A growing pig converts feed efficiently and without much conscience: give it constant access to food and it will eat past its needs, laying down fat that is hard to shift and harder on its joints and breathing. Steady growth comes from the opposite arrangement — a proper ration, in measured amounts, at set meals, with the pig's own body as the ongoing check on whether the amount is right. Scoopfuls guessed by eye drift upward over weeks, especially when several people feed. Weighed or carefully measured meals stay where you set them.
The Ration and the Amounts
The base of the diet is a grower ration formulated for pigs, balanced for the protein and minerals a growing pig needs; unspecified scraps cannot be the base, because their salt, fat, and nutrient content swing wildly from day to day. Offer the ration as measured meals rather than free feeding. As a usual pattern, a young grower takes in roughly four to five percent of its body weight over the course of a day, and that share tapers toward roughly three percent as finishing weight approaches, when growth slows and extra feed turns to fat more readily. Split the day's amount into two measured meals, morning and evening, so intake is even and a missed or doubled meal is obvious. Clean water stays available at all times. Rooting material, grazing, and vegetable extras give occupation and fiber, but they sit outside the measured ration; if extras grow generous, the ration amount is what quietly compensates.
Condition by Hand, Not by Eye
The eye adapts to a pig it sees daily and stops noticing gradual fattening, so condition is judged by hand on a weekly check. Stand the pig still and press your fingers along its ribs: you want to feel them under firm pressure and never to see them, while the outline over the hips and shoulders stays smooth without soft, rolling cover. If ribs disappear under pressure, the pig is carrying too much and portions step down slightly; if ribs become easy to feel and visible, portions step up slightly. Adjustments are made in small steps and given a week or so to show before judging again, because chasing the figure daily produces swings rather than steadiness. Condition felt by hand is the final judge — the percentage guides the starting amount, but the pig in front of you settles what it eats next week.
Percentages only work if the pig's weight is roughly known, so weigh the pig or tape it about once a month and reset the day's amount from the new figure; a grower can add enough weight in a month that last month's correct ration has quietly become an under-ration, and the reverse error fattens a pig that is nearly finished. Keep one measure — the same scoop, filled level, or a kitchen scale for the day's feed — so the amount agreed is the amount every feeder actually gives.
Who Feeds, and How Changes Are Made
Measured feeding fails quietly when three people each assume someone else followed the plan, or when a helper tops up a bowl out of kindness. The feeding and condition-check duties are assigned through KinsLe's Care Teams, with a named person for morning meals, a named person for evening meals, and the weekly rib check owned by one person who records the result. When an adjustment is agreed, the new amount is written where every feeder sees it, and completed tasks are marked with a timestamp so a doubled meal shows up the same day. That structure matters on busy weeks and away days, when pigs are otherwise fed by whoever passes the pen. When every feeder works from identical amounts, the Care Teams rotation on KinsLe keeps growth steady without anyone quietly adding an extra scoop.