A substantial part of our woodland pigs diet consists of roots, shoots, bugs and vegetation that they can freely forage. Alongside their natural rootling diet we supplement them with apples and pears from the garden, an assortment of veg from our veg patch and a mix of grains, pulses and root crop byproduct. These supplementary feeds are predominantly, distillers grain, rapemeal and sugar beet pulp.
Distillers Grain
Distillers Grain, or ‘spent grain’ is a cereal byproduct of the distillation process. In beer, whiskey or ethanol production, grains are put through a mashing process, where grain is ground and added to hot water. The starch in the grains undergoes saccharification by enzymes, turning the starch into sugars that are released into the water. The water is removed from the grain, and becomes wort for brewing. The remaining ‘spent grain’ dried mash left over from the distilling process contains beneficial nutrients, such as protein, fiber, germ, vitamins, and minerals. The texture and taste of distillers grain can be compared to breakfast cereal.
Rapemeal
Rapemeal or Rapeseed meal is the by-product of the extraction of oil from rapeseed. It is a protein-rich ingredient that is widely used to feed all classes of livestock. Rapeseeds contain 40-45% oil and yield about 55-60% oil meal when fully extracted by crushing followed by solvent, heat treatment or cold press extraction. Rapeseed meal can contain highly variable amounts of residual oil, depending on how it is processed, the higher percentage of residual oil the better as this is particularly valuable as a source of protein.
NB: Rapemeal should not make up more than 10% of a pigs diet. The use of rapeseed meal as an animal feed is limited by the presence of glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are antinutritional factors detrimental to an animal performance when consumed in large amounts. Many brassicas contain this substance which releases a hot and pungent taste similar to that in mustard and horseradish which is a plants natural defence to protect them from browsing animals chewing on them.
Sugar Beet Pulp
Sugar Beet pulp is the fibrous material left over after the sugar is extracted from sugar beets. Despite being a byproduct of sugar beet processing, beet pulp itself is low in sugar and other non-structural carbohydrates, but high in energy and fiber. Among other nutrients, it contains 10% protein, 0.8% calcium and 0.5% phosphorus. However, it has no Vitamin A, so additional forage or supplementation is essential to provide complete nutrition. Beet pulp it thought to improve the gut health and metabolic health of young pigs.
Northern Native 