A good pig is purchased. A champion pig is made. Once you understand that, you’re ready to begin properly raising your pig. It begins with swine nutrition.

Whether you’re raising pigs for show or profit, nutrition is key. Especially for the former. Show pigs will be judged on their appearance, and they must meet certain weight requirements.

To succeed, you need to form a plan to hit the target weight. Physical activity, managing heat stress, and ensuring comfortability are all important in keeping your pig healthy. But just like with humans, nutrition and diet is the key pillar.

Your Feed Supplier Can Help You Immensely

Consult your feed supplier to determine the required rate of gain to meet optimum show weight. Water is the most important nutrient for a pig. After that, it’s protein.

Whatever you feed your pig, be certain it contains quality ingredients. Reading the labels is non-negotiable. If you’re seeing normal words like “ground corn” or “soybean meal”, it’s likely a good buy. If every other ingredient ends with the word “product”, look elsewhere.

High quality blends will get you the best results, and they are worth the extra cost.

The younger the pig, the more protein it needs. For example, a newly weaned pig needs a 20% protein diet.

Pay attention to the growth of your pig. If it’s becoming big early for the show, you’ll want to utilize a holding diet to slow the rate of growth.

Sow Nutrition for Pregnant Sows

Keeping a sow properly fed may be a tricky balance. You don’t want it to be too thin or too fat or it can effect both health and cycling. If a sow is too thin, she might not cycle, throwing off the breeding and farrowing process.

Once the sow is pregnant, you’ll want to limit feeding to keep her from getting too fat during pregnancy.

Ascertain she’s getting enough minerals as well. Low dietary calcium or phosphorus may cause osteoporosis which can be a real threat to a sow.

As for the sow’s piglets, they’ll feed from their mother initially. However, experienced swine breeders will may start week old piglets on a pre-starter feed to get them used to eating real food. Typically these pigs are started with very small amounts such as a handful or two per day. This practice will assist in weaning them off their mothers faster and keep the process moving so the sow can be bred back earlier.

Need More?

For more in-depth information on swine nutrition, check out Chapter 7 of my book Doc Sander’s Goes Whole Hog, available now!