Topic

An Experiment in Pig Feeding

Howdy fellow Glitchens.

It all started as a simple observation that pigs seem to prefer to eat their own meat, rather than grain. Each time a pig denies nibbling, a single piece of meat would make him content, whereas 10+ grain would not.

At the same time, each time they were starving, they became well fed with a handful units of meat (2 - 3), but it would take a rather large amount of grain for them to become full. It kind of makes sense for them to eat less, considering the currant value of each food.

Before I had RHK, I used a fecundity powder right before logging off, and leaving the pile of food on the ground for them to eat. All the time, when I came back all the meat was gone, while there was still grain there.

So, based on these observations, I am assuming either the currant value of the food is factored in when feeding piggies, either they have a preference for a specific kind of food.

Now that I got RHK, I've set up an experiment. 15 piggies, 4 feeders, spread at equal distance in the pen. 3 of them are filled with grain, last one is filled with meat. If my theory proves right, they will first empty the meat feeder and then will start to eat the grain. By them being in a pen, I removed the "eat from trees" factor of error.

Second phase will have 2 feeders filled with meat, and 2 with grain. I'll report back the results.

If my assumptions are correct, by filling the feeders with meat, instead of the typical grain, we could keep the piggies well fed for longer amounts of time - say a few RL days when in vacation without fear they will die.

In the meantime, I'm interested to know if any has conducted a similar experiment, adding perhaps other kinds of food - like different veggie types - when feeding their piggies.

Update 1: 30 RL minutes later, they ate 1 meat from the meat feeder, but no grain from the other 3.

Posted 13 months ago by Heatseeker Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I have noticed with four feeders full of grain that the pigs will often empty one before starting on the next, so I have been wondering if they feed from them in some pre-ordained order. Perhaps the order in which the feeders were originally put down on the ground, or the order in which they were filled?

    Just thought I'd throw a couple more variables into the mix for you to consider! ;-)
    Posted 13 months ago by Zin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • To get true results, you might want to vary where the meat feeder is. So maybe G G G M one time. The G M G G the next time, etc etc. Just to take in account what Zin said about some pre-ordained order we don't know about.
    Posted 13 months ago by Saiai Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Smart thinking. And this will give me something to do for a while.
    Posted 13 months ago by Heatseeker Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Grain from the feeder works better than grain you feed directly. Also if you drop a grain in front of a pig it works, whereas feeding it to them does not.
    Posted 13 months ago by snarkle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Interesting.

    My piggies usually empty the rightmost feeder first.  However sometimes they'll start on another feeder before doing so.  Often i come home to (79/80) and (38/80) - left and right feeder respectively.  No idea why.  I've never put anything other than grain in them.

    I've also noticed snarkle's observation - dropping 1 grain in front of a piggy is cheaper than feeding it 1 meat to achieve the same thing :)
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink