Pig farming is a profitable business that provides good profits. Beginning farmers often wonder what to feed their own livestock so that the animals quickly gain weight and have a balanced diet. Is it possible to give corn to small and grown piglets? This is often asked by people who have recently decided to start a private farm or their own farm.
Can piglets be given corn?
In order for animals to grow quickly and to produce high-quality meat with an optimal fat ratio, a varied, balanced diet is necessary. Corn is a grain that gives animals energy and allows them to quickly gain weight. Therefore, you can feed small piglets, sows and animals during the fattening period with cereal.
It contains a small amount of protein, so the diet should contain no more than 50% of it, the rest will be protein feed, then the animals will quickly gain weight and develop properly.
Benefits and harms of the product
For fattening, grain, cobs and extruded corn are used. The latter option is optimal for babies; the amount of grain in their food should be no more than 30%. Extrusion is the grinding of whole grains, the resulting protein-rich cereal is given to piglets as part of feed mixtures. Corn is beneficial to animals because:
- provides them with a large amount of carbohydrates;
- allows you to quickly gain weight;
- in combination with protein-rich foods (peas, skim milk, curdled milk), provides balanced nutrition.
Disadvantages appear if there is insufficient protein in the feed or the proportion of corn exceeds 50% of the daily ration:
- piglets suffer from a lack of magnesium, calcium, and essential amino acids;
- piglets quickly get fat;
- lard loses density and quickly deteriorates (tendency to rancidity).
The presence of vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, potatoes), greens (nettle, heather), and dairy products (yogurt, skim milk, whole milk) in the diet eliminates the problem. Bone meal, cake, and feed yeast serve as a source of vitamins and minerals. If fishmeal is given to piglets, it should be stopped 2 months before slaughter, otherwise the meat will have an unpleasant odor and taste.
How to give correctly
The pigs are given shit from corn grains, from the grains ground together with the cobs, the grain is silaged. They monitor the quality of the feed; it should not be moldy or bitter; the grains should not be ground to a powdery state.
In season, they provide fresh corn of milky ripeness. The dirt is mixed with table waste or dairy products. Dry and whole grains are not fed so as not to disturb the digestion of piglets. Grain can make up 30-40% of the daily diet of animals. 2 months before slaughter, cereals are completely excluded from the pigs’ diet in order to improve the commercial quality of lard and meat.
How to distinguish feed corn from food corn?
For animals, feed varieties are preferable. The cobs of this corn are longer, the grains are dense, hard, and rich yellow in color. The food variety has short, thick ears, the grains in them are pale, and the cereal tastes juicier and sweeter.
Corn grows quickly and produces good yields. It is beneficial to use when fattening livestock. This cereal is included in feed mixtures for almost all farm animals, not only piglets and pigs.
