Finishing traditional breed pig's

[Cidwr]

I am in the process of doing a long term deal with a local butcher to supply him with free range / high welfare traditional native breed pig's. I am looking for some tips on what is the best feed to finish them on as they are a different beast to the commercial breeds.
At the moment I am using soaked rolled barely mixed with concentrate and soya which seems to work. But as a bit of a newcomer I am open to advise.
Thanks in advance

 

[Coximus]

Outdoor space, let them root around on stubbles if you can - they weed the ground, but keeping them moving stops the back fat getting too much, otherwise feed them similar to a normal pietrain type... I find a few beets and straw to fill them up stops them turning too fat.

 

[Chasingmytail]

Im a small scaler and organic so what I say may be pants but you need to ensure you have done the maths - what margin are you working on and in this margin have you priced in vet/meds etc? Native breeds need strict feeding while some are self feeding. We had welsh and just filled the hopper and walked away came back cracking sows. Middle whites got excessive fat and spots need full control. Every breed is very different. If high welfare you want to make sure you feed them correctly in places where they can roam outdoors. What about GM?

I always brought in pig feed as its just too much hassle with time to be messing. My understanding it costs £100 per pig to feed to 5 months on small scale. What prices has the butcher agreed on - just be very very careful here and is there a written agreement as he may cancel at anytime then you have a problem shifting pigs below overheads. What happens if the butcher isnt happy with the produce?

Some pigs eat sileage. Be careful what you feed as pigs like other animals need correct protein. Im not a fan of feeding crap to pigs. But if you can find veg from someone local thats a bonus.

If you are new to this kind of thing please be careful - better dipping toes before going in and ploughing into an agreement thats going to make you £20 per pig.

If you go on the Accidental smallholder forum there are people on there that have a wealth of experience - worth searching or popping the question on there.