Preparing the pigs food

As with any recipe, preparation is key.  First, start with a large enough mixing vessel.  In this case, we'll be mixing about 600lbs of feed, so the front loader will do just fine.  My dog monster is doing a quality check. 

Another key element to a good meal is to use the freshest ingredients.  Here you can see the brewers grain.  It's barley and wheat that has been sprouted, and then boiled to make beer with.  The liquid that its boiled in becomes the beer-the spent grains are the solid remains of the wheat and barley. 

It feels a lot like wheat bulgur, and smells a bit like porridge.  After it's been boiled it's sterile, so it's actually a pretty good base for animal feed.  It has about 30% of the calories of the original wheat. 

Next I add a couple of hundred pounds of something that is tastier to the pigs:  7 layer dip!  It's actually really nice stuff.  Smells good.  I'm hungry when i'm stripping the packaging off the dip.

Yummy!  bits of red pepper, nice cheddar cheese, sour cream, guacamole.  Pigs are doing great tonight!

The dogs are constantly on the alert to maintain quality.  Here, Red checks the bean dip to ensure freshness.

And then he inspects the bean dip in the front loader.

Yes, it's beard-licking good.  Dog approved. 

Now for 60lbs of condensed, sweetened milk. 

Again, red checks for freshness.  Yummy milk he says

After adding all the ingredients, stir gently.  I prefer a long handled shovel for this, but some people use a spoon. 

Having stirred it all in, it's ready to go to the final customer:  the pigs

A dramatic presentation will often increase the interest in the food.  The pigs are excited.  They're grunting and squealing.  It's pretty hard for a pig to look up, so they'll walk away a little, judge where the front loader bucket is, and then fight their way directly under the bucket.  After a while they get a little uneasy, back off, and repeat.  They know that right under the bucket is the primo spot.  Prime seating for a pig. 

Here, "the black pig", one of my older sows, has judged it right and gotten completely covered in food.  Ever heard the term "happy as a pig in slop"?  The only thing that makes a pig happier than standing in its food is bathing in it.  Happy holidays, black pig!

and then they get down to the serious eating.  I'm feeding 800lbs of this grain mixture a day -- and they eat every single bit and root out all of the spilled feed.  They like it a lot.