The diet of piglets must include plant foods. Vegetable additives (carrots, beets) are popular. In the summer, herbal complementary foods must be introduced. To figure out what kind of grass can and should be given to piglets, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the beneficial qualities of plants. It is important to take into account that there are crops that are poisonous to animals of any age.
What kind of grass can be given to piglets?
The importance of plant foods in the diet of piglets cannot be underestimated. Herbal supplements improve digestion and contain a variety of beneficial substances and vitamins.Fresh grass complementary foods can make up 30-40% of the piglet's diet.
Some of the mowed grass is given fresh to the piglets. The other part is finely chopped and steamed in hot water (2 hours before feeding). The herbal mass is mixed with mashed potatoes and concentrates, and the mixture becomes like a thick soup. This food can be given to piglets from three weeks of age.
In piglets aged 4 to 9 months, the skeletal system is actively formed and muscle tissue grows. It is important to provide animals with adequate nutrition, high in protein. In summer, piglets are often kept on pastures. The green diet is supplemented with kitchen waste, vitamins, and concentrates.
Legumes
Herbal crops contain large amounts of protein, vitamins, and mineral elements (especially phosphorus and calcium). The optimal time for mowing grass is before the flowering phase begins. It is during this period that herbs contain the greatest amount of protein. In plants that are mowed later, the indicators of nutrients and microelements deteriorate. Clover and alfalfa are most often added to food for piglets.
Clover contains 750 kg/ha of digestible protein. The green mass is saturated with flavonoids and carinoids. Clover contains protein, tannin, and other beneficial substances. Mow the grass before the flowering phase, since the amount of protein in the flowering crop decreases. Alfalfa contains 1050 kg/ha of digestible protein, essential amino acids, and minerals. Young grass grown 10-15 cm high is added to the diet of piglets in unlimited quantities. The advantage of alfalfa is its rapid growth after mowing.
Cereals
Among cereal crops, winter rye or wheat are added to food for piglets.It should be taken into account that the nutritional value of feed from cereals is lower than feed from legumes. Juicy shoots of winter crops are used as green complementary food, which are mowed 2-3 weeks after the snow melts. As wheat and rye grow, the feed value of the plants decreases.
Advice! Piglets eat cereal grasses less well than legumes, so their share in the diet may be less.
Cruciferous
From this family of crops, turnips and rapeseed are popular.
Due to its rich composition, green rapeseed is a particularly good complementary food for piglets:
- the culture contains protein, ascorbic acid, carotene;
- A kilogram of food contains 2.6 g of calcium, 0.8 g of phosphorus, 0.3 g of magnesium, 1 g of sulfur, 4.5 g of potassium.
Juicy green rapeseed is easily digested by the digestive system of animals. The winter crop grows intensively after mowing, which is an advantage when providing piglets with complementary food (5-6 months of a complete green supplement in conditions of good field irrigation).
Poisonous herbs for pigs
For normal growth and full development, it is advisable to graze piglets on lawns with fresh grass. In addition to useful plants, meadows can grow crops that animals should not eat. Most often there are several plants.
Veh poisonous
A perennial crop, it grows along the banks of ponds, in marshy, shady places. The peculiar smell is reminiscent of the aroma of parsley. All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the root. Symptoms of poisoning: severe convulsions, breathing and heart problems. Death occurs as a result of respiratory paralysis.
Datura
Common places for growth are outskirts and garbage areas.Animals become poisoned when eating leaves and stems and become fearful and restless. Cardiac activity is disrupted, breathing becomes tense and shallow. In case of severe poisoning, death occurs within 4-6 hours.
Hellebore
A tall plant found in forest, mountain, and floodplain meadows. Main symptoms of severe poisoning:
- nausea, stomach contents are released through the nose;
- salivation;
- convulsive contractions of the muscles of the neck and abdomen.
Animal behavior becomes restless. Convulsions appear, the gait becomes tense. The cause of death was pulmonary edema, causing respiratory arrest.
Buttercup
A perennial plant that grows in wet meadows, forest glades, and on the banks of ponds. Eating greens leads to impaired consciousness of the animal, convulsions, diarrhea, and complete inability to stand. Severe damage to the digestive tract and kidneys causes death within 30 to 60 minutes after the onset of symptoms.
Nightshade
A perennial crop, it often grows among bushes, in wet meadows, and on the banks of ponds. In piglets, nightshade poisoning manifests itself quickly. Symptoms: unsteady gait, dilated pupils, cardiac dysfunction, diarrhea. The consequences of poisoning are degenerative changes in the liver and heart muscle.
Mustard
The weed crop is found in fields, vegetable gardens, and wastelands. Poisoned animals become depressed, muscle cramps appear, appetite decreases, and diarrhea begins. Death occurs very quickly as a result of suffocation from pulmonary edema.
Green feed is considered an important supplement in the diet of piglets. Greens are introduced into food gradually, starting with portions of 100-150 grams. A popular and easy way to diversify your diet is to graze animals on green pastures.When mowing grass, you need to make sure that there are no harmful plants in the treated area.
