What do slaughter pigs eat

The most important part of swine production is in knowing the correct way to feed pigs. Whether browsing through a piglet feeding guide or studying swine management techniques, pigs need a high energy diet that is low in fiber that contains ample protein.

Pigs will consume enormous amounts of food quickly. To raise and maintain a healthy stock, maximize growth and reproduction, and increase production, it is necessary to feed them the right food and a balanced diet from wean to finish. Though pigs will eat just about anything, all kinds of scraps, or leftover food such as bread, other grains, vegetables, and fruits, their growth rates are best maintained when the animals are fed a feed made specifically for pigs.

Here are the general foods to avoid in pig feed:. Foods high in sugars can slow growth rates while milk, meats, and fish can harbor viruses. Pits and seeds of apples, pears, apricots and peaches contain a naturally occurring substance called amygdalin which is a cyanogenic glycoside that is released when chewed causing illness, discomfort, or even death.

Potatoes contain natural toxins called glycoalkaloids, which can cause severe stomach ache or even death though rare , and also contain solanine which destroys red blood cells, causes diarrhea, and heart failure. Formulating a good pig feed will help achieve optimum growth of your stock. Farm grains are the most common and best source of food to feed pigs. Most typically corn-based feeds are used because they are high in digestible carbohydrates, low in fiber, and cost effective.

The feed should be supplemented with other vitamins, proteins, and some antibacterial compounds to their feed to slow the growth of naturally occurring bacteria that may be harmful to the animal or your stock. Piglets, younger pigs that weigh less than 40 pounds, should be introduced to a solid diet through creep feeding while they are still suckling. Watering is done automatically by attaching a double-drinking cup to the bottom of a barrel.

This barrel can be filled once or twice weekly with a garden hose. There is no need for the novice to do his own slaughtering. Your feed dealer can put you in touch with a man who will dress your pigs, smoke the hams, bacon, make sausage, hog's head cheese, liverwurst.

And boy, just wait until you taste your own bacon, ham smoked country style, wonderful, honest-to-goodness all-pork sausage and fresh roast pork! If yours is as good as ours turned out, you'll say you've never tasted any so delicious ever before. With a proper set-up, fattening a pig will return more for the time spent than most any other project. Where can we buy pigs and where is the place to do so? Thank you in advance. We have reserved piglets for Spring, figuring we will decide ultimately how many we want.

Last year we did 2 pigs. We had great success building a paddock out of used pallets. We fed them grain, they rooted, we had local restaurants save scraps and we saved our own. They did great! We slaughtered in Fall and got an amazing amount of meat that tastes amazing. I was shocked as I was reading this article though when it said how much things should cost. Then I saw the age of the article.

I am also with some commenters below, begging for a better, more updated article with better practices on raising pigs. Please Mother Earth! I am surprised at this article. I have come to expect Mother Earth News to have articles that emphasize good farming practices not factory farm practices "Confinement on cement eliminates 'rooting' and racing about. At least flag the article explaining that it is a historical article. I didn't spot the age of the article until I was most of the way through.

I want to raise my own meat so animals have a good life before they end up on my table. I am looking for good practices that benefit the life of the animals I plan to raise, not perpetuate practices that treat animals like pieces of machinery. I am an absolute novice. I was raised in Tx and since have started a family in Az. We are in the process of buying a new home on 2 acres. I am going to start buying a inoculated pig to raise for our consumption. I want my children to understand as I do where and how we get our meat.

I agree with ya'll respect must be shown to our suppliers of life. I plan to start with a pig a year and the graduate to a head of cattle. But we shall see. I look forward to all your advice as I begin this endeavor. Also to look back in 2 years and wonder why it took me so long to get my head squared again. An updated article would be nice. Thank you Walter Jeffries I agree with you. I raise feral cross hogs myself Mr Jeffries, The commercial hog raising system was developed long before John Hendricks adapted it to be used by the small farm.

You should do some research and see what his adaptation begat. I raise hogs and I read this article when it first came out as did several thousand others.

I changed some things as I went along and finally arrived where I am today as I am sure others have in the ensuing years. I no longer raise my animals on concrete floors and I don't restrict them to pens except when needed to administer inoculations etc. Even though my feeders and waterers are automatic I go out to see them every day, twice a day, at what would be feeding time to check on them and to let them see that I am still there. They are feeding me and they deserve that respect. Of course there are industrial farms where my style of raising animals would be laughed at but I need to be able to stand at the mirror and look at myself and say "There stands an honorable man".

This was the start of the whole 'modern' industrial era 'factory farming' which has been so destructive of the environment and of pig genetics. Join us for a much anticipated return to the Lone Star State!

Earlybird ticket discounts are now available online. You'll find tips for slashing heating bills, growing fresh, natural produce at home, and more. Do not switch or confuse which hand is which. Wash your clean hand if it ever gets dirty and do not touch the carcass with your dirty hand.

Make cuts around each leg just above the knee or hock joints. You can begin from the front or back legs depending on how the carcass is positioned hanging or laying down on a clean surface such as a tarp.

Follow the leg to the center of the carcass. Open the skin down the middle of the carcass. Note: If the pig was male, you will need to remove the pizzle penis at this step. Consult step 10 for instructions on this. Once the skin has been opened, work from the legs to the center of the body by cutting between the skin and the fat until all the skin is removed. Some people prefer to loosen the skin around the hind legs and from the belly and then pull the skin off.

This method can be faster, but it increases your chance of pulling the fat off the carcass, which can negatively impact the quality of the meat. If you do not want to keep the head, you do not need to skin it. Once you have the skin removed down to the head, move on to Step 9. Locate the base of the skull and make a cut slightly above the skull that exposes the vertebrae. You can use a saw to sever the backbone or insert your knife between the skull and the first vertebrae to separate the skull from the backbone.

Using your knife takes a little bit of skill and patience. Once the backbone is severed, slowly continue to cut around the head until only the trachea windpipe and esophagus are attached. The trachea feels like a rigid structure with cartilage rings.

This is a large, hard structure where the esophagus and trachea fuse together. This will make the removal of the internal organs much easier.

Lower the carcass so you can reach the point where the back legs meet. Place your knife where the back legs meet slightly off center, and using light pressure, cut the skin open moving towards the navel. If you cut exactly down the center, you chance cutting into the pizzle and contaminating the carcass with urine. That is the pizzle. Once you get close to the navel, carefully pull the pizzle towards you and use your knife to cut behind it to separate it from the body wall.

Continue this cut down to the navel using caution to not cut into the body wall or the pizzle and separate the end of the pizzle from the carcass. Then, using the same technique, move towards the tail separating the pizzle as you go. Once you reach the point between the back legs near the anus, cut the pizzle off the carcass.

The first step in evisceration is called bunging. Stand behind the carcass so the tail is close to you. Use your knife to carefully cut around the anus. You should not be cutting into the muscles of the ham, but right next to them. Once you have loosened the anus, you can grab it to move it side to side to continue cutting the connective tissues holding the bung in place. Next, move to the belly side of the carcass. Starting where the back legs meet and hold your knife parallel to the length of the carcass, using light pressure, score the skin from between the back legs to the sternum.

Then, holding your knife in the same starting position, slowly open the body cavity. Do not stab into the carcass to prevent puncturing the intestines and bladder. Once you have opened a large enough hole to insert your hand, place your hand that is holding the knife inside the carcass so the blade of the knife is outside the carcass at a 90 degree angle and the handle is inside the carcass and pressed against the inside of the body wall.

In one swift motion, open the carcass down to the sternum. It is critical to not remove your hand until you have made the full cut. Opening the carcass with your knife handle inside will prevent you from puncturing any organs and contaminating the carcass.

Stopping before you have reached the sternum and trying to start again drastically increases your changes of contamination. Once you have opened the carcass, use your hands to pull the bung downwards and out of the carcass.

You can use string or a zip tie to close off the anus to prevent fecal contamination. Then working slowly, continue to pull the organs forward and out of the body. You may need to use a knife to cut the ureters or heavy connective tissue. Be careful not to cut the intestines or stomach. When most of the organs are removed, you will see the diaphragm muscle with associated white-colored connective tissue separating the digestive organs from the heart and lungs.

Once you pull the esophagus free, the digestive organs should be easily separated from the carcass. Place the organs into a tote or other container. Next, cut the connective tissue of the diaphragm.

Use your knife to cut the large vein that runs along the backbone. Place your finger into the vein as a handle and cut between the vein and the backbone towards head of the carcass. Then, loosen the connective tissue around the heart to remove the heart, lungs, and trachea together. The abdominal cavity is lined with a large amount of fat known as leaf fat. Use your hand to separate the fat from the muscle using caution to not put your hand under the thin layer of muscle along the belly.

Leaf fat can be used to make lard if desired, otherwise it can be disposed of with the other organs. Take a moment to inspect the organs for any signs of illness or infection. Palpate the lungs for any hard lumps, inspect the liver for signs of parasitic infection small white lines or abscesses, and cut open the heart.

In general, look for anything that looks suspicious. If you want to save the liver, heart, or kidneys, separate them from the rest of the organs. Remove the gallbladder from the liver and pop the kidneys by lightly scoring them and peeling back the thin membrane. Using a knife, cut through the pelvic girdle between the back legs. On a younger carcass, it should easily separate. If you have trouble, you can use a saw. Next, using a saw, split the sternum down the middle so only the backbone is holding the two sides together.

Then, standing facing the inside of the carcass, use a bone saw or reciprocating saw to split the carcass in half down the backbone. If you have used a gambrel to hang the carcass, leave the last inches of skin connected near the shoulders to make sure the gambrel stays balanced.

If you used chains or ropes to hang the back legs independently, you may completely separate the sides. Look over the carcass for any signs of contamination dirt, hair, fecal matter, ingesta from a punctured intestine, etc.

Any contamination should be trimmed off the carcass to reduce chances of food borne illness such as Salmonella, E. Coli or other illnesses.