Vegetables and fruits do not contain the protein that your pig needs nor do they contain all the other things incorporated into a well-made pig chow that keeps your pig healthy.
Part of this idea of feeding veggies and fruits seems to be based on what we would like to think they eat on their own. Left to fend for themselves they would be eating worms, small animals and even dead animals along with the grass and seeds and nuts that they find.
In this manner they adjust their own protein needs with the roughage and fiber that they know is important to them.
Well, great news folks! That's why we have good pig chows! Many years of development, millions of dollars in research facilities, many years of testing have gone in to what it takes to keep a pig happy and healthy.
There is NO substitute for a well-made pig chow in your pigs diet. This is what the chow was developed for...as a complete diet for the pig!
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| Flower cleaning her bowl. |
When a pig is getting too heavy here, we cut back on his feed, but we NEVER completely cut out the pig chow. That pig chow is and should always be the foremost and most important part of the pigs diet.
There are 8 pigs here that came from a sanctuary that never had anything but a well balanced pig chow for their main diet. Two of those pigs are now 17 and 2 are 16, the others 11 & 12 years of age. While, we do give a few fruits and veggies now when available, they are not necessary to keep them healthy...they are a treat.
Another humorous thought is how long would it take us to cut up enough veggies and fruits to feed ten pigs daily? We would have to start the day even earlier than we do now and even if we felt like digging up a bunch of grub worms to throw in, it still wouldn't be a balanced diet like the pig chow.
While my opinion on using veggies as a food source is a negative thing there isn't any reason that it can't be used for a treat or when it's available and you want to give them a bite.
Our house pigs have seen veggies when we are cleaning them for us, but it is in moderation. What we are saying is that a pig that is on a well-balanced, well made pig chow can live it's whole life without ever having a veggie or fruit an still be a healthy happy animal. With that in mind it would stand to reason that the veggies and fruits should be considered as a treat and not as a food.
We receive lots of e-mail's on what veggies and fruits are good for pigs. Not that you are aware of how we feel about feeding veggies and fruits it will come as no surprise that as far as we can tell, it makes no difference.
Some veggies cause more gas than others like broccoli tends to do. You are the one that has to live in the house with your pig so if that doesn't concern you, then no problem.
Personally we feel that too much gas is not good for the pig so we don't feed it at all. Cucumbers are another one that we stay away from for that reason.
There is much discussion over types of lettuce fed to the pigs. Who cares if one is deemed more nutritious than the other? If our pig is on a good complete pig chow then it really doesn't matter what type lettuce you give them in moderation as a treat.
It is our opinion that we can not second guess all the years of research and testing done by professionals and scientists that go into making a well balanced complete pig chow. They did the work and we reap the benefits. That's as it should be.