing one of its two options: dry or wet. In this case, you can also get a fairly high-quality meat.
When choosing wet-feeding technology, the pig’s diet consists mainly of mash mats. They are prepared from boiled potatoes, vegetables, food waste and herbs. Pigs are also given crushed grain. To this, pea flour, vitamin and mineral additives, and cake are mixed with it.
Dry feeding is technologically simpler than wet. Indeed, in this case, you do not have to cook vegetables and carry heavy buckets with mixers. Moreover, it is a quick fattening of piglets and very effective. However, dry technology, in comparison with wet, has some disadvantages. In pigs raised in this way, for example, constipation is more likely to occur. Since they receive food only in dry form, it is necessary to ensure that the animals in the drinkers always have fresh water. When using this method, pigs are mainly given grain mixtures. It costs growing using this technology, of course, more expensive than using the wet method.
Supplements
It is possible to reduce costs when keeping pigs using special mixtures. Fattening piglets on dietary supplements, among other things, can improve the quality of meat. Basically, such preparations are a mixture of various vitamins, as well as macro- and microelements. The amino acids contained in them significantly increase the digestibility of feed.
Frequency of food tabs in the trough
So, now you know how to grow piglets for fattening to get quality meat. Next, let's see how many times a day it is worth filling the troughs of animals with food. Dairy pigs, as mentioned above, are given food 5-6 times a day. Adolescent pigs under 4 months of age are filled three times a day. Later, in the event that the amount of grain in the diet of young animals reaches 1.5 kg per head, they switch to two meals a day. When prevailing in the menu, the mashrooms retain three meals a day.
Maintaining the appetite of pigs
In order for animals to eat better and, accordingly, gain weight faster, feed should be prepared. Typically, such additional measures are taken when fattening pigs for fat. But in some situations, these techniques can come in handy when raising animals for meat. Before feeding, for example, cereals, they are subjected to a malting procedure. It consists in pre-soaking concentrated feed with hot water (85-90 degrees) for about 4 hours. In this case, about 1.5-2 liters of liquid are taken per kilogram of grain.
In the event that the pigs do not eat up the mash, the residues can be poured with pre-prepared oat milk. Pigs improved in this way are much more popular with pigs than usual.
To prepare such milk, one kilogram of oatmeal is poured with boiled, cooled water and mixed. The talker should stand in a warm room for about three hours.
Weight determination
In order to determine the weight gain of a pig over a given period of time, of course, it is easiest to weigh the animal. However, to perform this procedure at home, unfortunately, is not always possible. Therefore, private traders in private households most often determine the weight gain approximately - using measurements of chest circumference and body length. In both cases, use a centimeter tape. When measuring the circumference of the chest, it is placed along a vertical line passing along the posterior corners of the shoulder blades. To know the length of the body is also easy. To do this, the tape is stretched from the middle of the nape along the upper line of the neck, back and sacrum to the root of the tail.
Fattening piglets for meat at home using any of the above technologies allows to achieve good results in the increase in live weight and excellent quality of the final product. Using these methods, large pigs can be raised as soon as possible.