Pig Feed

[AlexisKouklas]

Hi all. New to the forum, been reading as many posts as I could. Great forum by the way!

I have a question regarding pig feeds in Thailand. I would like to know how much starter feeds cost per 25kg bag as well as what rations yield which conversions (FCR's- Feed Conversion Ratio's), and which areas in Thailand produce the largest amounts of piglets (weaner units)

Thx

[fruity]

Hi all. New to the forum, been reading as many posts as I could. Great forum by the way!

I have a question regarding pig feeds in Thailand. I would like to know how much starter feeds cost per 25kg bag as well as what rations yield which conversions (FCR's- Feed Conversion Ratio's), and which areas in Thailand produce the largest amounts of piglets (weaner units)

Thx

All pig feed comes in 30kg bags. Starter rations @620-650 baht bag depending on manufacturer (due for a price hike anytime) FCR's are more dependant on quality,breed & health of the piglets than on the feed, so impossible to quote. No idea which area would be considered the largest producer?

[AlexisKouklas]

Thanks for the reply. What are the better feeds converting around? What should I be paying for top end starter and weaner feeds?

[lannarebirth]

Rather than start a new thread, I have a pig feed related question. My pig, which is huge, gets a feed of commercial feed, rice bran and banana plant trunks. The banana plants are free, the rice bran cheap, but the commercial feed is up to 350 baht per sack. She goes through a sack every couple of weeks. Any other ingredients I might add to her daily swill that might be cheaper, yet maintain her nutrition, weight and good health? Thanks.

[AlexisKouklas]

Well lannarebirth, from the sound of things it seems you only have one pig (a sow) to worry about. From what I've learnt, you can't maintain a healthy pig, good nutrition AND weight from feeding her low cost raw materials. Your pig feed should contain all the nutrient the sow needs. Now, what you want is to cut cost and still get the same performance.. if you discover this, I suggest you keep it to yourself, start a feed company and make millions! All jokes aside, basically you can maintain a healthy pig by keeping it disease free (keep the unit clean!) and toxin free (toxins in the food can cause all sorts of probelms AND lots of shit- I suggest 1st grade food stuffs).. Sorry about the bad news if a cheap quick solution is what you've been looking for.

[ozzydom]

Thanks for the reply. What are the better feeds converting around? What should I be paying for top end starter and weaner feeds?

Perhaps as a comparison and interchange of information you could inform the forum of pork prices,food costs FCR,s etc in SA.

[lannarebirth]

Well lannarebirth, from the sound of things it seems you only have one pig (a sow) to worry about. From what I've learnt, you can't maintain a healthy pig, good nutrition AND weight from feeding her low cost raw materials. Your pig feed should contain all the nutrient the sow needs. Now, what you want is to cut cost and still get the same performance.. if you discover this, I suggest you keep it to yourself, start a feed company and make millions! All jokes aside, basically you can maintain a healthy pig by keeping it disease free (keep the unit clean!) and toxin free (toxins in the food can cause all sorts of probelms AND lots of shit- I suggest 1st grade food stuffs).. Sorry about the bad news if a cheap quick solution is what you've been looking for.

Yes, just one pig. Not for butchering, she's a pet. I should have mentioned she gets a lot of fruits and vegetables as well, which are basically free. I just wanted to know if I could cut out the commercial food. It may not even be as good as what we're giving her already, but I buy it anyway. Sure, clean pen and frequent walks in the forest. She's in pretty good shape. Thanks for your input.

[fruity]

Well lannarebirth, from the sound of things it seems you only have one pig (a sow) to worry about. From what I've learnt, you can't maintain a healthy pig, good nutrition AND weight from feeding her low cost raw materials. Your pig feed should contain all the nutrient the sow needs. Now, what you want is to cut cost and still get the same performance.. if you discover this, I suggest you keep it to yourself, start a feed company and make millions! All jokes aside, basically you can maintain a healthy pig by keeping it disease free (keep the unit clean!) and toxin free (toxins in the food can cause all sorts of probelms AND lots of shit- I suggest 1st grade food stuffs).. Sorry about the bad news if a cheap quick solution is what you've been looking for.

Yes, just one pig. Not for butchering, she's a pet. I should have mentioned she gets a lot of fruits and vegetables as well, which are basically free. I just wanted to know if I could cut out the commercial food. It may not even be as good as what we're giving her already, but I buy it anyway. Sure, clean pen and frequent walks in the forest. She's in pretty good shape. Thanks for your input.

She sounds like a lucky pig:).....The best health indicator are the droppings, if they are ok, then your pig will generally be ok. If anything, the diet you describe is a little over bulky, too much fibre, however, as long as shes doing ok on it, why bother to change. One bag of feed a fortnight isn't so bad. I only wish.......lol....

Likewise, I give our pigs fresh fruit & veggies, lots of bananas & tree stumps when available; just a word of warning about 'bought fruit & veg' if you feed to pigs, always wash it first, in 99% of bought in stuff it has been heavily sprayed with insecticides, which are harmful to the pigs.

Always keep your pigs wormed, something often overloked;if neglected, lots of that food going down the hatch is of no benefit to the pigs. False economy if neglected.

[lannarebirth]

Well lannarebirth, from the sound of things it seems you only have one pig (a sow) to worry about. From what I've learnt, you can't maintain a healthy pig, good nutrition AND weight from feeding her low cost raw materials. Your pig feed should contain all the nutrient the sow needs. Now, what you want is to cut cost and still get the same performance.. if you discover this, I suggest you keep it to yourself, start a feed company and make millions! All jokes aside, basically you can maintain a healthy pig by keeping it disease free (keep the unit clean!) and toxin free (toxins in the food can cause all sorts of probelms AND lots of shit- I suggest 1st grade food stuffs).. Sorry about the bad news if a cheap quick solution is what you've been looking for.

Yes, just one pig. Not for butchering, she's a pet. I should have mentioned she gets a lot of fruits and vegetables as well, which are basically free. I just wanted to know if I could cut out the commercial food. It may not even be as good as what we're giving her already, but I buy it anyway. Sure, clean pen and frequent walks in the forest. She's in pretty good shape. Thanks for your input.

She sounds like a lucky pig:).....The best health indicator are the droppings, if they are ok, then your pig will generally be ok. If anything, the diet you describe is a little over bulky, too much fibre, however, as long as shes doing ok on it, why bother to change. One bag of feed a fortnight isn't so bad. I only wish.......lol....

Likewise, I give our pigs fresh fruit & veggies, lots of bananas & tree stumps when available; just a word of warning about 'bought fruit & veg' if you feed to pigs, always wash it first, in 99% of bought in stuff it has been heavily sprayed with insecticides, which are harmful to the pigs.

Always keep your pigs wormed, something often overloked;if neglected, lots of that food going down the hatch is of no benefit to the pigs. False economy if neglected.

thanks fruity, She gets a lot of bananas, as I've about 40 rai of nothing but. I'll check on the wormer. Excellent suggestion. All fruitd and veggies from my land so no pesticides whatsoever, Seems to agree with her as she's abour 190 cms long and nicely filled out. This month she's feasting om lamyai.

[Tikwik]

Hi I and my wife have about 20 pigs ATM and I would like to know can I buy feed straight from the manufacture and price if anybody knows and or how much to make my own per kilo/ton.

Any input would be greatly appreciated

[IsaanAussie]

20 minutes ago, Tikwik said:

Hi I and my wife have about 20 pigs ATM and I would like to know can I buy feed straight from the manufacture and price if anybody knows and or how much to make my own per kilo/ton.

Any input would be greatly appreciated

Not much happening on this forum regarding pigs. I have been out of pig farming for a while and the only guys I know are still around are growing under contract where feed is supplied. Hopefully someone can give you some up to date information.

As it was, the usual way you could buy commercial feed at a discounted price, was to become a reseller, and then you had to buy large quantities. Given the shelf life, not a good idea with only 20 pigs unless you can get regular customers.

Making your own feed is dependent on your herd. If you are setting up farrow to finish, then you need to prepare six different feeds to cover the full gambit. If you are simply growing a single batch of pigs out then you only need one grade at a time as they grow.

You can buy all the ingredients at a good feed store to mix it. But remember you will be buying those grains etc at retail price so it will be hard to compete against the finished price of the commercial producers. I found that it only saved 1 to 2 baht per kilo on materials only, without any cost or transport storage costs. Then you still have the risk that the soy or corn etc... could be of poor quality.

All said and done you are chasing low FCR numbers. Feeding low protein levels to starter pigs will mean they slow down equally higher protein levels to finisher pigs will just give you fatty expensive pigs. 

[sateuk]

SPM company starter feed is 750 a bag 105 plus, the pigs need 1/2 a bag before you move onto SPM 115 which you feed till they 50 kg roughly 3 1/2 bags at 530 a bag , then onto SPM 130 at 500 a bag 3 bags total then to finish off 1 bag of SPM 160 at 470 a bag totall 8 bags 105 kg AVG 2.3 kg conversion rate cost is total a pig 4185 BAHT that's buying a few bags at a time I get cheaper as I buy 70 bags plus a time, buying straight from supplier no chance unless buying a ton at a time cost 400000 BAHT minimum and if already a shop in your area they won't sell to you anyway hope this helps

 

[IsaanAussie]

Wow, not that much difference in total cost now, perhaps 300 baht? Thanks for sharing that. 

I never used creep feed as nursing piglets played with it more than ate it. I used starter and dusted it with milk powder giving it a nice smell and they ate some of it. The reason to introduce solid feed is to prepare their gut against scouring after weaning.

Sorry I cant remember the number of bags but I worked on weights. Wean to 15kg, up to 30kg, 60, 90 and over. Sows either gestation or lactation feed and boars on a combination of maintenance and gestation.