So, Can Pigs Eat Sweet Potatoes? (Or Sweet Potato Peelings?

More than most livestock species on the homestead, pigs can eat a wide variety of foods. Their reputation precedes them, I guess: they can eat nearly anything, including meat, fruits, and all sorts of vegetables. But even though pigs will eat nearly anything, there’re still a few things out there that they shouldn’t have, or they should have only in moderation…

If you want to take the best possible care of your pigs, you should avoid giving them unhealthy foods. So let’s look at something like sweet potatoes. Do they have a place in your hog’s diet?

Yes, sweet potatoes and their peels are safe for pigs to eat. These are rich in many vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A and beta carotene, but be sure to cook them to improve starch digestibility and reduce the trypsin inhibitors.

Sweet potatoes are among the best veggies that you can serve to your herd. In my experience, pigs really do love them and you’ll love the nutrition that these potatoes and their peels can provide. If you’ve been looking for a new and interesting food that can help break your pigs out of menu fatigue but one that’s still good for them, you found it. I’ll tell you what you need to know down below…

Do Pigs Like Them?

Yes, they really do! Pigs love sweet potatoes, as they are sweet, crisp, and still easy to digest. They’re a good source of energy and nutrients, and based on what I’ve seen, hogs will always look forward to getting them.

In fact, they like them so much that you can even use sweet potatoes as a special treat or training aid when you are interacting with them.

Are Sweet Potatoes Healthy for Pigs?

Yes, they are very healthy fare for pigs. In fact, most folks don’t know just how nutritious sweet potatoes really are; they’re one of the best sources of certain vitamins and minerals you can get…

But before we get to the micronutrients, let’s look at the bigger picture. Sweet potatoes are a wonderful source of energy for pigs, as mentioned, consisting mostly of carbohydrates in the form of starch and sugar but also a little bit of dietary fiber.

They contain hardly any fat and just a little bit of protein, but every bit helps when we’re talking about putting weight on our pigs, right?

But back to the vitamin content, I’m happy to report that sweet potatoes are just about the best source of provitamin A / beta carotene around. They contain more than most veggies I know about except carrots (though the exact amounts can vary significantly by cultivar).

They also contain some vitamin B6 and vitamin C, along with good amounts of thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. These vitamins are backed up by just a little bit of folate and vitamin E. All around, this is excellent, especially for a pig’s eyesight and neurological health.

But the mineral content is not too shabby either, hough not quite as good as the vitamin lineup.

Manganese and potassium are some of the minerals on offer, not to mention calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc along with just a little bit of naturally occurring sodium although this won’t be a problem at all for your pigs.

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When you look at what all of these nutrients can do together, they can improve nearly many aspects of a pig’s health, from their growth and skin to healing, cellular function, metabolism, eyesight as mentioned, and a whole lot more.

Can Pigs Eat Raw Sweet Potatoes?

Yes, they can. Although sweet potatoes feel really hard to us, the powerful jaws and stout teeth of pigs will make very short work of them.

But it’s a good idea to cut them into somewhat smaller sections that pigs can easily chew and then swallow to reduce the risk of choking. Larger hogs can probably handle whole sweet potatoes, though. Even better (though chopping them is recommended), as you are about to see, cooking them greatly improves the digestibility.

What About Sweet Potato Peelings?

Yes, they sure can. And in fact, they should, here’s why:

Peeling significantly increases crude protein digestibility but has no effect on digestible or metabolizable energy, or on the total digestibility of nutrients.

Chapter 5 Roots, tubers, bananas and plantains

Sweet potato skins, or peels, have a good assortment of vitamins and minerals alike, along with a good shot of fiber that can help a pig’s digestion. You don’t need to waste time peeling the potatoes, whether or not you cook them (which you should, as you are about to see).

Are Cooked Sweet Potatoes Okay for Pigs?

Yes, they are, and this is actually the best way to feed it to them (though you don’t have to cook them). Sure, cooking sweet potatoes in any way will slightly reduce the amounts of vitamins and minerals, but this shouldn’t be a problem, here’s why:

The typsin inhibitors in raw sweet potato roots decrease protein digestibility, but they can be destroyed by cooking

Chapter 5 Roots, tubers, bananas and plantains

If you want, you can also mash the potatoes and mix them in with other foods to make a tasty dish that the whole herd is sure to love.

Can Pigs Eat Canned Sweet Potatoes?

Yes, nominally, but I say this with some serious reservations: Most canned sweet potatoes have lots of added sugar, spices, and other ingredients that your pigs just shouldn’t get. That said, if the particular canned potatoes are packed plain in water (so no syrup), it won’t hurt them in small servings – but I still wouldn’t make a habit of it.

Is Sweet Potato Pie Okay for Them?

Absolutely not. I know lots of folks want to share delicious desserts and other treats with their animals, and that includes our pigs, but it is a really bad idea. Sweet potato pie is made with healthy sweet potatoes, sure, but those health benefits are drowned under a deluge of butter, sugar, carbs in the form of pastry crust, and other things they’re not supposed to have.

Save the extra dessert for yourself and your family, and give your pigs only wholesome sweet potatoes instead.

Are Sweet Potatoes Poisonous to Pigs in Any Way?

No, they are not poisonous, with the sole exception that large chunks or whole sweet potatoes can be a potential choking hazard as mentioned, or in the case that you’re simply feeding them way too many.

Although they are seemingly very plain, these starchy and sugary potatoes can potentially give pigs a significant upset stomach and possibly even diarrhea – but only if fed in large amounts at once. That’s no good, and you certainly don’t want to deal with that, so make sure you balance out your herd’s diet with all sorts of other nutritious foods that they need, too.

Something else to keep in mind is that sweet potatoes, as awesome as they are, simply are not nutritionally complete for pigs; they have a low protein content and an imbalance in the individual amino-acids, so they cannot live on them alone.

How Often Can Pigs Eat Sweet Potatoes?

There are no guidelines released by any university extension or any other authority in the field, but you can go with 3 to 5 servings weekly, with the total being around 5% of their total bodyweight. So for a 50 lbs. hog, for example, my own advice would be to feed them 2.5 lbs per week at the most.

As you might expect, regular potatoes are cheaper, so unless you grow a lot of these sweet potatoes on your farm, you probably won’t feed them this much, anyway…

How Should I Feed Them to My Pigs?

The best way to serve sweet potatoes to your pigs is simply to give them a good wash and scrub to remove any lingering dirt, dust, or other contaminants, and then cook them and either serve whole or chopped. This will make them much easier to chew and swallow while minimizing the risk of choking.

If you’re giving sweet potatoes to very large individual pigs or a large breed herd you might not even need to chop them up.

Can Piglets Have Sweet Potatoes, Too?

Yes, as an occassional treat. Sweet potatoes are an excellent and highly nutritious choice for piglets, one that you can let them try as soon as they start eating solid food. But cooking them is that more improtant for their still developing digestive system. Cutting them up into smaller pieces to make it easier for them to chew is also something you could do.

And as with all new foods that you give to your baby pigs, keep an eye out for any signs of indigestion or diarrhea afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are sweet potatoes good for mini pigs?

Yes, sweet potatoes are ok but in very limited amounts. Mini pigs are prone to obesity which is why you want to limit high-energy foods for them.

Can potbelly pigs eat them safely?

Yes, they sure can, but in limited quantities. These might have too many calories for them, so moderation is key. Also make sure the potatoes are cut up into smaller chunks for easy eating.

Is sweet potato casserole okay for pigs to eat?

Absolutely not. Sweet potato casserole is a caloric disaster waiting to happen for pigs, and could also easily give them diarrhea. Don’t do it!

Can they eat the vines?

Yes, pigs can eat the sweet potato vines, and this is actually documented by FAO.