Feeding your bird the best foods will give them a long and happy life, feeding chickens the correct diet is a sure-fire way to get the best possible eggs or meat from these birds.

Thus you as a bird owner need to feed them the best food you can. So, does this include pig feed? This article explores this topic 

Chickens can eat pig feed, pigs and chickens eat similar foods and their feeds are quite similar. If there is no chicken feed available, but you have pig feed available, then feeding chickens the pig feed, will suffice until the chicken feed arrives. However, pig feed can’t be given to birds full-time as it does not contain enough calcium and protein for chickens to maintain good health. 

Can chickens eat pig feed?

Chickens are omnivores, they eat both plant and animal matter, they can also eat a variety of scraps and foods that have been discarded by other animals.

This doesn’t mean that this is good for them, the recommended chicken diet is specialty feeder, fruits, and vegetables.

Pig feed can also be eaten by chickens if need be

Chickens, pigs, and their feed:

Chickens can be fed pig feed. Pig feeds and chicken feeds are quite similar.

However, you should not replace your chicken feed with pig feed entirely, this type of feed should only be given to your chickens if you’re waiting on your chicken feed to be delivered, only feed chickens pig feed for a couple of days.

Feeds made for chickens and feeds made for pigs are specially formulated for each animal’s nutritional needs. 

Pigs and chickens are similar in a variety of ways, both of these animals are omnivores, they eat both plant matter and animal matter, plus, they will likely eat anything laid in front of them.

In addition, they are non-ruminant animals, this means they aren’t able to digest cellulose and dietary fiber like grass-eating animals are. Pig and chicken bodies are able to digest foods in similar ways, because of this, they can eat similar foods.

How the protein in pig feed affects chickens

That being said, these two animals have slightly different nutritional needs.

Chickens need more calcium in their feeds, this high level of calcium enables them to lay eggs with harder and stronger eggshells, chicken feed reflects this need for more calcium.

Pigs don’t need this much calcium, pig feed reflects this need for less calcium. Chickens being fed pig feed may lay eggs with weaker shells

How the protein in pig feed affects chickens

Chickens also need more protein than pigs do, thus, the percentage of protein in pig feed is not as high as the percentage of protein in chicken feed.

Protein is needed by chickens for optimum feather growth. Strong feathers insulated birds from the cold. If the bird does not get this then it can suffer when the temperatures drop

How the less energy in pig feed affects chickens

Chicken feed also delivers more energy to the bird, if the bird gets less energy than it needs then it won’t function as well as it needs to. 

A chicken with low energy will be lethargic and won’t be able to perform everyday tasks as normal

Supplementing a chicken’s diet if on pig feed:

These differences are enough to show that chickens would not be able to survive long-term on pig feed.

If you were to feed your chickens pig feed long term, then you’d need to supplement the bird’s diet with added calcium, protein, and other nutrients.

One way to get added calcium into the bird’s body is to leave a pile of crushed eggshells or oyster shells in their coop.

Note: It is very important that you crush the eggshells very well, crush them so they don’t look like eggshells, if you feed your chickens uncrushed eggshells, you will train them to eat their own eggs for calcium and other nutrients in future 

FAQ:

Can I feed my chickens anything?

Chickens can eat a lot more than just grains, but they can’t eat everything.

These animals don’t eat grains in the wild and can eat a variety of other foods.

Other foods that are usually given to chickens include greens, grass, lizards, frogs, fly larvae, hay, eggs, healthy kitchen scraps, and healthy proteins like mealworms. These animals live on foraging in the wild where they will eat crops and bugs at their own discretion.

However, the more spoilt your birds are the more they will turn their nose up to “lesser foods”

What shouldn’t you feed to chickens?

While these animals can eat a wide variety of foods there are some foods that you shouldn’t feed to chickens.

Foods like avocados, junk food, kitchen waste, raw or dried beans, chocolate, the seeds of apples and apricots, and green potato skins should not be fed to chickens.

Can chickens eat alongside pigs? 

If you own both animals and are looking to let pigs and chickens share a feeding tray, this may be alright but it can sometimes be dangerous for the chickens.

Pigs eat anything, including chickens, pigs eating live chickens is not something that commonly happens, but there is always a chance that a pig will become curious about eating a chicken or develop a taste for eating chicken.

If you notice this behavior developing with your pigs, then you’ll need to house these animals separately for the sake of your chickens 

Conclusion

In conclusion, although pigs and chickens eat similar foods, and although the composition of chicken feed and pig feed is similar, each type of feed has been specially formulated to meet the nutrient needs of that animal.

Because of this, feeding chickens pig feed long term is not best for them. 

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Can chickens eat pancakes?, Can chickens eat pork?, Can chickens eat salmon?, Can chickens eat sugar?