Views on my veggie plan for my pigs?

[DougalandDiego]

Hello,
Sorry I’ve been posting so much (new piggie mum!) I’ve decided to come up with a rough veggie plan for my pigs so that my partner and I don’t overfeed certain veg that could be high in calcium as we take it in turns to feed. Please can you let me know if there is anything wrong with the rough guide I’ve created? We will obviously switch things up as time goes on but I want to make sure they’re getting enough variety along with quantity. The more brutal you can be the better! Thanks in advance!

 

[PigglePuggle]

I would say you have a good variety there but cabbage, kale and parsley are all pretty high calcium so maybe there's too much of those, depending on how much you plan to feed.
Its good you're prepared but the meal plans have to work for you too long term, and avoid too much food waste if they only have a bit of something you dont eat yourself!
So don't overthink things and make life too complicated

Mine usually get a cucumber breakfast (maybe with a carrot slice each if my husband is making the meal) and then at dinnertime some red pepper plus some sort of leaves. On weekends and supermarket shop/hooman stirfry days they get much more variety because its things we are buying and eating anyway!

So on weekends or shopping days they might get a bumper variety of veg with beansprouts, baby corn, coriander and a bag of bistro salad. Then we rotate leafy veg by use by dates and always feed a bit of cucumber for breakfast and pepper for dinner plus whatever else is going through the week

I dont see many lettuces on your plan? You could swap some of the cabbage for lettuce maybe!

 

[DougalandDiego]

I would say you have a good variety there but cabbage, kale and parsley are all pretty high calcium so maybe there's too much of those, depending on how much you plan to feed.
Its good you're prepared but the meal plans have to work for you too long term, and avoid too much food waste if they only have a bit of something you dont eat yourself!
So don't overthink things and make life too complicated

Mine usually get a cucumber breakfast (maybe with a carrot slice each if my husband is making the meal) and then at dinnertime some red pepper plus some sort of leaves. On weekends and supermarket shop/hooman stirfry days they get much more variety because its things we are buying and eating anyway!

So on weekends or shopping days they might get a bumper variety of veg with beansprouts, baby corn, coriander and a bag of bistro salad. Then we rotate leafy veg by use by dates and always feed a bit of cucumber for breakfast and pepper for dinner plus whatever else is going through the week

I dont see many lettuces on your plan? You could swap some of the cabbage for lettuce maybe!

Oh fab thanks for all the help! I read somewhere they shouldn’t have too much lettuce? Is that true?

 

[PigglePuggle]

Oh fab thanks for all the help! I read somewhere they shouldn’t have too much lettuce? Is that true?

Not too much lettuce as its quite watery and paler bigger leafed lettuces dont have much nutritional content, and certainly no iceberg lettuce. Mne enjoy a selection of lettuces usually as part of a mixed bag of babyleaf salad, or the bistro salad that is mixed leaves with grated beetroot bits in, then you get a mix of things in one bag- I think thats a better option than too much cabbage, just only feed a small handful per piggy 2 or 3 times a week

 

[DougalandDiego]

Not too much lettuce as its quite watery and paler bigger leafed lettuces dont have much nutritional content, and certainly no iceberg lettuce. Mne enjoy a selection of lettuces usually as part of a mixed bag of babyleaf salad, or the bistro salad that is mixed leaves with grated beetroot bits in, then you get a mix of things in one bag- I think thats a better option than too much cabbage, just only feed a small handful per piggy 2 or 3 times a week

Ah thanks you’ve been super helpful!

 

[PigglePuggle]

Thanks, just remember you dont have to feed every possible food- we recently discovered when another forum member's piggies came to stay with us that mine had never eaten dill, chicory or celery before (because they arent things I eat myself!) and hers had never eaten coriander or beansprouts as they aren't things her household would usually buy. Most of the piggies involved enjoyed a week of a very varied diet and a big cultural food exchange but it wont happen every week!
Variety is good and of course if you identify a particular favourite with your piggies you can get it regularly or as a treat some weeks, but no need to buy every recommended food every week- mostly piggies eat the sort of veggies we buy for ourselves most days

 

[DougalandDiego]

Thanks, just remember you dont have to feed every possible food- we recently discovered when another forum member's piggies came to stay with us that mine had never eaten dill, chicory or celery before (because they arent things I eat myself!) and hers had never eaten coriander or beansprouts as they aren't things her household would usually buy. Most of the piggies involved enjoyed a week of a very varied diet and a big cultural food exchange but it wont happen every week!
Variety is good and of course if you identify a particular favourite with your piggies you can get it regularly or as a treat some weeks, but no need to buy every recommended food every week- mostly piggies eat the sort of veggies we buy for ourselves most days

Ah that’s so sweet!
Yes I think that’s what I need to learn to do!

 

[GuineaPigLove56]

Hello,
Sorry I’ve been posting so much (new piggie mum!) I’ve decided to come up with a rough veggie plan for my pigs so that my partner and I don’t overfeed certain veg that could be high in calcium as we take it in turns to feed. Please can you let me know if there is anything wrong with the rough guide I’ve created? We will obviously switch things up as time goes on but I want to make sure they’re getting enough variety along with quantity. The more brutal you can be the better! Thanks in advance! View attachment 119929

I think it's very good just dont overfeed lettuce and carrot. Limit carrot to once a week ( occasionally twice as a treat ) and feed red lettuce less as lettuce is high in water. Anyway , the rest is fine as far as I know.

 

[Leafy Lou]

Well done on creating such an organised menu!

I agree with PigglePuggle it's easier to stick to what the family eat, less waste..and kale, spinach and carrots are a once a week treat, or biweekly..and babycorn..it's Friday so our ladies are having celery leaves, some left over basil and a bit of babycorn (1 cut into 3 bits) very pungent basil helping my airways!

 

[Siikibam]

That looks like a good plan. But I would say give a sprig of coriander and some pepper daily. They’re high in vitamin c and can be fed daily. And if you give them carrot then don’t give them fruit as well.

All I’ll say re courgette is good luck

 

[AutumnThePig]

You can also feed them Bean Sprouts and Radicchio - not daily though.

That's a good idea to write down a schedule for their diet, I'm going to do the same thing for my piggies!

 

[DMS260820]

I would say you have a good variety there but cabbage, kale and parsley are all pretty high calcium so maybe there's too much of those, depending on how much you plan to feed.
Its good you're prepared but the meal plans have to work for you too long term, and avoid too much food waste if they only have a bit of something you dont eat yourself!
So don't overthink things and make life too complicated

Mine usually get a cucumber breakfast (maybe with a carrot slice each if my husband is making the meal) and then at dinnertime some red pepper plus some sort of leaves. On weekends and supermarket shop/hooman stirfry days they get much more variety because its things we are buying and eating anyway!

So on weekends or shopping days they might get a bumper variety of veg with beansprouts, baby corn, coriander and a bag of bistro salad. Then we rotate leafy veg by use by dates and always feed a bit of cucumber for breakfast and pepper for dinner plus whatever else is going through the week

I dont see many lettuces on your plan? You could swap some of the cabbage for lettuce maybe!

I was going to comment about Thursdays. No need, I agree

 

[Betsy]

Mine will only eat courgette if it's peeled but they much prefer cucumber. I only give carrot peelings. They love brocolli stalk and the outside leaves of a cauliflower but not the hard stalk not that goes up the middle of each leaf.

 

[DougalandDiego]

Thanks for all your help everybody!