General basic feeding information

Basic nutrition information, show pig, sow, and boar feeding advice
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abelkrista
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General basic feeding information

Post by abelkrista » Thu May 03, 2018 8:26 am

Last year I swear I came upon multiple threads that discussed or just gave general feeding principles. I have looked here and in the Purina section and can't find them.
Information around conversion of pounds of gain VS pounds of feed and how it changes as they get older. I also remember a thread vagually that talked about stages around what weight the pigs were at and what types of feed to be using. I think this may have been a KGB thread?
2nd year of doing pigs and would really like to review some just general guidelines again to refresh my brain.

Jdelgado
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Re: General basic feeding information

Post by Jdelgado » Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:12 pm

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Mary-Okie
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Re: General basic feeding information

Post by Mary-Okie » Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:31 am

If you are using a branded showpig feed, each company has a nice website that gets into how to feed their products. I would recommend checking out their sites. Lindner has some awesome videos where their pig feed specialist talk about how to feed different types of pigs. Showtec has some as well. Purina and Sunglo have really good sites as well. One thing I've learned over the many years of feeding showpigs, keep it simple. The more crap you try to include in a growing pig's diet, the more inconsistent they will be when it comes to feed intake and growth. Typically, 3 lbs of feed for 1 lb of weight gain. This can vary by breed vs cross and gilt vs barrow. We have barrows that can convert 2 1/2 lbs of feed to 1 lb of gain and then have some that are 3 1/2 to 1. So getting weights on your pigs every 2 weeks or so will help determine ADG.

We don't start adding supplements and other additives to the diet til around 3 to 4 weeks before the final show. We will use some gut additives to ones that are being jackpotted, but adding a bunch of stuff when they are small is a receipt for inconsistent growth and development. Not saying that it doesn't work, just saying you will see a lot of inconsistent results and a lot of wasted money.

Just my 2 cents!
Colby Ferguson
Mary-Okie Farm
cferg615@outlook.com

“Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.” Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant

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