What Do Pigs Eat? List Of Foods That They Love To Snack On

A pig is an omnivores hooved animal with a stout body, short tail and legs, thick bristly skin, and a long flattened snout.

Pigs mainly eat plants and small animals, but they often end up eating anything that they find edible. They have an excellent digestive system that can process an assortment of foods.

Pigs can forage and survive in any area and climate and thrive in any place as long as plentiful food and water are available. Pigs are opportunistic feeders and generally feed and thrive on any available nutrient source for their survival. They may eat any fruit, vegetable, or leftover foods in the garbage. They often end up eating their own feces. Strange, but it is true!

Having said that, pigs need a balanced diet just like any other animal to stay healthy and avoid becoming overweight. While occasionally feeding a pig some sugary treats, junk food, or leftovers causes minimal harm, offering a nutritious yet tasty treat would be better.

Are you enjoying this article on pigs? Give a read to these fun fact animal articles related to what do robins eat and what do iguanas eat here on Kidadl.

What do pigs eat on a farm?

Pigs in the wild will feed on anything and everything that seems edible to them. However, pigs bred and domesticated on a farm have different eating habits and different food requirements. Domesticated pigs require high-energy foods which are high in protein and low in fiber content.

The farm pigs are mainly given grain-based meals that are low in fiber. They include grains like corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, and barley. Grain-based diets ensure that the pigs stay healthy, active, and lively. Farm pigs are also fed corn meal, soybean meal, and canola meals, rich sources of protein and digestible carbohydrates. Some farmers add dried whey to the pig's meals to boost protein and sugar content in the pig's diet.

Domesticated pigs can pasture on grass and graze around the farm. Along with grains, they can be fed hay, fruits, and vegetables to supplement their diet with vitamins, minerals, and calcium.

Pigs are often fed pet pig feed and pig food pellets to get the correct balance of nutrients. The amount of pet pig food to feed pigs depends on their age, size, breed, and purpose of rearing. Along with pet pig feed and pig food pellets, farmers provide pigs with hay and fresh foods from nature.

Domestic pigs breed all year; there are no seasonal constraints. Pregnant female pigs are also known as sows. A healthy sow usually carries a litter of eight to ten piglets for approximately two months before birth. After they are born, the piglets feed on their mother's milk full of essential nutrients and vital antibodies that help develop their immune system and overall health.

Sometimes pet pigs are fed the wrong kinds of food, making them gain unhealthy weight and become lethargic. Eating improper food may have a fatal impact on a pig's health. The food products that humans eat often contain high calories, fats, sugar, and salt. Feeding pigs preserved, processed, and canned food may cause a deterioration in their health. Although pigs are omnivores and can eat meat, domesticated pigs can develop diseases from eating meat. Therefore, you should not feed pet pigs meat or meat products.

For healthier livestock, it is essential to provide pigs with a proper, balanced diet.

What do pigs eat naturally?

Domesticated pigs' eating requirements get catered and managed by humans, but stray hogs and wild pigs have to search for food. Although pigs can eat and digest a wide variety of food, they are very picky eaters regarding food preferences.

Generally, pigs eat plants and animals. They also enjoy going out to pasture and grazing on the grass. Pigs eat small saplings, seedlings, and edible roots. They feed on a variety of fruits and vegetables. They dig the ground in search of roots, insects, and worms to feed on. They will also eat small animals and even dead animal carcasses.

Pigs don't rely on their eyesight to hunt for food, as their vision is not that good. They use their snouty noses to find food. Pigs have very sensitive noses compared to other animals, and they have a highly advanced sense of smell. You must have seen a swine's nose. The tip of the hog's snout has a cartilage disk that helps them to rummage for food. They use their snouty nose to dig in the ground to find food.

The swine species include various breeds of pigs, from wild to domestic pigs. If considered minusculely, there are considerable differences in the diet pattern of a wild hog and a domesticated swine. However, almost all pigs, be it wild or domestic, have a basic and typical hog diet regardless of where they live, be it in the wild or on the farm. Pigs mainly consume fruits, flowers, seedlings, saplings, grass, leaves, grains, stalks, shoots, roots, eggs, small insects, bugs, and worms. They are excellent foragers and use their snout noses to search for various foods to eat.

Recent posts related to pigs have cited that, on average, a swine eats around 3-8% of its total body weight daily. However, the amount of food a pig eats mostly depends on the age and breed of the pig. A typical pig diet consists of approximately 88% of plant consumption, 10% of animal consumption, and 2% of fungi, algae, and garbage.

Wild and domestic pigs usually rummage and forage for vegetation and small animals to eat. However, there are various other foods that pigs love to snack on. Below is a list of favorite treats for feeding to both wild and domesticated pigs.

Fruit: Fruits are a delicious treat for pigs. However, they must be given in moderation and occasionally as they have high-level sugar content in them. Pigs should only have pitted fruits as the pits can become lodged in their intestines.

Pigs love to eat fruits like grapes, grapefruits, apples, pears, bananas, oranges, melons, peaches, apricots, berries, cherries.

Vegetables: Vegetables are the perfect snacks for pigs. Due to their high nutritional value, you can include them in a pig's everyday diet. Pigs will enjoy feeding on a salad of fresh or cooked vegetables daily.

Pigs love to eat many kinds of vegetables, including carrots, parsnips, turnips, beetroots, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, yams, pumpkin, tomatoes, potatoes, chard, spinach, kale, lettuce, and bean sprouts.

Special treats: Some other healthy treats that pigs love to nibble on include are unsalted popcorn, unsalted nuts, dry fruit, and bird seeds.

Pigs gobble on any given food, but not all types of food are healthy for them. You should avoid feeding pigs meat, fish, poultry, chocolate, dairy products, canned food, salty food, spicy food, oily food, stale and leftover food, and cat or dog food. Such foods can be detrimental to the digestive and immune system and cause organ failure, fatigue, and other serious health issues.

What are the drinking requirements of pigs?

Water is often a mismanaged and neglected nutrient. Apart from nutrition received from the food, nutrients from water are the most essential for pigs. Pigs require nutrient-rich water in large quantities. Water helps in maintaining temperature regulation and lubrication of pigs' joints.

An average pig's water intake daily is around 1.5-3 Gal (5.6-11.35 l). Pregnant sows and mother pigs require their water consumption to be twice as much as the average pigs' water intake. Mother pigs drink a lot of water to produce nutrient-rich milk and ensure a sufficient milk supply for their piglets.

Various factors determine the water requirements of pigs. Some of these factors consist of the type of food included in the diet, feed intake, temperature, and health condition of the pig. Pigs generally consume twice the amount of water than feed.

The loss of water in pigs is quicker. They lose water from their bodies during urination, defecation, respiration, and a little water through their skin when sweating. That's why pigs' water intake must be sufficient to balance the amount of water lost.

Pigs require a constant supply of freshwater to stay healthy and thrive. Therefore, it is essential to take care of both the water supply and the water quality. Water shortage and dehydration may harm a pig's energy and health.

How To Make Pig Feed

You should ensure your pigs are fed a well-balanced and nutritional diet to be healthy and have a reasonable life expectancy. There are various kinds of commercial feed and premixes made for specific ages and stages in pig rearing. Buying commercial pig feed can be pretty confusing, expensive, and often hectic. You might, therefore, wish to make your own pig feed mix depending on the age and purpose of pig rearing. Making pig feed on your own can be very cost-effective rather than buying expensive commercial premixes of pig feed from pet stores. All you need is the necessary ingredients and a huge container to mix in. Here are some pig feed recipes and proportions.

Pig feed for weaned piglets: After weaning off their mother's milk, pigs require a substantial feed mix until they reach about 10-12 weeks of age. Make a feed mix by adding 76% wheat or corn, 12% skim milk powder, 6% soybean meal, 6% protein and calcium supplement, and 0.2% salt.

Pig feed for pigs around 12 weeks old: Pigs approximately 12 weeks old or older require a diet that enables them to grow to a healthy weight. Make a feed mix by adding 79% sorghum, 10% soybean meal, 7% protein and calcium supplement, 4% peanut or sunflower meal, and 0.25% salt.

Pig feed for breeder pigs: Breeder pigs require a different mix than the other pigs because they need to have enough nutrients to support both themselves and their growing offspring. Make a feed mix by adding 80% sorghum, 10% sunflower meal, 10% protein and calcium supplement, and 0.25% salt.

If you feed pigs a proper and well-balanced diet and keep them hydrated, they will enjoy a long thriving life. Looking after the pigs and taking good care of them will lower their risks of being infected by any disease and result in healthier livestock.

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