How to Make Pig Feed: Formulation and Pelleting Process

Feed formulation is not easy especially for small-scale farmers due to lack of raw materials and the technical knowledge on how to prepare their own feeds. For farmers keeping a few pigs, we would advise that they buy feeds from reputable companies who are known to make quality feeds. However, such farmers can reduce their feed costs considerably if they can formulate supplementary feeds like sweet potato vines.

However, for farmers who want to keep many pigs, say, between 500 to 1000 pigs, it makes economic sense to make their own feeds as long as they can get the right raw materials for feed formulation. Below, we give farmers two methods they can use to make pig feed in order to reduce their feed costs:

Pig Feed Formulation Methods

Feed formula 1: Making silage from sweet potato vines

Sweet potato vines are very nutritious pig feed if well prepared and preserved. Here is how to prepare them:

• Cut 60-100kg of sweet potato vines and spread them dry in the sun for about 30 minutes.
• Chop the vines into tiny pieces and mix them with 10 kg of maize germ or pig growers mash.
• Sprinkle ½ kg of mineral salt and mix thoroughly.
• Put the mixture into an airtight 250-litre plastic tank. Compress the vines firmly to remove any air spaces as you do when preparing silage.
• Add some little EM1 solution to improve the quality of the silage.
• Cover the tank airtight. Let it stay for 14 days (two weeks).
• Open the tank to check if the silage is ready- if the silage has a sweet smell and has turned yellow in colour, then it is ready feeding.
• You can feed the sweet potato silage to pigs from four months of age, sows, gilts and boars at any time before or after feeding their usual daily rations.

Pig farmers who incorporate sweet potato silage into the pig diet can cut their feed costs by up to 30 per cent. In addition, the sweet potato tubers can be eaten or sold in the market, a kilogramme of sweet potato tuber retails for between KSh 60 to KSh 80.

Other supplementary feeds suitable for pigs include sukumawiki (kales), vegetables, cabbages, lucerne, amaranth (terere), avocadoes, pawpaws or even bananas. Hotel leftovers (also called sweal) can be given to pigs but farmers must be very careful because food leftovers may be contaminated; the food can be reboiled (cooked again) to ensure all disease-causing organisms are destroyed before the leftover are given to pigs.

Feed formula 2: Standard Dry Formulation

This pig feed ration has a Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) content of 22.3% and can be given to pigs at all stages of growth. Put all the ingredients in a feed mixer and mix thoroughly to ensure they are evenly distributed. In Nakuru, Nairobi and Thika, there are many feed raw material suppliers. Feed premix, lysine, bonemeal and lime are also available from selected agrovet shops in most towns.

Feed formula 3: Bulk Production Formula

How to Make Pig Feed Pellets Step-by-Step Process

• When you are going to make pig feed on your own, the first step is to make sure the moisture of your raw materials is about 10-12%. The wetter or dryer material will affect the final quality of finished pellets. You can use a drier, so that you can get the ideal moisture quickly. Or you can dry it naturally in the sun.
• The second step you have to do is crushing your materials before you start making your own pig feed pellet, if your raw materials size is too much big, it is not so easy to be pressed into pellets. When you crush it to fine powders, the finest, the better, the pelletizing rate and final pellets quality will be better.
• Feeding your raw materials into the pig feed pellet mill machine through the feeder. they will be compressed to columned holes on the die and discharged from the machine. Thus the whole procedure of making your own feed is finished.

video of how to make pig feed