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 Expert
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| Can someone please tell me why pigs can't eat raw potatoes? What is in them that is toxic in raw form? I have read about what happens to pigs if they eat them but nothing I have read mentions why it happens.
Obviously not horse related but I am sure there is someone on this forum who can answer this for me! | |
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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | They just don't digest them well if they aren't cooked and for some reason if you feed them in too high amounts they can cause farrowing problems and stillborn piglets. I haven't found anywhere that explains why. | |
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| Potatoes are toxic and normal cooking changes nothing in the levels of toxins they contain especially in the outer 1/2 inch of skin and underlying flesh.
You were probably buying sunburned potatoes which will show greening of the potato peel which activates even a greater amount of toxins.
Your piglets suffered mainly from paralysis caused by the toxins in potatoes and grown pigs have intestinal and digestion problems that also add the neurological factor along with their pooping, bloating and other problems.
Pigs and chickens will not eat potato peelings if they can pick around them .. we always thought they could smell danger and not even look at them as food ..
Here is the scientific name for the natural toxins that tomatoes (small amount) and potatoes (50+X amount vs tomatoes) have ...
Glycoalkaloids, and they are considered to be natural toxins. They are active as pesticides and fungicides and are produced by the plants as a natural defense against animals, insects and fungi that might attack them.
The plant glycoalkaloids are toxic steroidal glycosides and the commonest types found in food plants are a-solanine and a-chaconine, with a-solanine (C45H73NO15) being the more toxic of the two. Anytime you see a chemical formula with high numbers like this .. automatically be aware that it is a serious toxin .. or a medication that has serious side affects ...
These steroidal glycosides are practically immune to high heat .. French fries cooked in a deep fryer with no peel have a small reduction in the amount of toxins ...
I preach all the time about not feeding anything that is a byproduct of foods processed for human consumption ... beet pulp, rice hulls, ethanol corn hulls etc etc are a big NO NO ... as horse or animal feed. All of these expert nutritionists are paid to lie about the toxicity and are banking on your 1000# horse not ingesting a hot load due to his size and hay intake. All they care about is their profit margins ..
I have never figured out the reluctance of horse owners to feed tried and true all natural feeding programs of whole oats, with 10% by weight chopped corn and a flake of alfalfa along with good quality hay. With a good loose mineral salt supplement like ADM GroStrong Minerals ... always keep the KISS program in mind when caring for your horses ..
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | And by the same logic . . .
No wait, even better.
DHMO (dihydrogen monoxide) is dangerous stuff. Watch out for it. 
BHUSA is right in that potatoes, especially green ones, contain a glycoalkaloid that in large doses can be poisonous, often referred to as solanine.
Snopes.com says of it: "Solanine develops in potatoes when spuds are subjected to light or either very cold or warm temperatures. It interferes with the body's ability to use a particular chemical that facilitates the transmission of impulses between cells. Ingested in large enough amounts, it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and even paralysis of the central nervous system."
I'm sure it can as a toxin build up in swine as well. Another interesting study I found mentioned that any largely grain based diet with insufficient lime or minerals potentially caused a weakening of the intestinal lining and its permeability in sows resulting in increased absorption of a number of toxins that affected the unborn young and led to stillbirths, much like overuse of potatoes, boiled or raw, has been shown to do to swine. Ironically, this same effect on stillbirths was also observed with barley and oats as it was with potatoes.
Please don't refuse to use a demonstrated effective product because 'the formula has too many numbers.' Choose NOT to use it because of demonstrated danger. In this case, lack of mineral and a primarily potato diet resulted in a number of stillbirths. Either could be dangerous via intestinal permeability or the solanine.
BTW, snopes.com points out that you would have to regularly consume 4.5 lbs of raw potatoes to fill the effects of the solanine. Just food for thought if you are wanting to avoid those french fries.
Edited by oija 2015-09-01 9:58 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1898
| BARRELHORSE USA - 2015-09-01 12:03 AM
Potatoes are toxic and normal cooking changes nothing in the levels of toxins they contain especially in the outer 1/2 inch of skin and underlying flesh.
You were probably buying sunburned potatoes which will show greening of the potato peel which activates even a greater amount of toxins.
Your piglets suffered mainly from paralysis caused by the toxins in potatoes and grown pigs have intestinal and digestion problems that also add the neurological factor along with their pooping, bloating and other problems.
Pigs and chickens will not eat potato peelings if they can pick around them .. we always thought they could smell danger and not even look at them as food ..
Here is the scientific name for the natural toxins that tomatoes (small amount) and potatoes (50+X amount vs tomatoes) have ...
Glycoalkaloids, and they are considered to be natural toxins. They are active as pesticides and fungicides and are produced by the plants as a natural defense against animals, insects and fungi that might attack them.
The plant glycoalkaloids are toxic steroidal glycosides and the commonest types found in food plants are a-solanine and a-chaconine, with a-solanine (C45H73NO15) being the more toxic of the two. Anytime you see a chemical formula with high numbers like this .. automatically be aware that it is a serious toxin .. or a medication that has serious side affects ...
These steroidal glycosides are practically immune to high heat .. French fries cooked in a deep fryer with no peel have a small reduction in the amount of toxins ...
I preach all the time about not feeding anything that is a byproduct of foods processed for human consumption ... beet pulp, rice hulls, ethanol corn hulls etc etc are a big NO NO ... as horse or animal feed. All of these expert nutritionists are paid to lie about the toxicity and are banking on your 1000# horse not ingesting a hot load due to his size and hay intake. All they care about is their profit margins ..
I have never figured out the reluctance of horse owners to feed tried and true all natural feeding programs of whole oats, with 10% by weight chopped corn and a flake of alfalfa along with good quality hay. With a good loose mineral salt supplement like ADM GroStrong Minerals ... always keep the KISS program in mind when caring for your horses ..
Thanks for the info! I haven't lost any pigs to potatoes nor have I ever fed them cooked or raw because I was told they were bad for them. I just wanted to know what was bad in them. I just like to educate myself and wasn't able to find the answer anywhere.
I had read where some people had fed their gestating sows a primary potato diet and of the pigs that wore born alive, most of them had embryonic sacs so thick they couldn't break them. Of the ones that survived birth, only about half made it past the first day.
Edited by cyount2009 2015-09-02 2:38 PM
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Pig question! Raw potatoes?