They can eat it, no problem, but you will want to not feed it to them for at least 6 or even 8 weeks before you butcher them. I read about people in Norway? that fed pigs fish for the whole time until about 2 months before slaughter, then they finished them on corn....YUMMY.

Would the taste of fish or seafood flavour the meat?I read of something similar years ago and have always wondered if the flavour of the fish would carry over into the pork. Sherry

In most states it is against the law to feed slop or left-overs from any commercial business. And feeding anything fishy tasting or smelling will surely taint the meat. I suggest that you get these pigs on a good grower feed and forget the leftovers, lest you be eating something you wish you would not be eating, i.e. disease. I raise pigs and have been for 25 years and I know of what i speak. good luck.

Someone suggesting feed only "grower feed"? My goal would be putting the minimum of grower feed into my pigs possible.

well feeding swine is an EXACT science, and the experts say the better feed for the age, the quicker to market, and I have found this to be true for the past 25 years, so a good grower feed is in order. you do want them to GROW don't you?

Feeding for maximum return is an exact science. It was the same geniuses that come up with these rations that fed spinal cords and brains to ruminants and gave us mad cow so they are not always infallible. Up until about 60 years ago pigs and chickens were both used as garbage recyclers on the farm and can still serve that purpose. If you don't think feed store feed uses garbage try reading the label and in most brands you will find several "waste stream " items in both chicken and hog feeds. Beware: In my neck of the prairie you can easily spend more on a feeder pig and feed than if you just buy a butcher hog ready for slaughter. Check your own prices and calculate what you can afford to spend on feed before you commit. Live weight less 30% to slaughter. Finished live weight times 4 for estimated feed needed for the project. If you do feed garbage your pigs and meat probably can't be sold, but so long as your goal is personal consumption only, it is still a sound option IMO.

i feed my pigs a 16% hog grind and only that . that is 90% corn and a proteen pellet in it. but to each his own! LOL.

We are getting two piglets next week. Our end goal is to get them to slaughter size but I'm not so concerned about rations that I want this to be an exact science. I generally research something better than I have for this before jumping in but DH was raised on a dairy/pig farm so we are not going into the care of these animals blind. Well, I will be but he won't ;) I thought to feed them the proper grain mix (DH is going tomorrow to see what is offered locally) and supplement with table scraps and such. He talked about how they fed the pigs milo and added a protein of some sort. Is corn the gold standard? Would it be fair to assume that they would be somewhere near butcher size in 5-6 months? Our family will be taking portions so it's not like we are expecting to cram 2 hogs into our freezer, LOL. We will be having a local place process them and it was recommended by several experienced people. DH is building the fence (hog panels) and a structure for them to get in out of the weather. This is more about us being able to do it and know what they've been fed and the conditions under which they lived. I suppose if I raised hogs for a living I would want a much better return. Lori

The Government commissioned a study of nutritional value of animal feeds starting back in 1932 (or 1934-not sure on exact year) and every 10 years there after. That original study found that the basic feed was lacking in 32 vitamins and minerals. The study also stated that it was due to the 'Modern' farming techniques of putting on 3 take away 119+ nutrients. Doesn't take a banker to see that account is over drawn! Currently the government mandates 83 vitamin/minerals add to all animal/pet feeds.

There are many companies that manufacture 'natural' or 'organic' feeds and that are well balanced feeds for the different stages of growth. Example--meat poultry requires starter at 24% protein the first 2 weeks then grower at 20% protein until butchering; while egg layers need starter/grower at 20% protein until 10 weeks old then finisher at 15% protein until 15-17 weeks old and layer mix of 16 to 18% protein there after.

It is much safer to use these than waste from restaurants with who knows what cleaning products added.

We have 2 pigs due for slaughter this week. Fed them some hog pellets (grower) but mostly garden scraps, lots of carrots and fallen apples and cooked cracked grain. They seem pretty healthy and happy, not to mention BIG. Can't wait to see how they taste! My goal is to get away from commercial feed all together. I don't feed myself "processed" food so I don't want to feed it to my animals either.

Have you considered free ranging or pasturing your pigs instead of keeping them in pens and feeding them all manufactured, store bought pellets? Pigs are great at rejuvenating pastures and will eat all the scrub growing out there, roots and all, as well as the dirt. They will be fertilizing the pasture at the same time. After a summer of pigs rooting the dirt up and eating everything growing out there, it will be ready to plant vegetables, fertilizer and all. The pigs will be a lot healthier too.

That's exactly what we did runningtrails, we fenced off a large area that will be next year's gardens. The pigs did a great job of rooting up small stumps and grass clods and large rocks. Now all we have to do is rock pick and plant.
and BTW the pig tastes amazing!

We are thinking of doing that this next spring. We have some unused pasture to put them on. We don't particularly want to use it for veggies the following year, but we feel it's being wasted as is, so we are studying pigs to put on it now.

How do you find a good butcher in the area? Most places I have asked just process the already butchered meat to sell to the public.

Do you find people to buy a pig or 1/2 a pig and give you a deposit before you buy the pigs? I think we could manage about four piglets but have no one to buy them yet. I'm going to start asking around at work to see if anyone is interested.

Can they also just be sold directly to a butcher, who will then sell them? What is the easiest and most economical way to do that end?