Pig Feeding

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• Pigs must be fed to ensure quality rather than maximum growth rates.
• Pigs must be fed on organically produced feed (60% of home-grown feed can be in-conversion feed).
• Roughage, fresh or dried fodder (grazing) or silage must be added to the daily ration.
• Certain feed materials of animal origin (milk or milk products and fish or fish by-products) and minerals and vitamins (including synthetic vitamins for pigs) can be used.
• Antibiotics, coccidiostatica, medicinal substances, growth promoters and any substances intended to stimulate growth or production must not be used in pig feed;
• Piglets must be suckled at least for 42 days

For pig rearing to be an economical venture special attention should be paid to both quality and quantity of feeds fed. High growth rate and fertility can only be achieved through proper feeding. In pig production, feeds contributes to 60 to 80% of the total rearing cost and it is therefore important to feed recommended quality and quantity for each pig category. Proper troughs are important to minimise feed wastage especially where floor is not cement or where litter is applied on cemented floor..

Pigs are known to eat a wide range of feeds available at farm level including kitchen swill and green farm by-products. However their growth performance will depend on the feed quality. Lower quality feeds will give lower growth performance but could be economically profitable because of the relatively low price and or the availability at the farm. Pigs must be fed the correct quantity of the right feed mixture for the performance they have to deliver. The nutrient requirements, especially digestible energy and protein, of the various production classes differ. These production classes include:

• boars and pregnant sows
• sows with piglets (lactating sows)
• young pigs, three to 10 weeks old
• growing pigs up to slaughter at a live weight of 60 or 110 kg.

Feed sources

The main resources for feeding pigs are cotton seed cake and prairie meal, with gluten feed as a source of protein. Pigs are in competition with humans for maize, their main source of energy. Other energy sources include milled by-products such as the bran from wheat, maize and rice, along with maize grain, wheat grain and semi-refined oil. Limestone is the main local mineral source. Although there is no shortage of animal feed in Kenya, the cost is high and in some areas quality is not the best. Concentrates, for instance, are available but very expensive. The cost of feed has increased by 450 percent in the last three years (KENPFA). The main feeds types manufactured are Pig Creep pellets for piglets, Sow & Weaners for breeders and Pig Finisher for fatteners. Sow & Weaner, which is preferred by most farmers, is produced in the highest volumes by most companies. Challenges facing this area include a poor quality and high cost of ingredients as well as  concentrates; inadequate and hard-to-access mineral supplementation; unavailability of local sources of vitamins, amino acids, macro- and micro-nutrients; frequent drought.

Feed mixtures can either be bought or the farmer can mix them himself. The latter is less expensive but it is important to consult an expert on how to mix the feedstuffs that have to be included in the mixtures for each of the production classes. The various feedstuffs must be weighed off correctly before mixing.
Feed mixtures for each of the pig categories  must contain the right quantities of the following nutrients, namely:

• digestible energy (DE)
• proteins
• minerals
• vitamins.

Pigs are monogastric animals and digest crude fibre to a much lower extend than ruminants do. When feeding green plant material or by-products, it should be preferably young not fibrous feed. In table 1 the energy content (DE) for pigs is given, as well as the protein content and mineral and trace-elements. When no analysis from  farmers own feeds are available, the values from this table can be used to estimate the feeding value of the rations for pigs. One should realize that the chemical composition of feeds can differ because of different growing, harvesting and storage conditions.

Table 1. Dry matter content, chemical composition  and digestible energy (DE) of feeds for pigs

Roughage	DM	CF	CP	Ash	DE	Ca	P	K	Na	Mg	Mn	S	Zn	Cu	Fe	Co	Se	Mo
Acacia, husk	92	26	11	4.1	9	3.8	1.6	12	0.1	1.5	22		18	5	68
African locust bean, pod husks	94	24	4.7	8.9	9
African locust bean, pod pulp	35	15	4.9	4.6	12	13.2	17.6
African locust bean, pods	93	19	14	6.7	11.5
Banana, shoots	15	48	7.7	16.2	2.6	8.1	2.6
Banana, stalks	7	29	5.1	15.4	7.4	7.5	2.9	53.5	0.7	9.2			129	4	310
Banana, trunk	7	24	3.5	11.3	8.8	7	0.9	40.8		3.7
Barley, straw	91	41	3.8	7.1	2.4	4.9	0.8	8.2	0.7	1.1	17		16	17	156
Cassava, foliage fresh	23	18	25	7.4	12.4	11.9	3.7	12.5	0.6	7.3			25	29
Cassava, foliage silage	24	18	24	7.9	12.4	25.1	3.3			8.6			33	31
Cassava, foliage wilted	37	11	26	8.2	15.2	14	3
Cocoa hulls	89	21	18	9.3	3.7	3.7	4.4	26.8	0.2	4.3				39
Cocoa pod husks	91	29	7.7	11.2	7.7	5.7	3.4	50.1	0.1	5.4	95		85	38	1180
Coffee hulls	89	36	9.4	6.5	6.5	4.5	1.4	22.6	0.2	0.9	31		56	18	233
Groundnut hulls	91	64	6.9	5.3	0	2.4	0.7	7	0.1	1.2	42		64	11	186
Leucaena	30	20	23	8.5	11.2	10.7	2.1	18.9	0.2	3.9	65		30	13	261
Luzerne, fresh	20	27	21	11.5	8.7	19.5	2.5	22.4	0.5	2.8	77		44	13	392
Mango, peels	16	8	6.2	2.8	13.8
Rice straw	93	35	4.2	18.1	5.4	2.9	0.9	18	2.7	1.9	454		34	6	335
Sugarcane forage, fresh	23	34	4.1	7	6.7	1.9	1.1	20.4	0.5	1.4	37		225	7
Sunflower, stover	76	48	5.7	8.4	2.7	11.2	0.8			5.4
Wheat, straw	91	42	4.2	6.7	2.3	4.8	0.7	11.1	0.1	1.2	32	1.1	17	3	190			1.3
Grains, seeds, by products	DM	CF	CP	Ash	DE	Ca	P	K	Na	Mg	Mn	S	Zn	Cu	Fe	Co	Se	Mo
Acasia, seeds	93	9	28	4.3	14.6	2.8	4.2	10.7		2.8
African locust bean, seeds	90	9	32	4.4	17.1
Barley, grain	87	5	12	2.6	14.8	0.8	3.9	5.9	0.1	1.3	19	1.2	30	12	184	0.4	0.1	1.1
Brewers grain, fresh	26	17	26	4.2	13	3	5.7	1.6	0.3	2.3	43		83	14	138
Brewers grain, silage	25	16	28	5	13.3
Cassave, peels dry	87	14	5.2	5.8	13.2	4.5	0.8	7.1		1.1
Cassave, tubers peeled, fresh	29	1	2.2	3.8	16	1	0.4
Cassave, tubers, fresh	38	4	2.6	2.8	15.7	1.6	1.2	7.7		1.1
Cotton seed meal, high oil, low fibre	92	11	45	7	13.5	2	12.4	16.6	0.3	6.3	14		66	17
Cowpea, seeds	90	6	25	4.3	14.8	1.1	4.1	14.7	0.1	2.3	21		41	10	525
Fish meal, high protein	92		75	13.6	19.5	26.5	22.3	11.9	10.9	3.1	10		99
Fish meal, low protein	93		48	35.2	16.5	79.3	39.8	11.1	28.4
Fish meal, medium protein	92		71	18.4	18.1	43.4	27.9	8.7	11.3	2.3	16		96	7	367
Maize bran	89	13	12	5.9	11.3	4.8	3.4	7.1	0.8	2.1	18		107	6	64
Mango, pulp	18	7	4.2	3.3	14.1	1.9	1.1	13.3		1.5
Millet grain	91	7	14	3.7	15	0.4	3
Millet hulls/husk	92	46	2.4	9.2	1.1		0.5	3.7	0	0.3
Pawpaw,peels	9	7	9	4.6	13.8
Pumpkin, fruits	8	13	15	7.9	12.4	3.9	2.6
Rice bran	92	28	8.8	13.6	8.8	4.7	7.4	6.3	0.3	2.1	186	1.9	71	10	239		0.2	2.8
Sorgum grain, ground	87	3	11	2.1	15.7	0.3	3.3	4.3	0.2	1.8	12	1.1	24	5	120		0.5	1
Sorgum, bran and milling offal	90	6	12	4.7	15	0.9	4.9	5.6	0.1	2.4	35		40	9	250
Soyabean ,hulls	89	39	13	5.3	9.2	5.5	1.6	13.7	0.1	2.6	25	1.2	48	8	699	0.1	0.2	1.6
Soyabean, cake (expeller)	91	5	49	6.8	18.1	4.6	7.2	21	0.2	3.2	39	1	72	17	129			3.8
Sugarcane molasses	73	0	5.5	14.6	13.3	9.2	0.7	51	2.4	4	74		18	6	173
Sunflower, cake	92	26	28	5.7	12.1	3.9	9.2	11.2	0.1	3.6	35	2.1	53	26	144		0.5	1.8
Sweet potato vines	15	20	13	11.8	7.4	12.4	3.1	14.2	3.7	7	131		45	11
Wheat, bran	87	10	17	5.6	10.8	1.4	11.1	13.7	0.1	4.6	113	2.1	89	14	157		0.5	2.5
Wheat, grain	87	3	13	1.8	15.9	0.7	3.6	4.6	0.1	1.2	40	1.5	31	6	78		0.3	1.3
Wheat, pollard	90	7	15		11.5	1	7

Many commercial pig farmers also grow food crops, the surplus produce or by-products which can be used to feed the pigs. This food source plays an important role in pig feeding, especially in free range and small-scale production systems. Crops and by-products include sweet potato vines, kales, cabbages, Napier grass, sugar cane cuttings, sugar cane tops, garden weeds, mangoes, tomatoes, oranges, avocadoes, peelings and market by-products/ waste. The use of feeds such as cereal residues, cassava and potatoes has been shown to save up to 20 percent on feed costs for growing pigs and 50 percent for breeding pigs.

Grains and by-product

Grain and by-product constitutes between 55 and 70% of the total feed mixture. The grain in a mixture provides mainly energy (between 60 and 80% of the total DE in the mixture) it also contributes substantially (30 to 60%) to the protein content of the mixture.

Grain by-products such as wheat bran, maize bran, maize leaves, maize-stalks and maize-cobs are used to dilute the DE content of the mixture. Brans have a protein content higher than that of grains and are also relatively inexpensive.

Cane molasses

Has been recommended as an additive to improve the palatability of dry rations, and particularly in cane-producing countries, as an addition to concentrate or swill-based rations at levels up to approximately 30 percent. Higher levels have generally not been recommended due to difficulties in handling and mixing; loose faeces associated with diarrhoea; dirtier animals and floor pens, and most importantly, an increasingly inferior feed conversion as higher levels of molasses were used.

Plant protein sources

• Oilcake meals
  Soya-bean oilcake meal and sunflower oilcake meal are plant protein feedstuffs usually included in pig feed mixtures. Soya-bean oilcake is of a higher and better quality protein and contains considerably less fibre than sunflower oilcake.
• Full-fat oilseeds
  Full-fat soya-bean and sunflower seed meals have a high oil content. The oil results in soft fat in pig carcasses. Therefore, the inclusion of these two feedstuffs, if fed in combination with maize, must be limited in rations for finishing pigs.
• Lucerne
  Lucerne is also used. It has a high fibre and low DE content. Therefore, the inclusion of lucerne in feed mixtures for pigs must be limited.

Animal protein sources

• By-products of the animal and fishing industry can be used as animal protein sources for pigs.
• Fishmeal -Fishmeal is the most frequently used and best protein source to include in feed mixtures. It also has a high DE content.
• Blood and carcass meal – Bloodmeal has a very high nutritional value. Do not, however, use more than a maximum of 5% in feed mixtures because it is unpalatable. It becomes burnt easily during processing, which has a detrimental effect on the quality of the proteins. In some countries it is not allowed to feed animal by-products because of risk for human health.

Calcium and phosphorus sources

Feed lime is a good calcium source and is not very expensive, but it contains no phosphate. Monocalcium phosphate, dicalciumphosphate and bonemeal are usually included as sources of phosphate. These sources also contain calcium, but in smaller quantities than feed lime.

Waste products in pig feed mixtures

The utilization of kitchen wastes (swill) from institutions such as hospitals, schools or hotels, and the use of brewery wastes, processing, slaughter wastes and agricultural residues, if used to feed pigs, would help to reduce feed costs and also reduce environmental pollution. Biological  wastes are subject to rapid deterioration and contamination by micro organisms, some of which are extremely pathogenic Waste products must therefore be used with great caution in pig rations. Another danger is that hard objects such as pieces of broken glass, which can injure the pigs, are sometimes found in waste products. On smallholder farms, wet biological waste form kitchens should be fed the same day as they are produced. On larger farms there is a possibility to  ensile it, or heat itl (swill should be boiled for 30 minutes and cooled before feeding.), preferably complete sterilization, biological wastes can be completely decontaminated and safely used as alternative feedstuffs.
These products are usually high in moisture (water) content and therefore have a very low nutritional value when fed in a wet form.

• Use wet biological waste products the same day as they are produced
• Be aware of sharp hard objects in the waste.
• For larger quantities: use waste products in an air-dry form.
• Use a flat cemented area in the sun for drying the waste.
• Remove any undesirable material from the waste when it is spread out on the cemented area.
• After drying, grind the waste in a hammer mill. The milled meal can then be used to replace part of the ingredients when mixing pig rations.

Nutritive value of kitchen waste

Only when large quantities are available it is advisable to have it analysed for protein, fat, fibre, calcium and phosphate content by an analytical laboratory. Thereafter it is important to get the advice of a pig nutritionist on how much of the dried waste meal must be included in a pig ration. The nutritive value of biological waste differs with the materials in it and can be very useful in pig feeding, when precautions are taken for good animal health. 

Nutritional requirements

For good production a pig should be supplied with the nutrients it demands for its production. Nutritional requirements of animals are determined by means of research and summarized in tables, booklets etc. Many countries have manuals of feeding standards. The art/experience of the farmer in the finer adjustments of feed intake to meet the performance of the animal is also important. The ideal body condition for breeding animals (sow and boar) is 3 on a 5 point scale. All sows should be at 3 – 3.5 at the time of farrowing and 2 or more at weaning. Feed allowances should be adjusted to keep animals in the desired body condition. The body condition is assessed by feeling the bones along the backbone, over the ribcage, over the loin and over the pin bones at the base of the tail. Most importance should be given on the results of the backbone and the ribs.

Score               Definition

1 emaciated    Bones clearly visible

2 thin              Bones can be felt without pressure when the palm of the hand is laid flat on the skin

3 ideal             Bones can be felt only with firm pressure when the palm of the hand is laid flat on the skin

4 fat                Bones can be felt went fingertips are pressed into the skin

5 obese            No bones can be felt.

There are a number of essential elements that must be provided through the feed to the pigs. These include fibre, energy, protein, minerals, trace elements and vitamins as Lysine, Methionine and Cystine. The energy in feeds must be quit high to reach high production. With low energy feeds in the ratio the production will,be lower. That will be the case in feeds with higher fibre contents (roughages) and in most by-products. Minerals and vitamins should be supplied sufficiently because of animal health [click here to get to the section on signs of deficiencies chapter Nutrition].  In mixed rations with green forages the requirements will be met.

Pig feed requirement

	Creep	Sow and weaner	Fattener starter	Grower finisher	Lactating Sow feed
DE Mj /kg	14	12.8	13.8	13.4	13.4
% DCP (min)	16	15	14	13	13
CF (max)%	4	6	5	6	8
EE (max)%	7	7	6	7	7
Lys (min)%	1.25	0.6	0.95	0.75	0.6
Methionine+Cystine (min)%	0.7	0.35	0.55	0.45	0.45
Ca (min-max)%	0.8-1.0	0.8- 1.0	0.7-0.85	0.6 – 0.75	0.9 – 1.1
P (min)%	0.75	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.6

Making Rations

A ration is a combination of different feedstuffs (ingredients) indicating how much of each feedstuff has been used and the nutritive value it is contributing. A complete ration therefore contains all the nutrients needed in proper proportions. The quality of a ration will depend on the quality of the feedstuffs used. It must be sure that the ration can be eaten by the pig: it should not exceed the maximum intake capacity. In bulky feeds with low feeding value per kg of feed  this can be a problem.  In feeds with high fibre content, pigs cannot use the protein in the feed efficient because of low digestibility.

Rations for pigs on smallholder farms will contain local products and might change with the season and availability of roughages and by-products. The pigs are integrated in the farm and should not compete with humans in feed-ingredients (for instance grains) and purchased feed must be profitable for the farmer. Analyses of feed are not available and rations are estimated based on average feeding values of feeds (see table 1).

Farmer ration

Own farm rations can help to reduce the cost of feeding the pigs considerably, however feed mixing must be done thoroughly and analysis of samples may become necessary from time to time. Comfrey and Velvet Beans can be used to supplement purchased feed as follows:

• Comfrey 20%
  Velvet bean 20%
  Cereals 60%
  Preconditioning velvet beans
  • Soak the beans in cold water and leave it overnight
  • Clean the beans in clean water the following day
  • Boil the beans for 1 hour
  • Rinse in cold water
  • Dry in the sun
  • Pound in mortar or grinding mill
  • Mix 25% grinded velvet beans with 75% cereal.

Alternatively prepare feed as follows, reducing up to 20% of feed costs:

Commercial pig feed 20%
Grown Fodder/ swill 80%

Other Alternative Feed Resources to Assist to Reduce Feed Cost
 

Pigs are non ruminants, hence cannot extract a lot of nutrients from fibrous materials. Feeds with high cellulose content should thus be minimized in pigs diet. When feeding these alternative feeds, commercially compounded feeds should always form the bulk of the pigs’ ration.

Sweet Potatoes vines and tubers

Vines and tubers are quite palatable to the pigs. These do not require any cooking and can be chopped, sun-dried, and used as an energy source for pigs. The performance of pigs fed on dried sweet potato chips, although inferior to pigs fed on maize, offers an additional and interesting option for feeding pigs in the tropics. Fresh vines can be used to replace 10% of total dry matter, (Mora et al., 1991) found that performance of 6 to 12 kg weaners tended to improve, both from the point of view of average daily gain (186 vs. 202 g/day) and feed conversion (2.80 vs. 2.50).

Lucerne (Alfalfa)
Lucerne is high in protein, minerals trace elements and vitamins. Pigs readily eat it in green form; it can also be dried and ground to be included in the pigs ration. However, due to the amount of cellulose most of it will be wasted in the digestive tract.

Fodder beet and edible canna
Fodder beets are readily eaten by pigs when chopped and do not require any cooking. Both tuber and tops of edible canna can be fed.

Kales
Pigs readily eat them and due not require any cooking

Russian comfrey
Both the tubers and tops are readily eaten by the pigs. The leaves are richer in crude protein than  potato vines. The leaves can be dried and included in pigs ration.

Giant Amaranths (terere)
It is a good source of calcium and iron. The plant is very easy to grow but difficult to eradicate.

Daily Feed Requirements

Fodder crops and swill can replace half of the grain/compounded feeds. About 6 kg of fodder/swill can replace one and half kg of grain/compounded  feeds. For Lucerne due to its high protein content it can be fed to dry sows on alternative days. At no time however should the fodder crops constitute more than 50% of the pigs ration. Even if the farmer intended to replace all is compounded feeds with fodder crops, this is not feasible since a pig will not be able to finish fodder equivalent in kg to daily ration of compounded feeds.

• Dry/pregnant Sows and Gilts:
  Dry sows and gilts give 2.5 kg day of sow and weaner meal
  Give extra 1kg/day one week before serving gilts and sows and one week after service.
  Give lactating sows 2.5 kg/day of sow and weaner meal for maintenance and 0.25 kg/day extra for each piglet being suckled.
• Boars
  Give boars 2.0-2.5 kg/day of pig sow and weaner. If the boar is regularly used give it 2.5 kg.
• Piglets
  Give creep pellets i.e. 0.5 – 1.00 kg/day from day 7 up to weaning time per piglet
  The feed should be mixed with sow and weaner meal the last one week before weaning.
• Feeding of Growing and Finishing pigs
  – Pigs weaned at 7 weeks or older may be switched gradually to sow and weaner diet.
  – For growing or finishing pigs all ration changes should be made gradually. If this is not possible the feeding level of the new diet should be low until the pigs become accustomed to it.
  – Where post-weaning scours are a major problem, restricted feeding during the fist week after weaning may reduce the incidents of scours.
  – For treatment in case of an outbreak of scouring, medication through drinking water is preferable since sick pigs go off feed.

Feeding rates by age and expected weight:

Age (wks)	Weight (kg)	Feed/day (kg)	Feed type
8-10	12-15	0.66	Sow and weaner/starter
10-12	15-20	1.0	Sow and weaner
12-16	20-40	2	“
16-18	40-50	2.5	Finnisher
18-24	50-84	3.0	“
24-28	84-105	3	“

NB: When feeding animals any sudden changes can lead to loss of production. Thus feed changes should be as gradual as possible.

Water requirements

Clean and fresh water should be provided ad lib to all categories of pigs. The amount of water required depends of the ration (dry matter content), production of the animal and the weather conditions. Lactating sows will take 15- 25 litres/day of water depending on litter size. Dry sows and boars will take up to 10 litres/day while pregnant sows will take 12-14 litres/day. Fatteners need 4 to 15 litres/day depending on age.  At higher environmental temperatures, the water requirement increases.

Feeding Methods

The methods of feeding to be recommended will depend on the number of pigs to be fed, the rate of gain desired, the type of pig and the amount of labour available. Feed trough use is recommended because it prevents feed waste.

• Dry feeding. Feeding dry feeds without water added. This is best for pelleted feeds but there is wastage and dusty conditions when the feed is in the form of dry meal or mash.
• Wet Feeding. This is the feeding system where water is sprinkled on the feed to minimize the dust. Strict hygiene should be maintained in this method. Less feed wastage unlike the dry feeding and reduced lung irritation caused by dry dusty feeds.
• Restricted Feeding. In this feeding regime pigs are fed once or twice per day. Feeding twice per day is recommended.