Choice feeding - whole grain diets for pigs and chickens

Over the past few years we have been developing a system of feeding chickens and pigs which efficient and applicable for farmers without access to commercial mixed feeds. The system is based on a choice feeding ration which allows the animals to select the foods which best suit their requirements. In advanced commercial systems, animal diets are predicted for each stage of growth and feed mixes vary according to predicted needs. Our system allows small-scale farmers to replicate this without the need for grinding or mixing equipment.

As the majority of livestock feed for pigs and chickens in this part of the world consists of maize and soya bean, which are two crops which can be grown under rain fed conditions, these two crops constitute the bulk of the diet.

Soya beans are roasted in a half metal drum under a fire to eliminate the soya beans natural insect repellant - trypsin inhibitors. The heating de-natures this compound and allows the animals to consume large amounts of soya without adverse effects.

Roasted soya beans.

The maize and roasted soya beans are soaked for 8 hrs before feeding to young pigs. (Not required for older animals.)

A fuel efficient soya bean roaster made with mud bricks and a half metal drum. Batches of 10-15kg are roasted at a time. Roasting takes approx. 15minutes.

 

Care must be taken when roasting the beans. Eating the beans is the best way to test if they are satisfactory for consumption by livestock. The 'beany' taste associated with raw soya should be completely gone and they should taste more like roasted peanuts.

 

 

In order to balance the dietary needs of the animals, limestone, di-calcium phosphate, salt and for the early stages of growth fishmeal, are mixed in appropriate ratios and given separately in the case of layer birds and mixed with the soya beans just before feeding in the case of pigs and broilers.



 

However, for small chicks maize and roasted soya are milled to a coarse grain in a hammer mill with the sieve removed. A starter mix is made and maize is given to the birds in order to supply them with an option for high protein and high carbohydrate. Layers are given whole grain diets after around 3 months.

All the farm animals are fed grain at 16hrs daily, only once. This is done to allow the digestive system to rest for a period. This is said to promote a healthy digestive system.

For both pigs and chickens are allowed the 'free choice' feeding and continuously monitored for their intake of hi-carb and hi-protein. The feed is adjusted according to demand by looking at the appetite of the animals for both feeds within a 2 hour period. ie. if they finish the maize quickly, more maize is given on the following day. If the roasted soya is consumed more quickly this suggests the animals need more protein.

We are very happy with the results of this type of feeding as it allows us to match the dietary requirements of the animals with minimum cost for labour/transport/milling and mixing.

New Pig System!

In an effort to make our pig management more efficient we have made some changes to the way we integrate the pigs into our production system. Have a look at these photos and see what you think!

We made these movable cages to make 'pig tractors'. We put up to 12 weaners in a 2m by 4m cage which gets moved once a day. Once they get to about 40kg, we reduce the number to 8 pigs per cage. Water is provided with a 20lt bucket and re-filled once or twice daily depending on consumption. A nipple drinker is welded to the frame and joined to the bucket with a 20mm pipe. 

The pigs work very well under the bananas where they enjoy the shade, weed the bananas and add valuable manure and urine as a fertilizer.

 

The cages are moved once or twice daily depending on the size of the pigs. We usually move them in the morning and before feeding time at 1600hrs.

                                                                                 

Notice the trolley in the foreground, this helps us to drag the cage without too much effort. We are aiming at moving the pigs through the bananas once every six months or so to allow the land to rest.

 

 

Once the pigs are about one month from marketing age, we allow them to run around in the pasture.

Livestock

Livestock are an integral part of our farming system. We currently raise chickens for meat, geese for meat, chickens for egg production and more recently, pigs. All stock are kept on free range in order for them to contribute to the ‘whole system’ and of course to provide the animals with a high standard of living. We also find that giving animals free range and the chance to behave naturally drastically reduces diseases commonly found in conventional exploitative animal production systems.  This reduces our production costs. All of our housing for livestock is moveable, this also helps us to reduce disease build up. With livestock, as with crop production, the emphasis is on prevention. Good husbandry and continual observation are key. Raising happy/healthy animals is really a pleasure.

Free Range Pigs

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Our recent addition to the livestock section has been the introduction of a free-range pig production system to complement the dry-land production system. The Pigs are given constant access to pasture and help to cycle nutrients back to the fields for next years’ crop. We bought a pregnant Berkshire sow from Kafue Fisheries, a neighboring farm. The litter is half Berkshire half Landrace. Feeding is kept simple and the pigs are feed with organic maize on the cob and organic roasted soya beans with some mineral supplements. They are given a choice feeding ration like all the other stock on the farm so we can take advantage of the natural ability of the pig to find some of its own food from range.

Free Range Chicken/ banana system

Free range hybrid chickens raised from day old a given free range under the conopy of bananas. The chickens provide manure and weed control for the bananas and the bananas provide shelter from flying predators and the sun, and the insects in the banana residues and in the soil, as well as weeds, provide extra food for the chickens.